Pizza Wars 2009

Welcome to the fourth installment of our recurring series fondly known as “Pizza Wars.” Most of you know that I am a transplant from New Haven, CT, home to some of the best pizza in the world. So it is with a trifle of remorse and irony that I’ve rated the pizza down in my adopted home of Austin.

Tex Mex? BBQ? Steaks? You bet! These are the regional cuisines of central Texas. But authentic east-coast style pizza? That’s pretty much been another story. That is until pretty recently.

To begin Pizza Wars in years past I spent precious space trashing most of the national pizza chains. This year I will eschew what had become a colossal waste of time and totally redundant exercise. By and large, they still suck with Domino’s being by far the worst. This year I will concentrate on local Austin pizza joints and see where that takes us.

The downtown and So. Congress area is filled with very acceptable and credible pizza joints. The Austin Onion is a fun and quirky little spot on W. 5th across from Kenichi. Open late and with a thin crust, the pies are not great but pretty darn good. Not far away on 6th St. is the old standard Ropollo’s. You can order at the take-out window and they also have a trailer location on 4th at Colorado. Good, huge pies. Once an extra-large pie delivered to my office and the kid had trouble carrying it up the stairs: it was that big! But big or not, the flavor is there. Another good spot is Rounders on W. 6th. Very good pepperoni pie and wonderful garlic knots. The crusts on the pizzas here are a cut above.

And what’s not to like about the venerable Frank and Angie’s? Don King turned me on to this place and I owe him. The white pizza with garlic is pretty darned impressive and my daughter Jenn’s favorite. Local chain Mangia makes a good deep dish pie but I’m not really a fan of that genre. And Austin Pizza’s has taken an upward turn since the last Pizza Wars. Since trimming the number of their stores, their consistency has improved. And with pizza, consistency is everything! Also let’s not forget the always dependable Milto’s on Guadalupe. They were one of the first to bring a pie with east-coast sensibilities to the downtown area and they haven’t let up. And down the street is very good newcomer the Mellow Mushroom. My only regret is that when I was a professor at UT, with an office at 26th and Guadalupe, the Mellow Mushroom was not then across the street. Very good calzones as well.

Heading north on Guadalupe, you exit at 34th St. for Salvation Pizza. One of the owners has CT roots, from Hartford, and Chef Eric, formerly of Fleming’s has shown that he can adapt to pizza. Man, this is a great pie. Had a sausage, mushroom and onion that was almost explosive with flavor. And more importantly, the crust was damn near dead-on New Haven. After forty- five minutes of nibbling, the crust was still crispy and malleable: an imperative for great pizza. Better still, the left-overs held up to the refrigerator test the next morning. You know, first bite cold out of the box.

Home Slice has quickly become one of the most popular pizza joints in the city. This S. Congress emporium makes a hell of a sausage and mushroom pie and the crust is very close to New Haven quality. And while they claim to have New Haven quality clam pizza, in my opinion, they do not. Nothing ignoble about that because nobody else down here does either.! But Home Slice rocks. Great salads as well.

Just up S. Congress from Home Slice is Southside Flying Pizza. Their Greek Pizza sparkles and I really like the Margherita Pizza as well. And praise the gods, they deliver!

Completing the triumvirate on S. Congress is the pizza at Vespaio Enoteca. The Calebrese Sausage pizza is simply stunning! The Quattro Formagi is one of the better versions of this pie around the city.

Then we move over to the east Side for the inestimable East Side Pies. This is another newer pizza joint with Neapolitan styles that really rock. Very popular with students and the SXSW crowd! Popular with our family as well.

And no story on Austin pizza could be complete without mentioning local chain Craig O’s. From his first store at Mopac and 290, founder Craig Plackis has expanded to six stores with the latest in Georgetown and San Marcos. The pizza is good as is the antipasta and the pastas.

Just north of downtown is a new player on the scene, Gabriel Pellegrini’s Sagra Trattoria. Again, not a pizzeria but their pies deserve mention. The classic Sagra pizza with tomato sauce, egg, pecorino, mozzarella and truffle oil is one of my favorites. The restaurant recently closed for lunch to focus on dinners only. Good move for them, if you ask me. Ciola’s did the same thing several years ago and they wound up much better off for it.

And of course we can’t forget the venerable Brick Oven on Red River. This was one of the first serious pizzerias in Austin. I still love their veggie pizza. The pies are still good after all these years, but the competition is catching up. And over on W. Lynn, no examination of pizza in the central are would be complete without a look at Cipollina, the sister restaurant of Jeffrey’s. This is not a pizza joint per se, but the pies they do offer up need to be taken seriously. Try the Prosciutto and Goat Cheese. This one bursts with flavor.

Moving further south, the folks at Circle C finally got something to eat with the advent of Mangieri’s on Slaughter at Escarpment. Piper and Tony Mangieri serve up New Jersey style pies that are damned good. I love the whole wheat crust at this family style place. And store #2 is about to open in Lakeway.

Moving further out north, there are several good possibilities. Reale’s on Research at Anderson Mill has been around since before they tore up 183 for what seemed like 90 years. This family-owned restaurant was one of the few to survive the construction and their regulars got them through it. That says a lot. So does their Pepperoni Pizza.

And farther out, toward Round Rock is the small local chain called Brooklyn Pies with locations at La Frontera Mall and at Far West. They have huge pieces by the slice that emulate, well maybe not Grimaldi’s, but something you’d find in Brooklyn. Neat stores.

Also in Round Rock and Cedar Park is the almost legendary Saccone’s. Dan Saccone is another east coast transplant who has come just about as close any anyone in years past to making the NY pie. From all accounts both personal and from readers, he is still a serious players.

Then let’s move down to the Hill Country Galleria in far Southwest Austin. A recently opened pizzeria called Tony C’s, adjacent to the Movieplex, is packing them in. This is a coal-fired brick oven which can bring the temperature to 850 degrees. That makes for crispy, smoky crusts which impart east coast sensibilities to the flavor. Although just opened, it is climbing like a hit record up the charts with a bullet! Watch out for Tony C’s. Try the Donato with sausage and coal fired peppers. Yum! This is owned by Tony Ciola of Ciola’s in Lakeway.

And down the street on Highway 71 is Yaghi’s New York Pizzeria. While Yaghi may not be a New Yorker, he’s figured out how to make a very decent pizza. He does a serious take-out business.

And brand new to the southwest area is River Hills Pizza. Owned by a former Mr.Gatti’s manager, they re filling a huge delivery void in the Bee Caves area west of Highway 360.

And let’s not forget Giovanni’s, the little silver trailer off South Lamar next to Phoenicia Deli and Bakery. They make a high quality pizza with serious NYC overtones. You can also get some pasta dishes. This is one place that I wish would expand so I could sit my big ass down and more properly enjoy their food.

And we also need to add the latest newcomer to the pizza fray: Corvina up in Round Rock. This is the area’s 2nd coal-fired oven and while they have just recently opened, they are smoking hot. Seriously good pies here in the hands of a pizza man who knows what he’s doing. This is a big plus for Round Rock dining.

So there you have it. And now I suppose you want rankings. Well, what the hell. Everybody always does. So, if I had to rank a top five, and it would be a very difficult task, all the following would be included: (please note that the following are pizza-first restaurants only).

Home Slice, East Side Pies, Tony C’s, Salvation Pizza, and Saccone’s.

And now of course we have to coronate a #1! Well, for the moment, it would have to be Salvation Pizza. Their work has matured and their product is just marvelous.

My favorite pizza at full-menu Italian restaurants would be found at Vespaio Enoteca and Sagra Trattoria.

So until the next Pizza Wars, as my aunt used to say, may your life be an Abudanza!