For the ninth straight year, October is Dining Month on OnMilwaukee, presented by the restaurants of Potawatomi Hotel & Casino. All month, we're stuffed with restaurant reviews, dining guides, delectable features, chef profiles and unique articles on everything food, as well as voting for your "Best of Dining 2015."

Strada Pizza
2301 S. Howell Ave. 
(414) 220-8051
stradapizza.com

A taste of New York City arrived in Bay View earlier this year when Strada Pizza opened in the old Mr. Webo's location on the corner of Howell and Lincoln. Thankfully, not too much got left behind during the New York-style pizza's trip to a new time zone, delivering a satisfying and sizable – if maybe not hugely special – slice. And if you're not in the mood for pizza for some unknown reason, Strada offers a surprisingly large menu of sandwiches, wraps, wings, soup, salads and burgers, too. 

In addition to dine-in and carry-out options, Strada also takes delivery orders. 

Type of food: New York-style pizza, with wings, burgers, sandwiches and wraps.

Prices: Full New York pizzas run from $7 for a 10" solo pie to $19 for a 20" "monster pie." Individual slices cost $3.95, with plain cheese slices costing a little less at $3.10. As for Strada's speciality pizzas, 12-inch pies cost $10 to $12 while 20-inch pies run $20 to $26. Sandwiches and wraps are priced $6 to $8. 

Vegetarian friendly? Yes. In addition to salad and the option to make your own pizza, the specialty menu features both a vegetarian pie section and an "only for the cheese people" section, featuring pies of various cheese varieties and combinations. Strada also offers a gluten-free crust. 

Hours: Monday through Thursday from 4 until 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. until midnight; and Sunday from 4 until 10 p.m.

Parking: Metered street parking out front on Howell, as well as a small parking lot directly behind the building off of Lincoln. 

Vibe/dress: Very casual. Judging by the fairly limited amount of seating – maybe about 15 seats between some tables and a window ledge in the space, decorated with earthy colors and framed black-and-white photos – there's a good chance you'll probably taking your grub to go anyway or simply ordering it for delivery. 

Hits: As you'd hope at a restaurant specializing in pizza, Strada makes a strong classic slice. Its version of a pepperoni – one of four ready-made New York-style pizzas on display, along with a plain cheese, a sausage and pepperoni and a veggie – delivers everything you'd want from a traditional stand-by slice. The pepperoni provided a bit of meaty, flavorful sizzle, while the tomato sauce added a touch of tang. The crust was sturdy with a good light crunch but without being too dense, and it wasn't a greasy slice. Meanwhile, the bonus garlic knot, while perhaps lacking in strong garlic flavor, was addictively light and fluffy with a nice thin crunch on the outside. 

As for non-pizza options, the chipotle turkey and avocado with swiss sandwich, while a little heavy on the mayo (but really, who isn't), was quite tasty – not to mention surprisingly green and clean for a New York-style pizza joint. 

Misses: The french fries were hot and fluffy, but didn't bring much to the table in terms of flavor. Unless you're desperate for a french fry fix, you can feel fine skipping over these pretty standard spuds. 

Overall, the biggest miss with Strada Pizza isn't with the food preset, but with the focus. The restaurant features an extensive specialty menu of original pizzas, ranging from the Venice Mermaid (tuna, spinach, basil, mushrooms and provolone) to the Clooney (meatballs, bacon and ham) to a wide variety of meat lover, veggie lover and cheese lover pizzas. Yet walking into the restaurant, you'd have no idea these unique pizzas are available. They weren't listed on the overwhelming menu of options above the register save for a small note about its existence – in fact, of the six-part menu, only one board was dedicated to pizza – and the only available copy of that menu was at the register facing the employee. It seems that paper menus are usually available, but not during these visits. And still, that's a lot of inventive pies left off the main menu. 

In a tough pizza market where most already have a go-to favorite place, the young pizza shop might make a better name for itself by putting its featured item first – especially its most unique, one of a kind options.