When you spend a lot of time thinking about food, you start to unearth seemingly unanswerable questions. Is nacho cheese actually cheese? Are hot dogs sandwiches? Can ramen broth prevent a case of the Mondays?

Lately I've been thinking about the concept of fast Italian. It's almost like pizza—hallowed be its name—has kind of stepped in and cornered the market for Italian takeout. While pondering this quandary, I came across Sergio's Pizza (3537 W. 11400 South, Ste. A, 385-346-1986, sergiosnypizza.com)—and I think fast Italian fans may be in for a treat.

Sergio's opened about a year ago near the rapidly expanding The District commercial area in South Jordan. It represents the Westward expansion of a New York-based pizzeria that has been in business since the mid-'70s. While I am a staunch crusader for Utah's pizza ecosystem, I do think there is plenty of room for floppy, foldable slices of New York-style pizza. Not only does Sergio's offer plenty of variety and a pizza-by-the-slice format, they've also got a wide range of classic pasta dishes as well. If it's cheesy, saucy and accompanied by a large amount of carbs, you can find it at Sergio's.

Though the individual items on the menu create plenty of room for experimentation, I appreciate the existence of Sergio's dinner combos. For first-time diners, these are essentially curated collections of Sergio's best dishes, so this is where I started. Depending on the occasion of your carb binge, you can get the Game Day Special ($28.99), which comes with a large cheese pizza and a dozen chicken wings. Or there's the Super Special ($32.99) that adds a meatball sub, baked ziti and some garlic knots to the cheese pizza party. I'll take a meatball sub over chicken wings any day of the week, so the latter was my preferred entry point.

I was happy to get the cheese pizza, since it's a New York-style staple. In Colin Atrophy Hagendorf's pizza-obsessed memoir Slice Harvester, the author uses plain cheese pizza as the critical basis for his quest to try every single pizzeria in New York City. I wanted to apply this criterion to Sergio's, so the Super Special seemed like the perfect way to try a little bit of everything while applying what will heretofore be known as the Hagendorf Method.

Economically, this special offers up the best bang for your buck, since a large cheese pizza is around $16, and a plate of pasta is anywhere from $12 to $15, which may be my end up being my biggest gripe about Sergio's. It's a bit expensive compared to other pizza places around town.

The Super Special offers plenty of food for a big group, and it's also a great way to see how Sergio's does with pizza, pasta and subs. The cheese pizza is a solid representation of the New York style—nice thin crust, good ratio of sauce and cheese, along with a piquant hit of garlicky flavor on the back end. I would be interested in seeing where Sergio's in New York landed in Hagendorf's estimation—for me, I'd say it's hanging out in the mid-high range of my own pizza spectrum.

I wasn't expecting to like the meatball sub as much as I did, but it's hard not to fall in love with a sub that is as absurdly stuffed with marinara, homemade meatballs and buttery, melty provolone cheese. Such extravagance leaves the sub with a bit of a soggy bottom, but that's always a hard balance to strike. The meatballs themselves were great—humongous, tender and filled with a harmonious blend of seasoning. This might be the dish that turns me into a frequent diner, as there are few problems a gigantic meatball sub cannot solve.

As for the baked ziti—a generous pile of spaghetti noodles slathered in marinara and topped with a blanket of melted provolone—it's good but not great. Maybe it's because it was served with other mains that were able to present the same basic flavor profile a bit more effectively.

My experience with the pasta warranted a deeper dive into Sergio's pasta section, and it's definitely hit and miss. The sweet sausage pasta ($13.99) is among the top-shelf dishes at Sergio's, as their sliced Italian sausage is a nice blend of savory, sweet and spicy flavors that brightens up the canvas of pasta, cheese and marinara. The alfredo ($13.99) is right in the middle—not the most flavorful of sauces, but it's creamy and satisfying nonetheless. The lasagna ($13.99) was perhaps the most disappointing. It's sauce, noodles and cheese, so yeah, it's going to taste good, but I was let down by the tiny bits of ground sausage that were scattered throughout the dish—they imparted too much of a pizza vibe to the whole dish.

As far as fast Italian goes, I think Sergio's has some promise. Its pizza and sub game already make it worth a visit—it's just a matter of time before I try the pasta dish that really defines the place as an Italian powerhouse.