Pizza
I’m 50% Italian and 100% American, so I really love-a the pizza. And so does everyone else in Portland, which inspired me to write this poem:
Pizza is so good,
Pizza is so fine,
Why to get good pizza,
Must I wait in line?
Thank you. To go along with my poem, I am also sharing a few of my favorite pizza joints.
Apizza Scholls
My Apizza Scholls philosophy is very simple. Go for the Apizza Amore, stay for the Apizza Amore. It’s fantastic. Apizza’s rich tomato sauce, fresh whole milk mozzarella, pecorino romano, just chopped garlic, fragrant green basil, extra virgin olive oil, and the incomparable capicollo (cured pork shoulder). Almost paper thin, salty, smoky, it’s everything a cured meat should be. While I worship at the altar of Amore, it’s not to say Apizza doesn’t have other pizzas you should put in your belly–the Bacon Bianca, Sausage & Peppers, and Pig & Pineapple come to mind. Legendary Pizza Guru Ed Levine named Apizza one of the top five pizzerias in American in 2008, going so far as to say his visit to Apizza placed him “in the presence of pizza greatness”—high praise indeed, and completely deserved.
- Location: 4741 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Portland Map it!
- Phone Number: 503.233.1286
- Hours: Mon-Sat 5pm-9:30pm, Sun 4pm-8pm
Dove Vivi
Due to an unfortunate but mercifully brief post-college stint of suburbia dwelling, I developed a deep mistrust of any food that originated in a strip mall. Portland has brought back my faith though, because we’ve got food friends in low strip mall places here, and Dove Vivi is a classic example. It might take you few tries to find it, sitting in the blinding technicolor shadow of Pambiche, just look for the clusters of happy pizza-loving hipsters crowding the patio tables outside. This is no ordinary pizza-Dove Vivi uses a unique cornmeal crust and bakes their deep dish pies in thin cast iron pans, creating thick, hearty, richly flavored pizzas like the Quatro Fromaggio (mozzarella, fontina, provolone, parmesan, tomato sauce), Pepperoni Classico (mozzarella, pepperoni, tomato sauce) and my favorite, the Corn (mozzarella, smoked mozzarella, balsamic marinated roasted red onions, fresh sweet corn, chives and sausage). Salads are a breath of fresh air–sample the kale salad, a heaping mound of finely shredded lacinato kale and ricotta salata with lemon shallot dressing. The tiny wine list is worth mentioning because it’s such a great value, and you can choose from two draft beers or nearly 20 bottled. It’s strip mall dining at its best.
Give Pizza a Chance
When I finally got around to giving this busy pumpkin-colored food cart a chance, and waited in line for 1o minutes to order, I was mad. Mad that I hadn’t come sooner, mad that I’d always let myself be seduced by some other cart along the way, mad that I’d already eaten my first lunch of the day and thus could only manage to stuff in one piece of pizza. GPAC’s wheat pizza crust is thick (but not off-puttingly so), and it’s chewy, crisp on the bottom and so good and hot you’ll eat your way through the entire piece and down to the crust nubbin in no time. The cheese is soft, thick and bubbly, the sauce is fresh and balanced, and for $6 you can get a lunch deal that includes a slice of your choice, a fresh Greek salad and a handcrafted soda.
Good Neighbor Pizza
You couldn’t ask for a better neighbor than Good Neighbor Pizza–this laid back little Northeast Portland pizzeria has beautiful pizzas piled high with fresh seasonal ingredients, cheap and tasty salads, neat old brick walls covered in funky local art, a full bar with four beers on tap, super friendly service, and a Big Buck Hunter arcade game. What more can you ask for in a neighbor? Mix and match house combinations like the Mean Green (pesto, artichoke hearts, green onions, tomatoes, and fresh garlic) and the Hog Heaven (pepperoni, spicy Italian sausage, canadian bacon, applewood-smoked bacon, and tomatoes), build your own pizza from the list of vegetables, meats, cheeses and sauces provided, or just buy a slice of cheese, pepperoni, or veggie up at the bar. Start dinner with an order of fragrant garlic knots–dough knots brushed with garlic oil and sprinkled with parmesan, then served with tomato sauce for dipping. When the doors are rolled up in the summer, and I’m plunked down at a picnic table with a glass of wine and a slice of Sweet Piglet (Canadian bacon, organic pears, and tomatoes), I’m thinking we all need more Good Neighbors like this one.
Hot Lips
I love Hot Lips, but I don’t think the feeling is mutual because the last time I ordered an Omnivore Bliss for delivery it came festooned with enough chopped garlic that my hardcover Twilight series melted into a pile of quivering goo. There was chopped garlic sprinkled on top, pockets of chopped garlic hiding beneath the pepperoni and bacon, gobs of chopped garlic copulating with the black olives, and gangs of chopped garlic gone wild fisticuffing the sausage and mushrooms. To say I had garlic breath after that meal was an understatement, and the final blow was later that evening, when I tried to kiss my lifesized cardboard cutout of Edward Cullen good night like I usually do, and his exquisite face burst into flame. My point? I don’t have one. I just wanted to vent. But please note that although Hot Lips ruined my relationship with my most cherished cardboard vampire, I still think their local, organic and sustainably-sourced pizzas are tops, and so are their phenomenal seasonal sodas. During summer, you should endeavor to make at least two strawberry soda floats a day (Hot Lips strawberry soda, vanilla ice cream, and crushed & whole fresh Hood strawberries) until autumn cruelly takes the strawberry soda from us, grasshopper.
- Location: 1909 SW 6th Ave. Portland * 633 SW 18th Ave. Portland * 721 NW 9th Ave, Portland * 2211 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Portland * 5440 NE 33rd Ave. Portland Map it!
- Phone Number: SW 6th 503.224.0311 * SW 18th 503.517.9354 * NW 503.595.2342 * SE 503.234.9999 * NE 503.445.1020
- Hours: SW 6th Sun 12-9pm * SW 18th Sun 12-9pm * NW 11am-9pm * SE 11am-10pm * NE 11am-10pm
Ken’s Artisan Pizza
The crown jewel of this beautiful, bustling Southeast pizzeria is the massive custom built pizza oven that bakes with such intensity that Ken’s celestial pizzas are cooked in a scant two minutes, the crust rendered perfectly chewy and blistered, the toppings barely disturbed. Start your meal with a Caesar, a Smoked Trout salad (house-smoked trout, pickled asparagus, radicchio, and creme fraiche) or wood oven roasted vegetable plate, then move on to the pies, which are lightly adorned but pack a flavorful punch. A few of Ken’s finest are the traditional Margherita (with or without arugula), the spicy Soppressata (my favorite), Fennel Sausage & Onions, and the Amatriciana (roasted tomato sauce, housemade pancetta, red onions).
- Location: 304 SE 28th Ave. Portland Map it!
- Phone Number: 503.517.9951
- Hours: Tue-Sat 5-10pm
Mississippi Pizza
With its thatched awning lined with tiny twinkle-light lanterns and big front windows that open out onto North Mississippi Street, Mississippi Pizza is like a lovely-smelling beacon for pizza lovers and those looking for a cozy haven alike. Plop down in a red leather window booth with a meaty piece of crispy-crusted Heart Stopper–pepperoni, Italian sausage, and Canadian bacon, or go vegan with a pesto slathered slice covered in kalamata olives, roasted red peppers and garlic, and sun dried tomatoes. Gluten free pizza graces the menu as well. Pair your pizza slice with a Spinach or Caesar salad for $5.75 or $6 respectively every day from 11:30-2:30pm, join the pizzeria’s spelling bee on Monday nights, or eat a wedge before/during/after a show at the adjoining Atlantis Lounge, which sports a full bar.
Nostrana
I’ve been sawing into Nostrana pizzas for several years now, and actually have a very impressive knuckle scar thanks to their “we make it, you cut it” philsophy, aka “the Italian way.” Since wine is very cheap in Italy and as a result, my memories of eating real Italian pizza, sliced or unsliced, are rather blurry, I’ll take Nostrana’s word for it. But no matter how you slice it (ha), Nostrana’s wood-fired oven pizza is kick heinie. The crust is thin but substantial–no cracker crust here–and appealingly chewy, with black blisters dotting its doughy landscape. I’m partial to the classic Margherita, but other top pies include the Luganega–spicy sausage, smoked mozzarella, and broccoli rabe, the Sofia–thinly sliced red fingerling potatoes, house-cured pancetta, and rosemary, and the Polpettine–little pork meatballs, house-made mozzarella, wild oregano and ricotta. Pair your pizza with a bottle of wine–the wine list is Italian and Oregon exclusive, and be sure to slice your pie before you start sipping.
- Location: 1401 SE Morrison St. Portland Map it!
- Phone Number: 503.234.2427
- Hours: Lunch Mon-Fri 11:30am-2pm, Dinner Sun-Thu 5-10pm, Fri-Sat 5-11pm * Happy Hour daily 9pm-close
Pyro Pizza
Pyro’s crust is thin, chewy and blistery, the pizzas are cooked in a honest-to-goodness wood-fired oven right inside the cart, the toppings are fresh and delicious, the people are nice. I don’t have to wait forever to get a seat. Heck, there aren’t any seats. There’s a scant wait of seven or so minutes for your pizza. Which happens to be just enough time to put in an order for a peanut butter chocolate chip fried pie across the way at Whiffies Fried Pies. Take your pizza and pie home and pop open a bottle of cava/beer/YooHoo and you might just have the perfect meal.
- Location: SE 12th & Hawthorne Map it!
- Phone Number: 503.929.1404
- Hours: Wed-Thu 6pm-12am, Fri-Sat 6pm-3am
Tastebud Farm
Tastebud Farm’s Executive Chef Mark Doxtader makes very good things in his wood-fired brick ovens–like his distinctive bagels, and fruit crisps, and of course, pizza. Chewy, slightly tangy crust with beautiful bubble blisters and just the right amount of char, you can choose your own adornments or you can order one of the pizzas on the menu, combinations include more traditional arrangements like sausage, fennel, tomato, mozzarella and pizza toppers that reflect the season, like summer’s zucchini, ricotta, parmesan, and argula pizza.
