It’s MACtion — football played by the Mid-American Conference during the middle of the week.
My friends and I discovered Aracri Pizzeria on a fateful MACtion Wednesday during my COVID-19-filled sophomore year of college.
We ate the pizza while enjoying the terrible kickers and overall bad football being played by the teams of the Mid-American Conference. Our heightened expectations for Eastern Michigan-Ball State, Central Michigan-Northern Illinois and Toledo-Western Michigan were met with lackluster talent on the field, but at least they were close, interesting games in the end.
Being able to hang out with my friends again and return to a sense of normalcy — laughing, joking, eating pizza and watching football — in the midst of all the lockdowns, mask-wearing and social distancing made that one of my favorite days last year, and Aracri Pizzeria played a big part in contributing to that joy.
We continued to bring them business about once a month, talking to the owner while we were in line. He told us he wanted to expand to a bigger location and set up shop at the recently vacated space on the corner of 11th Avenue and High Street that used to house Panera Bread.
Unfortunately, those aspirations were put on hold when COVID-19 dampened Aracri’s business. The owner said Fridays and Saturdays became their “money-maker” days, compared to the steady, everyday business he saw prior to the pandemic.
It was a heartbreaking story, to say the least, so I thought it was only appropriate to do a review of Aracri Pizzeria the same week as MACtion’s 2021 return, as a testament to what the pizza joint meant to me a year ago.
I opened the box and staring back at me was a large, greasy pepperoni pizza — a deviation from my typical order, which would be by the slice.
Whether you get the slice or the whole pie, grease will always be a part of the equation at Aracri, including the New York-style thin crust, topped with gooey cheese and pepperoni.
My first bite left me with a mixture of emotions. My first thought was, “Man, that was a good, thick bit of cheese,” but that quickly shifted to, “Wait, where’s the sauce?”
I’m a sauce connoisseur. I love it, and I love when there is an abundance of it on my pizza.
After I take a bite, I should be battling to see what made the slice better: the cheese, the pepperoni or the sauce? With Aracri, I wasn’t left asking the full question; I was stuck between the first two options, as the cheese and pepperoni were loaded and cooked to perfection.
Surprising as it may seem, the grease that coated the top of the pie actually made the flavor better. It wasn’t overpowering but was more of a complement to what the cheese and pepperoni had to offer.
The crust was underwhelming and a little too airy, offering a slight crunch, but nowhere near the level of crunch I seek.
Overall, the pizza and crust were pretty good — not great. Could’ve been done better — but good.
The cheese and amount of pepperoni showed flawless execution, with the sauce and crust coming up just short.
Rating: 6.8/10
