You probably wouldn’t think to check on E. 23rd Street in Downtown Chattanooga for great pizza, but Home Slice Pizza has got you covered!
Have you ever noticed how some of the best places to eat are the most unassuming places? Perhaps the place that you have driven by 1000 times and never even noticed, let alone bothered to stop into. Or the little Thai place in a strip mall somewhere that you literally had to search out on Yelp when you were not feeling a downtown excursion in an unfamiliar town. Or the pizza place that you might have heard of but then forgot about, located in a little corner of a hotel just off the interstate, in the midst of a bunch of fast food places and gas stations.
That, my friends, is Home Slice Pizza. I think that I had seen something about it when it opened, but then kind of forgot about it. A search for somewhere to eat downtown or in North Georgia so we could make a quick getaway to Beverage World for Philip to look for some loot turned it up and off we went.
When we got to Home Slice Pizza, located on one end of The Chatt Inn on 23rd Street, I wasn’t even sure it was open. There were no cars out front and from the outside it didn’t appear that there were any lights on. I was wrong, though, and we went on in to be waited on by Jimmy. He explained the menu to us and made some recommendations.
The space is tiny – a counter for ordering and four tables. Jimmy explained that, right now, most of their business is take-out. They also work with a local delivery service so patrons can have their pizza brought to their home. Jimmy told us that the owners of the hotel had been trying to bring in a restaurant that would last to that location. They hired a general manager with lots of restaurant experience to come and build it from the ground up. While the owners are involved, they allow the team working in the restaurant lots of room to create and experiment. They are hoping to expand to a second restaurant, hopefully in the Hixson or Red Bank area. The second restaurant would have more space than the current restaurant.
When we see garlic knots on a menu, we are basically required to order them. When Jimmy told us that their garlic knots were pretty much fantastic, it was settled. For $5, we got an order of soft and pillowy rolls coated in garlicky butter and a crap ton of Parmesan cheese, plus a cup of warm marinara sauce with a generous serving of cheese sprinkled on top of it too. My criteria for a great garlic knot: soft on the top with a tiny bit of crunch on the bottom, a little chew to the bread inside (but not too much), and tons of flavor. These checked those boxes nicely.
The Chicken, Bacon, and Ranch pizza sounded amazing, but I decided ultimately to go with the Meatball Meltdown. This may sound crazy, but I have never eaten a pizza with meatballs on it. I can’t think of a chain pizza restaurant that offers them, nor can I think of another locally-owned pizza joint that I have noticed offering them, though that could definitely be an oversight on my part. The Meatball Meltdown was made with Home Slice’s sweet and savory sauce, double cheese (!!!!), fresh garlic, and fresh, sliced meatballs. The small was $7 and a perfect size for one person. Actually, since I had eaten the garlic knots beforehand, I was only able to finish 3 of the 4 slices. The pizza was exceedingly (but not excessively) meaty. The cheese made for a perfect cheese pull – too bad I didn’t get a picture of that! The crust was a little crunchy and perfectly chewy with a good amount of garlic seasoning on it.
Philip when with Jimmy’s recommendation and got the Oh Captain, My Captain pizza (also $7 for a small). The Oh Captain, My Captain is made with their sweet and savory sauce, cheese, pepperoni, spicy sausage, chicken, bell peppers, diced onions, and mild wing sauce on a garlic crust. All the flavors went together perfectly and the wing sauce provided a great finish to an already delicious pizza. One thing I was particularly impressed by was the freshness of the chicken. Often, when I eat chicken on a pizza or in a pasta dish in a restaurant, it tastes like it has been sitting in the fridge for a few days. This chicken did not taste like that at all.
Home Slice Pizza also serves sandwiches, wings in a variety of flavors, and desserts (deep-fried Oreos! Deep fried Twinkies! Cinnamon knots!). Unfortunately, we were way too stuffed from our pizza and garlic knots to get a dessert. But that is a good thing, right? That means that we really enjoyed the pizza. By the time we left, the restaurant was full and we were actually rushing to move from our table to make space for another couple that had come in. We found the prices to be very reasonable and especially liked that they offer a personal-sized pizza. We tend to prefer different toppings on our pizzas and that can be problematic when you are forced to share a larger sized pizza. Additionally, Jimmy was extremely friendly, helpful, and customer-oriented.
If you are out on 23rd Street, check out Home Slice Pizza. Actually, make a special trip out there to try it. It’s definitely not what you would expect in this area and it is 100% worth the trip!
Home Slice Pizza is located at 2000 E. 23rd Street, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 37404. Their hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. You can call them at 423.531.3500. For more information, you can check out Home Slice Pizza’s website or follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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