pizza restaurants Archives - Page 3 of 3

The Pizza Place-October 6, 2012

October 7, 2012

A few months back I wrote my first post about a Signal Mountain restaurant (Nino’s Pastaria) and really had to roll my eyes at myself that somehow I had managed to grossly neglect an entire area of town. There are several restaurants on Signal Mountain that need to be written about, and for some reason I never even think about them. I guess it’s because, being on the mountain and all, they feel like they’re on an island or in a foreign country or something, even though they really aren’t any farther away from me than downtown or East Brainerd. Anyway, as Philip and I were contemplating where to go on Saturday, he asked what restaurants we needed to try on Signal…so we ended up at The Pizza Place, which one of my friends had recently recommended.

We almost didn’t go there. As I was looking them up online I saw that they were a “cash only” establishment, and we didn’t have any cash on us (we rarely do). We walked in to clarify, figuring that we would just walk down the sidewalk to 517 Subs if “cash only” was the case. We found out that they actually take checks, and for once I actually had the checkbook in my bag (honestly, I can’t remember the last time I’ve written a check at a store, restaurant, etc.!) so we decided to stay. The server/cashier (whose name I meant to get but completely forgot) told us to find a table and she came out with menus and took our drink order.

We decided to order some breadsticks. The server suggested side salads, which come with bread (I think she called it rosa bread and said it was similar to breadsticks) but we decided to just get the breadsticks. They came out pretty quickly, with two little cups of marinara. We asked her if the dough is made in house…she said that it is, in large batches every day with the gigantic mixer (which took us right back to our Chuck E. Cheese’s days). The breadsticks were pretty tasty, but we did think they would have been even better with a little more seasoning on them. The sauce (also house made) was good, a tiny bit spicy and seasoned just right.

The Pizza Place has entrées (like lasagna and stuffed shells) and specialty salads on their menu, but it’s called “The PIZZA Place” so we knew that was what we had to get. You can top your own pizza or order a specialty pizza; either way they come in small (8″), medium (12″), large (14″), and extra large (16″). They have twenty-two specialty pizzas, ranging from “Classic” (pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, onions, and green peppers) to teriyaki chicken (teriyaki sauce, chicken, broccoli, pineapple, almonds, and double cheese) and Reuben (1000 Island sauce, corned beef, sauerkraut, caraway seeds, and double cheese). Ordering was not an easy task, but it was made easier by the fact that you can order even the smalls in half & half. I decided to order a small half chicken cordon bleu (bleu cheese sauce, Canadian bacon, chicken, tomatoes, bacon, and double cheese) and half alfredo chicken (alfredo sauce, chicken, broccoli, bacon, and double cheese). Philip ordered half bacon double cheeseburger (bacon, onions, tomatoes, double beef, and double cheese) and half buffalo chicken (garlic ranch sauce, grilled chicken breast, buffalo sauce, and double cheese).

Each pizza was sliced into six small slices, so we each had one slice of each (then Philip went ahead and polished off the buffalo chicken). The chicken cordon bleu was the first one that I tasted. I didn’t think that the bleu cheese sauce had a very strong flavor, so I think that even someone who was not a fan of bleu cheese would like it if they liked all of the other toppings. I thought that the Canadian bacon had an especially good flavor, and the chicken didn’t have the “old” taste that chicken used on pizzas or in restaurant dishes often have. The alfredo pizza was actually fairly similar to the cordon bleu. I wouldn’t have minded a little more broccoli but thought that everything was super tasty and very fresh tasting. We especially liked that the crust was not a thin crust but still managed to have the crispiness that usually only comes along with a thin crust pizza.

Philip tasted the buffalo chicken first and loved it immediately (although he did say it wasn’t quite as good as the first buffalo chicken pizza he’d ever eaten, at Portland Pie Company in Maine, which an experience that I am fairly certain he would describe as sublime). The buffalo sauce was just slightly spicy but not overpowering, and there was a good balance of ranch sauce and buffalo sauce). He told me that he thought that the bacon double cheeseburger tasted like, well, a bacon double cheeseburger. I would have liked it a little bit more if the onions had been cooked a little bit more (maybe sautéed before being put on the pizza?) and the meat a little more seasoned. It was good but I’d say the bacon double cheeseburger was my least favorite of the four. Surprisingly, I think Philip and I would agree that the buffalo chicken was our favorite. It was so good! Really, though, it all was. By the way, our total before tip was $19.50.

I was very, very surprised to see that The Pizza Place only has a 75% “like it” rating on Urbanspoon. Of course, most of the people that have voted didn’t actually leave reviews, so I have no idea why most of the naysayers said they didn’t like it. There were a couple of negative reviews, though, and the main thing that stuck out to me was that both reviews mentioned the atmosphere. One of them referred to the restaurant as “filthy and run down”. I’ll be honest…the decor is not stellar and the place has not been updated in quite some time. I didn’t find it to be filthy, though, and (as you well know if you are a regular reader) when I go to a restaurant I am far more concerned about the quality of the food that they are serving than the decor. People have put a lot of thought into crafting the pizzas on the menu, and restaurants don’t often last more than twenty years with filth and ordinary food. The only issue I had was the “cash/check only” issue…but when you are located in such a small community and there’s an ATM at the bank that’s basically next door, that isn’t too much of an issue. I’d encourage you to give this place a try…it may become one of your new favorites.

The Pizza Place is located at 1210 Taft Highway, Signal Mountain, TN 37377 (in the strip mall/complex next door to Pruett’s). You can call them at 423-886-3761. They do not have a website or Facebook page.

Lupi’s Pizza Pies (Hixson)-August 1, 2012

August 5, 2012

So yesterday’s post mentioned “those nights” that you just can’t quite bring yourself to cook. Wednesday night was one of those nights for me. I think it was the whole “last night of summer break” thing. Philip was going to be late getting home and all I wanted to do was make my lunch, take a hot bath, paint my toenails, and hang out on the couch with my laptop.

So, I pulled up the Lupi’s menu on my computer. For some reason, even though it’s been in Hixson since 1999 (and since 1996 downtown), I always forget about Lupi’s. I have no idea why. Philip and I were talking about it over the weekend and I added it to the list on my iPhone (actually, it’s a set of lists, divided up by regions of town). Wednesday night seemed to provide the perfect excuse.

It didn’t take me long to settle on an order. They’ve recently added housemade mozzarella to their menu, and they feature a margherita pizza with this mozzarella, local tomatoes, basil, and coarse salt. They also have a “take and bake” option, so I ordered that in a 16-inch with a whole wheat crust and headed on out to pick it up, thinking that would give me more flexibility as far as time went (so I wouldn’t have to go out at 8 p.m. to pick up a pizza).

Sadly, when I got there, I was handed an already baked pizza. I chose to not say anything…I wasn’t in the mood to hang out, and it really wasn’t that big of a deal. Mistakes happen, and the pizza did look and smell amazing. I decided just to take it and reheat it for a few minutes on my pizza stone (which I preheat at 400 degrees before placing pizza on it. Ten minutes and cold pizza is perfect and crisp again. This trick also works for fried chicken and French fries. I am not joking.).

I kind of underestimated how large this pizza was going to be. I think I could have gone with the 12″ and we would have had plenty of pizza for Wednesday night and plenty to have leftovers for dinner Thursday. Oh well. It was so good I didn’t really care. I was not expecting the pizza to have tomato sauce on it (since it had sliced tomatoes) but it did. Lupi’s pizza sauce is pretty sweet, but I liked it and appreciated that they didn’t put a ton of it on the pizza. The fresh mozzarella was amazing, and I liked the basil sprinkled evenly over the pizza. Believe it or not, the salt really added a lot to the pizza….it’s amazing what a little salt can do to bring fresh tomatoes to life. My only issue is that to me margherita pizza should have a very thin crust….this is the traditional way that it is served. This crust was fairly thick. I really, really liked it-it tasted great and did not have a cardboard texture like so many wheat crusts do-but just would have preferred a thinner crust here.

Here’s my favorite thing about Lupi’s: it’s about as local as you can get. Their flour comes from Sonrisa Farm, the local farm from which I buy my wheat berries at the farmers market. The tomatoes are local. I don’t know where they get their milk, but they made the mozzarella with their own hands. They buy local products whenever possible-including produce, ground beef, honey, etc.). And I love this: the money that would be contributed to advertising campaigns instead gets contributed to local schools, charities, and organizations. And you know what? I am pretty sure that they are doing okay without advertisement.

Lupi’s offers pizzas in slices as well as 12″ and 16″ whole pizzas. They offer an interesting variety of toppings…the usual assortment of meats and a wide range of vegetables, including more unusual options like roasted corn, zucchini, and avocado (I must try this). They also offer calzones and a small but fresh assortment of appetizers like bruschetta, garden salad, and homemade mozzarella drizzled with balsamic vinegar. You can also purchase a ball of mozzarella or a ball of pizza dough. They also feature catering and the option to buy a whole lasagna, bulk salad dressings, and a large salad (but they do request a day or two worth of notice for these items).

Know this: if you eat at Lupi’s, you’re going to pay for it. My pizza was about $18….but it was gigantic, and it made two meals for two people….two hungry people. People with smaller appetites (I admit, I eat like a horse…I’m sure you aren’t surprised) probably could have stretched it even farther. My rationale is that I would spend this much if we ordered Domino’s (because inevitably I’d buy that wretched cheesy bread….it’s so addictive with its burnt, crust ends) and if we order from Lupi’s we are supporting so many local businesses and getting much fresher, much more delicious product than if we went to the big D. It’s worth it to me.

Lupi’s Hixson is located at 5504 Hixson Pike, Hixson, TN 37343. You can call them at 423-847-3700. Their website is lupi.com; they also have a Facebook page. They are opened Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m., and Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m.

Hill City Pizza-June 30, 2012

July 1, 2012

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. I love Living Social. Yesterday they ran a “deal” for $10 for $20 to spend at Hill City Pizza….a place on “the list”. So I bought it, and today we ate lunch there.

Hill City Pizza has been around for a couple of years, on Chattanooga’s North Shore in the former location of the Mud Pie. If you can believe it, I never once ate at the Mud Pie in all of the years that it was there. I went in once, but for some reason we didn’t order. We went to Taco Bell instead. That was high school….sometimes teenagers make dumb decisions. But anyway, back to Hill City Pizza.

There were not a ton of people around when we hit Coolidge Park around 1 p.m. Still in the middle of a heat wave…..by this point in time temps were nearing 100 degrees and I guess not too many people decided to brave it. They were probably all at Chuck E. Cheese’s (seriously-go there on the coldest, hottest, or rainiest Saturday of the year. You’ll see what I mean.) and we definitely weren’t complaining.

There weren’t a ton of people in the restaurant either….a family, a couple of women around my age having lunch, and a fairly large group of high school or college age kids (sometimes it’s hard to tell). There was no one at the door and no sign telling you to seat yourself….which is a trend I’ve been seeing more of lately. Just hang a sign, people. I hate standing around and feeling like an idiot until I decide what I’m supposed to do. Anyway, we grabbed a table and our server (whose name I did not catch) brought us a menu and took our drink order very quickly.

Since we had $20 to spend, we decided to order an appetizer-breadsticks stuffed with mozzarella. They were pretty good, not great; a little bland without the sauce (marinara topped with parmesan and chopped parsley). They seemed awfully perfect, so we asked our server if they are made in house. They are not. That’s a little disappointing. Oh well…can’t win ’em all.

You can choose your pizza from their specialty pizzas (margherita, Hawaiian, barbecue chicken), top your own, or order a slice and add toppings. Topping a slice is definitely the most economical option, although their pizzas are not huge so two might be more of a meal (unless the slices are larger than the ones that come from the pie we ordered). We decided to order a “Grecian”-roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, black olives, red onions, artichokes, and feta cheese. It came out pretty quickly. The crust is not super-thin but also not super thick. The toppings were well cooked (as in, the onions were cooked enough that I was able to eat them, since I don’t do raw or undercooked onions). I liked the flavor combination, although I do think kalamata olives would be a little more authentic on a Grecian pizza….but maybe real authenticity isn’t what they’re going for. The only complaint I had about the pizza was that the toppings were not distributed quite as evenly as I would have liked (when I make a pizza at home, I’m pretty meticulous about even distribution).

Our total topped just a little over $20; the pizzas run from about $12 to about $15. They also have several entrees (chicken tenders, eggplant parm, etc.) and salads, and key lime and Reese’s pie for dessert. We weren’t thinking about dessert, though, because we were stopping in at Pure Sodaworks for soda after lunch (southern sweet tea and root beer!). Our server was friendly and the food was decent. The look of the restaurant was nice but acoustically it was a little loud. We’d go again, but we’d probably skip the breadsticks (they weren’t bad, but I just prefer housemade….).

Hill City Pizza is located at 12 Frazier Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37405. You can call them at 423-702-5451. They do not have a website (I wish I had realized this; I would have taken a photo of the menu) but you can check out their Facebook page.

Crust Pizza, Signal Mountain Road-October 28, 2011

October 30, 2011

After half a day of work today, I had to make a trip downtown to pick up some equipment for work. Philip went with me so we could eat lunch out somewhere. Of course, being the middle of the day on a Friday, anywhere downtown was pretty much out. Traffic and parking were a nightmare, and it was raining, so parking and walking were not really in the cards. We debated for a few minutes and decided to eat at Crust on Signal Mountain Road (there’s also a Crust off South Broad Street).

Crust is located in a former Long John Silver’s building. You might expect it to have that weird repurposed restaurant vibe….usually, when one restaurant takes over another, you never quite get rid of the vibe of the original. That’s definitely not the case with Crust. The outside and the inside are decorated in funky orange and green, down to the booth seats. Vintage pictures cover the tabletops, and vintage posters hang on the wall. Honestly, if you didn’t know that it used to be Long John Silver’s, I don’t know that you’d ever guess. I was also very impressed with the “landscaping” out front, which I’d never really noticed before. They grow their own herbs right out front-well-groomed rosemary and basil, which our server told us they use in their pizzas.

Crust grows their own fresh herbs!

Can YOU tell this use to be Long John Silver’s?

It had been a while since the last time that we went to Crust, but we’d only been on Sundays after church and for some reason were under the impression that their lunch buffet was only on Sundays. Actually, it may be an all-day buffet. I meant to ask our server, and I forgot. Someone help me out here! The buffet includes an amazing salad (which is listed on the menu as Saladmander)-lettuce, cucumber, Roma tomato, garbanzo beans, onion (which I gave to Philip), sunflower seeds, sliced mushrooms, and mozzarella cheese. Their homemade dressings include kalamata feta, cracked pepper ranch, honey rosemary French, roasted tomato vinaigrette, and creamy bleu. Philip loves the kalamata feta, so of course he ordered that, and I chose the roasted tomato vinaigrette. Delicious! I don’t like olives, so I can’t really comment on Philip’s dressing, but the roasted tomato vinaigrette is so basil-y. It reminds me of the super-yummy tomato soup I make, and that’s a very good thing. The salad makes you feel a little bit better about the pizza buffet…..and I love that they serve it in metal bowls. Don’t ask me why. I just do.

Salad with kalamata feta dressing

Salad with roasted tomato vinaigrette

Apparently we came in right after a lunch rush, so the buffet was a little bare when we first came in. I started with a slice of cheese and a slice that had green peppers, applewood bacon, and just a tiny bit of ground beef (this particular pizza also had Italian sausage, but I’m not a fan so I chose a piece that didn’t have any). Philip had a slice of this as well (with sausage), a slice with pepperoni and sausage, and a slice with kalamata olives, green peppers, and mushrooms. We each had a 2nd slice of the beef/bacon/green pepper/sausage pizza, then they put out a pepperoni and we had a slice of that as well. Then we were stuffed, so we decided to forego the cupcake that we had discussed getting before we ate….but anyway…….

Pepperoni

Cheese (in the back) and ground beef, bacon, and green pepper in the front

Green pepper, bacon, ground beef, Italian sausage (back); pepperoni & sausage (middle); kalamata, green pepper, & mushroom (front)

Crust’s motto (if you can call it that) is “Home of the Cracker-Thin Crust”. I was reading some of the reviews on Urbanspoon, and several people had less than kind things to say about the crust. So, let me say this: if you are not a fan of thin-crust pizza, you will not like their pizza. Order from their pasta, sandwich, or salad menu. If, like me, you are a fool for thin-crust pizza, you are likely to love this place as much as I do. This crust is one of the best that I’ve had. I love their sauce as well; it’s slightly sweet and slightly spicy and clearly homemade (and it does not taste like Chef Boyardee, as one Urbanspoon reviewer perpetuated). The curst really is as thin as a cracker, and they cut it into pseudo-squares, similar to the way that Domino’s cuts their thin-crust pizza…but this pizza is so much better than any national chain restaurant could possibly turn out. I am going to have to order pizza off of the menu sometime, because I really want to try their pesto sauce.

As I mentioned above, there is a selection of pastas, salads, and sandwiches that you can order if you don’t like thin-crust pizza or you just aren’t in the mood for pizza. Everything on the menu has an interesting name, like the Dick Dastardly sandwich (house-roasted Italian sausage slathered with red sauce and loaded with mozzarella), Pasta LaVista (angel hair tossed with seasoned oil, parmesan, mozzarella, Italian sausage, and ricotta), and the Greenzilla salad. You can order a choose-your-topping pizza or order one of their specialty pizzas, like the Sleestak (pepperoni, mushrooms, Italian sausage, and ricotta). Finally, as I mentioned before, they sell housemade dark chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting. At $1.99, they are a bargain over the $3- $4 cupcakes you find in all the trendy cupcake shops right now, and the icing wasn’t 3 feet high, which is always a plus….but we were stuffed so we refrained. I definitely want to try them at some point, though.

So, to sum it up….if you are in the mood for a great salad and the best thin-crust pizza you’ve ever had, make a trip to Crust. I think you’ll find that it’s worth your while!

Crust is located at 100 Signal Mountain Road, Chattanooga, TN 37405 and 3211 South Broad Street, Chattanooga, TN 37408. You can call the Red Bank location at 423-710-3780 and the Broad Street location at 423-756-4040. Check out their website or find them on Facebook.

« Previous Page