I don’t really have a lot of reasons to go to West Bend; pretty much only the only time I’m ever there is to visit two friends that happen to live there. Recently said friends recommended the Doctors of Za try some of West Bend’s finest pizza: Tomaso’s. It doesn’t really look like much from the outside; and the inside feels a bit more like a northwoods sports bar than a pizza parlor. But in all honesty, as long as there’s good pizza, I’d go to pretty much any shithole.

Luckily, Tomaso’s is not a shithole. The area surrounding Tomaso’s (technically “downtown” Barton) has an interesting variety of businesses. If you’re looking to get some ink done while you’re in town, In Your Face Tattooz (it has a ‘z’ instead of an ’s,’ so you know it must be totally bad-ass) is directly across the street. You’d probably have to pull a knife on me to get me into most of these places. It seriously looked boring as hell. What do people do for fun around this place? Get face tattooz, I guess.

THE GOOD: Tomaso’s features thin crust and deep dish pizzas; we opted for the thin crust, which was slightly softer and chewier in the middle with extra crispy edges. The sauce had a bit more of a spicy kick than a lot of places, which was a nice surprise. Most places pussy out when it comes to making their pizza sauce spicy. Probably because most customers are total pussies; I would imagine the constant whining and water refills would get old after a while.

THE BAD: The service is a little different. After you’re seated, you pretty much have to go up to the bar for everything. Need a refill on your soda? Gonna have to hassle the bartender. Ready to order? Step up to the bar, son. All done and ready to check out? Bring those dollar bills to the bar. The cook brings out your pizza, and that’s about it. I’m pretty sure they might have only had two people working there, so it’s possible this format is adopted to make it easier on those working. It honestly wasn’t a big deal, just a little odd.

TRY: We ordered a cheese pizza so I didn’t get to experience it, but apparently most of their pies come with the cheese on the bottom. So it’s crust, cheese, sauce, toppings. I’d be interested to see how that works. I’d also like to try the deep dish next time I go in there, since it seems that almost every place I go to these days is thin crust. It would be a nice change of pace. And if you happen to be in around the total scam that is Valentine’s Day, apparently they have a heart shaped pizza (they show one on the website, anyway). How fucking adorable.

RATING: The pizza equivalent of a zombie fighting a shark

If you happen to somehow end up in West Bend (you probably took a wrong turn somewhere), I would highly recommend checking out Tomaso’s. From the outside, it might not catch your eye as a place to stop at, but it is definitely worth your time.