Cono Italiano Pizza Cones -- Taste Test

by Slashfood Editor, Posted Sep 3rd 2010 @ 4:00PM

Photo: Elizabeth Hait, AOL

First there was Crispycones, than K! Pizzacones in New York City and now Cono Italiano brings us the next innovation in the pizza cone craze. Earlier this week, Cono Italiano stopped by the Slashfood offices for a taste test of their original, meatball parm, taco and breakfast pizza cone varieties.

Cono Italiano started in Europe in 2001 and made its way over to the States in 2008. Since that time, the company has been fine tuning the product, getting it ready for mass market. While there are only a handful of locations on the east coast where you can get the pizza cones right now, they'll hopefully be in more stores soon, and as well as stadiums, schools and the frozen food aisle at your local supermarket.

As we wrote several weeks ago, "it blends a lot of what's already out there -- pizza pockets, calzones, all manner of wraps -- into an even more perfect form. If you've ever stood in a crowded New York pizzeria and folded your slice in half for easier eating, you're liable to look at the pizza cone, slap your forehead and go, "D'oh! Why didn't I think of that?"

One cone will run you 220 calories, 4 grams of fat and 350 mg of sodium. Compared to the numerous fast-food items we've eaten, that's nothing. According to Cono Italiano, "The calories per cone are equal to or less than the traditional wrap, with 40% less sodium."

So how do these pizza look-a-likes actually taste?

It was a unanimous vote with the editors here that the meatball parm cone was the winner, followed by the original pizza flavor and taco-style cone. Our Cono Italiano friends said the cones are best heated in an oven, but for the taste test here at the office they used our microwave and zapped them on high for about 1 minute 50 seconds, which created a crispy crust and ultra hot inside. Because of the shape, it's difficult to heat them evenly -- the tip of the cone gets rock hard and brittle by the time the thick part is heated through. We left the last inch-and-a-half of the cone on the plate, but that didn't stop us from eating the rest of it.

The meatballs were reminiscent of something grandma would make, with a robust sauce. While we wouldn't choose the original pizza cone over a slice of classic New York City pizza, we'd happily to pick one up at a stadium and/or the grocery store. The taco-style cone won the hearts of several colleagues with its combination of spiced ground beef, tomatoes, lettuce and cheese.

The only one we'd skip is the breakfast scramble with egg whites, cheese and bacon. The egg whites were rubbery, wet, and bland -- it needed a condiment, salsa or hot sauce.

The best part about this invention is the drip-free cone, making it extremely portable and almost mess-free. We have no doubt that these will fly off the shelves like Hot Pockets did when they first came out in grocery stores.

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