Earlier this year, we stumbled upon a new pizzeria in Cordoba City, but this wasn't just your run-of-the-mill pizza joint. Big Mamma's boasted New York-style pizza! I mean, seriously? Could it be that my prayers had finally been answered? American-style pizza right here in Cordoba City?
Now, let me tell you, Cordoba hasn't exactly been a stranger to attempts at this before. A few years back, there was the Chicago American Grill, dishing out large-sized Chicago pizza slices with American flavors. Then came PIBI, claiming to offer New York-style pizza. But let's be real, compared to some of the top-notch American pizza joints in Buenos Aires like Hell's Pizza and Sbarro, Cordoba's attempts at American pizzas were, well, mediocre at best.
Still, this was a new spot, and my hubby and I just had to give Big Mamma's a shot. So, we placed an order for some pepperoni and regular cheese slices through one of the local delivery apps.
We were feeling a tad nervous, having shelled out close to 30,000 Argentine pesos for 8 slices (34.25 USD), with no clue if they'd actually resemble genuine New York-style pizza. What if they turned out to be those puny Argentine pizzas that barely satisfy one person, let alone two? And would the cheese taste anything like the cheese back home, or would it be more akin to feet, like most Argentine cheese pizzas?
When the order finally arrived, our anxiety levels shot up even higher. In the States, the delivery person usually hands you one big box containing an entire pizza. But here, our delivery driver had more than one box. It turned out that the restaurant had simply divided the slices into multiple boxes, making it easier for the delivery guy, who was zipping around on a motorcycle instead of a car like they do back in the States.
At that point, though, hunger trumped any concerns about pizza packaging. All we cared about was whether those slices would be big enough and taste as good as the ones back home.
Sure, the cheese was a bit runny, and the wax paper underneath got stuck to the crust, but man, those pizza slices were delicious!
Each bite was a revelation, eliciting tears, smiles, and sounds one might typically reserve for the bedroom. Big Mamma's seemed like a winner, or so we thought.
Now, pizzas weren't the only items on Big Mamma's menu. They also dabbled in burgers and sandwiches, featuring flavors like pulled pork (my personal favorite!) and the Philly cheesesteak sandwich. So, on our next order, we decided to try the Philly cheesesteak, and boy, was it a letdown.
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| Philly Cheesesteak |
I've had my fair share of Philly cheesesteaks, and let me tell you, they don't usually come with cheddar cheese. It's not that I have anything against cheddar per se, but the cheddar cheese here in Argentina isn't really cheddar at all. It's what we'd call American cheese. As a result, the cheese completely overwhelmed the taste of the meat (and not in a good way), and the steak strips were way too fatty to enjoy.
This made me apprehensive about trying the pulled pork sandwich next time, but surprisingly, it turned out to be pretty darn good. My only gripe? Big Mamma's advertises it with cole slaw, but the last few times I ordered, there was no slaw in sight.
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| Pulled Pork Sandwich |
A few weeks later, we decided to go for pizza again. Obviously, pepperoni was at the top of our list, because, let's face it, Argentines aren't big on pepperoni. In fact, most Argentine pizzerias don't even know what pepperoni is. So ordering pizza with pepperoni was a rare commodity.
Well, imagine our dismay when, in what must have been our fifth order from Big Mamma's, we discovered something seriously off about our pepperoni. I found myself pulling at what felt like strings. To this day, I'm not sure if it was dried-out edges or burnt pepperoni, but those edges were downright inedible, as you can see in the photo I provided.
I figured maybe it was just a one-time fluke. Wishful thinking, right? Nope. I encountered those inedible pepperoni edges two more times.
So, a few weeks ago, we decided to give Big Mamma's another shot, opting for two different flavored slices alongside a couple of regular pepperoni and cheese slices.
One was a barbecue chicken slice with bacon called the King Kong, and the other was a meatball with cheddar slice.
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| The King Kong Pizza slice was a Huge Disappointment |
We had high hopes for both toppings, but alas, we were met with disappointment. The barbecue chicken slices had a measly four or five chicken pieces, and the bacon bits weren't much better. Plus, the barbecue sauce was more of a drizzle than anything else, nowhere near the generous slathering they'd teased on social media. And the letdown continued when we tried the meatball with cheddar slice.
The meatballs tasted like your typical ground beef in Argentina, which is to say, something comparable to rotten meat. And the advertised meatball pizza slice gave the impression that it would come with whole meatballs, but what we got was a few sad, burnt-looking, and foul-smelling meatball pieces. And as for the cheddar, we expected it to be baked into the crust, like a stuffed crust cheese pizza from Pizza Hut. But nope, just another lackluster drizzle of cheddar on top.
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The slice on the right is the meatball slice
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And as for the regular pepperoni cheese slices? They had this weird, plasticky appearance that left us wondering just how old those pizza slices were.
But did we learn our lesson? Nope.
During our last order, the slices came with burnt crusts.
I'm not sure what's gone wrong with Big Mamma's. Did they change management? Did they throw in the towel? Or did the locals persuade them to switch to churning out the same bland, mediocre pizza that's all too common around here? Who knows? But what I do know is that they've started adding items to their menu that make zero sense, like meat or chicken skewers or even chicken steaks and pork chops. I wouldn't be surprised if they started serving empanadas too, completely defeating the purpose of their New York-style food gimmick.
In the end, if we do end up ordering from Big Mamma's again, it'll probably only be for the pulled pork sandwich or the regular cheese slices, if we're desperate enough.
