Purple Rain Cafe (Rockledge)

       We didn’t have a far drive this time, because we stayed in our own backyard. The Purple Rain Cafe is a new pizza place in the area, they have only been open for 3 weeks as of our visit. We got a recommendation to try it out, and we had a little extra incentive to make it our next review. More on that in just a bit.

The Purple Rain Cafe is located in the historic Peddler’s Village. It’s an old building that sits along the side of US 1 in South Rockledge. You won’t miss the bright yellow sign that says “Pizza & More”. The “Purple Rain Cafe” part is a little hidden off to the side, but when you see that sign you know you are in the right place. You are also in for a treat of a pizza.

       The pizza is fantastic. It got to our table in under 15 minutes and was piping hot. Great sauce with that homemade zesty, tangy taste to it. In fact the guy that was there, was the chef, server, and also creator of the sauce and dough recipe. The cheese is nice and gooey, and can slide off the pizza when you are serving up that first slice. the pepperoni is full of flavor, and brings the whole thing together. All those flavors are kept intact by an almost pastry like, light, flaky crust. It will does get slightly chewy as it cools down, but you expect that in a pizza this thin. 

Since they are so new, they don’t have fountain drinks up and running, but they do have cans of soda and bottles of water. They also offer beer on tap. Despite it being an old building, the inside is very clean with an open seating arrangement of tables. A bar sits on the side opposite the entrance and they also have an open area, that I could see live music taking place once they get things in full order. This looks like a great place for a night out with the family or a fun date, and I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet.

     As you walk through the front door, the counter sits directly in front of you with the dining area to the right. As you look to your left, you see the second best reason to come to the Purple Rain Cafe, the first obviously being the pizza. That second best reason is a game room full of 80’s video games. Quite a few of them are preloaded with credits so that you can play for free. Most of the others are ready to take your quarters. All though all the games weren’t up and running yet, they still had some of your old favorites going. Games like; Bugertime, Pacman, Galaga, Q-bert, TRON, and many others. 

      For our immediate reaction to the Purple Rain Cafe, watch the video below.

      Other guy here with the reheat review: I heated the slice I had left over the next day. I wanted to give it that chance to get all those flavors to really marinate together. I heated it in a toaster oven set at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. I don’t want to over cook it, I just want to heat it up to a warm temperature, not too hot. I didn’t realize it until I was heating it up, but this is a very aromatic pizza. As it reheated it filled the kitchen with those wonderful Italian spices and herbs. The flavor is consistent on reheat. the crust came back to life, and that light crispiness returned. If you have a few slices left over, you won’t be disappointed the next day.

      Our overall rating is a 4, how we came to that is as follows. Cleanliness: It was a nice place with a visibly clean kitchen, (we never needed to use the bathroom, so we can only assume it is held to the same standard as the rest of the restaurant) for a 4. Price: Price gets a 3 only because the price of toppings was a little high as you can see from the menu pictured above. Service: This one is a bit tricky. We arrived during and off hour, so we were the only ones there. There was no server that early in the day, so it was only the chef/server/cashier to help us out. It was table service, while the guy gave us the option to get our own drinks which we did., so it was semi-table service. We would assume this is a bit different during a time when more people are there, so we could only give it a 3 based on our experience. Pizza: The most important rating and the reason you are here, is for the pizza itself. We give this a 4 for all the reasons above, and because it is a quality pie with a lot of flavor and no real flaws in our opinion. 

      Unfortunately they don’t have a website or Facebook page, so you will be hard pressed to get any more information than what we provided you with. That may change as they grow. 

DIISCLAIMER: From the time that we did our tasting to the time we posted, we found out that the Purple Rain Cafe had let their pizza chef go. We can't with full confidence say that the pizza you get was exactly like the pizza we got. That bring said, we still strongly recommend that you give the Purple Rain Cafe a try, and see what you think. Tell them The Pepperoni Report sent you. Love and pizza slices.