Bertucci’s – Springfield, VA

This place did not have a stellar rating on Google, I think it came in at around 3.8 out of 5. Despite the average judgment passed against it, I was in the area when I decided that I wanted another calzone. The menu paints the establishment as one that strives for originality. I had only once before seen a calzone that contained meatballs, especially ones that were supposedly handmade. The restaurant itself is a little difficult to get to since it is right near the interstate, next to a mall. Traffic was quite heavy.  I went after around 1p.m. in the afternoon, and the place was not busy. I was seated and my hostess came very promptly with freshly cooked bread and oil. This bread was fantastic, and I could only contain my excitement for the calzone. I ordered the Poplette Calzone, which contains handmade meatballs and Pecorino, Romano, Ricotta, and Mozzarella cheese with a little of what they call “pomodoro sauce”. The calzone came in a reasonable about of time, about 15 minutes, and my first impression was that it was quite small for the price. It runs $12.29. At this price, I expected to see a calzone that rivaled the one at Delia’s or Ovvio. This calzone, however, was about as standard of a medium size as one could expect. Eating calzones is always an adventure and, unless you’ve been to the restaurant before, you never know what size, shape, or quality of contents you’re going to get. At this point, price doesn’t seem to be an indicator for any of those things. The calzone was one of the most standard shapes I’ve ever seen. It looked like the epitome of what a calzone is expected to look like, with its half-moon shape and rolled over edges. The meal was served with a larger saucer of the pomodoro sauce for dipping, and a steak knife. I have come to appreciate the inclusion of steak knives, since calzones can be hard to cut through with a standard butter knife. The first thing I noticed was that the dough was perfect. It was soft and fluffy, yet baked to the perfect crisp on the outside. The dough in this calzone was everything I expected after having eaten their appetizer bread. One thing is for certain, Bertucci’s is good at making bread. Once I got to the innards of the calzone, I opened it up and noticed what was inside. The meatballs were very small, clearly handmade. They still had a very slight “gamey” taste to them because they used a hamburger meat to prepare them. The ricotta was of the smooth and creamy kind, almost like a marscapone cheese and not the curd-ish kind. Furthermore, it was still a little cold. I could not distinguish the other cheeses, Pecorino, Romano, and mozzarella. It all just tasted like a low-moisture, shredded, mozzarella to me. Furthermore, it did not seem that the calzone was baked long enough for the cheese to congeal with itself, and I knew the cheese came shredded because I could feel the individual shreds of the cheese in my mouth. Do not get me wrong, this calzone was not undercooked. Like I said before, the dough was excellent. However, the inner ingredients did not come together on the level of standard that the dough set. I would rate this calzone as a strong C+ because of its delicious bread, but high price for the size and the just “okayness” of its guts. I did like that they included some of the standard elements I’ve come to love in a calzone, but it wasn’t enough for me to want to go back for another one.