I’m afraid that I unwittingly insulted the awesome Jeff Varasano when we visited for dinner one Sunday evening a couple of months ago. Marie and the three year-old and I were at Varasano’s Pizzeria along with Marie’s mother, enjoying some quite fantastic pies. Jeff was making the rounds, asking how people were enjoying things and doing Rubik’s Cubes in under thirty seconds. As party tricks go, that’s a pretty impressive one. I told Jeff how much I enjoyed that recent interview with Serious Eats, and then, because I got tongue-tied, I spittundled out something about Vingenzo’s, up in Woodstock, that sounded like I was saying Jeff’s pies were second-rate to those. Not so. Continue reading “Varasano’s Pizzeria, Atlanta GA (take two)”
Tag: pizza
Nancy’s Pizza, Atlanta GA
Readers in the south “of a certain age” may recall some TV commercials way back when that advertised some big chain – Pizza Hut, probably – and their then-new “deep dish pizza.” For those of us outside Chicago, this was our introduction to the concept that in the Windy City, they have a very curious regional take on this food. The ads, as I recall them, had the voice of a Barry White impersonator dubbed over some little girls. I don’t believe that the product was a big hit, and I don’t believe that the good people of Chicago thought that it was in any way representative of one of their town’s specialties, but it probably did more than anything else to inform the general public that such a thing existed. Continue reading “Nancy’s Pizza, Atlanta GA”
Mama’s Pizza, Alpharetta GA
Our old friend Matt has taken a job in Alpharetta, giving us a chance to meet up with him and sample another north Fulton restaurant. He suggested Mama’s Pizza, which has been selling New York-style slices since 1979. Peter Vavaroutsos emigrated from Greece to New York City in the mid-1950s, learned to make pizza the local way, and moved to the Big Peach after twenty years in the Big Apple. His son Jimmy now carries on the family tradition. Continue reading “Mama’s Pizza, Alpharetta GA”
Lupi’s Pizza Pies, Chattanooga TN
To make up for my daughter being away for a week, and, as it turned out, not having quite as perfect a vacation as she had hoped, I asked her what sort of food she’d like when we got to Chattanooga. She picked pizza, and I looked for something promising on the I-75 side of town. Having already tried everybody’s patience by turning the ninety-minute drive from Knoxville into three and change, I didn’t want to press my luck going around and north to Soddy-Daisy or someplace and suggesting that this was still technically the Chattanooga area. No, best just to find something close to the interstate and move on. Continue reading “Lupi’s Pizza Pies, Chattanooga TN”
La Tagliatella, Atlanta GA (CLOSED)
Recently, the local PR team for La Tagliatella reached out to us to see whether we’d like to give one of this very large chain’s two Atlanta stores a try. We were certainly aware of the company’s entrance into this market in 2013, but never found time to visit. Atlanta, after all, has lots and lots of restaurants. I was curious about the chain, and, looking around, see that not too many other local writers have visited. Is it because, in Europe, La Tagliatella is a huge chain? Would bloggers in England balk if somebody opened an Olive Garden there? Continue reading “La Tagliatella, Atlanta GA (CLOSED)”
Community Pie, Chattanooga TN (take two)
While we enjoyed Community Pie, it had not been on our radar for an immediate return visit. Late last year, they reached out to us and let us know about an interesting change to their menu and insisted that we pay them a visit on their dime. I said that another trip to Chattanooga wasn’t on the immediate agenda, but they wouldn’t take no for an answer and sent us a gift certificate anyway. Continue reading “Community Pie, Chattanooga TN (take two)”
Peppino’s Pizzeria, Athens GA
Years ago, when I went back to school, as an older and nontraditional student, I joined a certain friendly society on campus, and, after our Thursday night meetings, it was tradition to walk as a group over to Peppino’s. This is when it was still downtown, on Broad Street, and usually just getting warmed up for the night around 10 in the evening. Continue reading “Peppino’s Pizzeria, Athens GA”
Marie, Let's Eat! 