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Knoxville pizza
Jul. 8th, 2009 07:00 pmJudson and I are on a new quest to try all the pizza in town. We haven't really made it far yet, and you should be warned that our tastes tend to be rather plain. We usually opt for the cheese ("plain") pizza.
Today we tried I Heart NY pizza on Chapman Hwy. I was surprised and pleased by the decor and ambience. The restaurant is in an old strip mall, which is mostly abandoned. I expected the usual generic red-and-green pizza interior. Instead, there's graffii and memorabilia all over the walls and the restaurant was reasonably dark. I enjoyed the music, which was sounds from the alternative edge of pop/rock. (Not pop rocks.) Our waitress was dressed suitably New York with a leather studded belt and short hair. Her manner though was friendly. We ordered a large cheese pizza ($9.99) and I had a house salad. The salad was fresh and included spinach and pepperoncini and olives. The dressing though was Ken's. The pizza was good in a New York way. It wasn't too greasy. You could tell they use corn flour to prevent sticking rather than oil, and the dough was not oily. The cheese was pretty oily. The sauce had a darker flavor than I prefer, a little heavy on the thyme (maybe?) and garlic. Overall I didn't love it, but I was pleased. The pizza tasted better when picked up in proper New York style than it did when I ate it with a fork. If I lived in South Knoxville, I would go there again. It wasn't good enough or cheap enough though to make the trek worthwhile.
Yesterday I tried the pizza at the Silver Spoon/ American Cafe on Kingston Pike. This restaurant is close to where I live, so I go there fairly often, even though the last few times haven't been very impressive. I didn't try the cheese pizza. Since I was alone, I opted for the personal-size sausage and pepperoni for $8.99. I would NOT recommend it. It wasn't bad exactly. It just wasn't worth the price or the calories. My favorite things about pizza are the cheese and the crust, and this had very little of either. The crust was very thin, which can be okay. There wasn't much sauce but there was plenty of meat. The sausage was cut in large rounds, which I find strange and which seemed to overpower the rest of the pizza. The pizza was basically a delivery method for the meat. I enjoyed the sausage on its own, but the pizza effect was lost.
Our favorite pizza place remains Gondolier, a regional chain and family restaurant. The pizza is cheap and the cheese is both real and yummy. The crust is thicker than NY style, so if that's your thing, you won't be happy. It has overall a great balance of cheese, crust, and sauce, all for a low price.
Today we tried I Heart NY pizza on Chapman Hwy. I was surprised and pleased by the decor and ambience. The restaurant is in an old strip mall, which is mostly abandoned. I expected the usual generic red-and-green pizza interior. Instead, there's graffii and memorabilia all over the walls and the restaurant was reasonably dark. I enjoyed the music, which was sounds from the alternative edge of pop/rock. (Not pop rocks.) Our waitress was dressed suitably New York with a leather studded belt and short hair. Her manner though was friendly. We ordered a large cheese pizza ($9.99) and I had a house salad. The salad was fresh and included spinach and pepperoncini and olives. The dressing though was Ken's. The pizza was good in a New York way. It wasn't too greasy. You could tell they use corn flour to prevent sticking rather than oil, and the dough was not oily. The cheese was pretty oily. The sauce had a darker flavor than I prefer, a little heavy on the thyme (maybe?) and garlic. Overall I didn't love it, but I was pleased. The pizza tasted better when picked up in proper New York style than it did when I ate it with a fork. If I lived in South Knoxville, I would go there again. It wasn't good enough or cheap enough though to make the trek worthwhile.
Yesterday I tried the pizza at the Silver Spoon/ American Cafe on Kingston Pike. This restaurant is close to where I live, so I go there fairly often, even though the last few times haven't been very impressive. I didn't try the cheese pizza. Since I was alone, I opted for the personal-size sausage and pepperoni for $8.99. I would NOT recommend it. It wasn't bad exactly. It just wasn't worth the price or the calories. My favorite things about pizza are the cheese and the crust, and this had very little of either. The crust was very thin, which can be okay. There wasn't much sauce but there was plenty of meat. The sausage was cut in large rounds, which I find strange and which seemed to overpower the rest of the pizza. The pizza was basically a delivery method for the meat. I enjoyed the sausage on its own, but the pizza effect was lost.
Our favorite pizza place remains Gondolier, a regional chain and family restaurant. The pizza is cheap and the cheese is both real and yummy. The crust is thicker than NY style, so if that's your thing, you won't be happy. It has overall a great balance of cheese, crust, and sauce, all for a low price.