Finally…Pizza!

One or two of you might have been wondering when I’d finally get around to talking about pizza in the Pizza Night category. I was hoping to save it for a special occasion—and I did! It’s a little occasion I like to call “writer’s block.”

And what’s a better cure for writer’s block than rambling on and on about your favorite food? Of course, Tuesday is the “ramble on and on about food” category. Friday is the eating out category. So this can only mean one thing: It’s time to talk about Home Slice Pizza.

I must apologize in advance for this potentially mouth-watering post to those of you who do not reside within a short drive of Austin, Texas. And I must apologize to the owners of Home Slice Pizza because I’ve only made it to your excellent establishment once. (I just don’t get out of this chair as often as I’d like.)

If you’d like to know the HSP backstory, I highly recommend watching The Queen of Pies. Their specialty is serving up New York style pizza (and I must offer a third apology to my friends and family in my hometown of Chicago: but when it comes to pizza, New York’s got the goods). If you don’t know what NY style is, I’ll let them tell you what it’s not: “A flabby pepperoni and mush (room) delivered by [insert favorite chain here].”

They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, and the trip to my stomach better be taken by an extremely crisp, relatively thinnish, very large, oven-fired pizza. It should have sauce, cheese, and pepperoni. That’s it. (This is what I like to refer to as “a pepperonly pizza”). Believe me, Home Slice delivers the goods. You might wait a few more minutes here than at other pizza places but if you’re in a hurry (and you’re not) then go someplace that deserves your impatience. Like McDonald’s. You are clearly here for perfection in the form of a properly prepared pie.

You say you’d like to be more adventurous than just a pepperonly pizza? Well, then I highly recommend my second favorite: the White Pie with Spinach. This is made with olive oil, garlic, ricotta, and mozzarella. A picture of this pizza is shown here at the right.

So if you live in Austin, head over there as soon as you can. If you don’t live in Austin, get here as soon as you can. Once at Home Slice Pizza, just tell them Charlie sent you. If they say, “Who?” then ask to speak to Jen, one of the owners. If she says, “Who?” then say, “You know, Charlie, that guy you worked with back in 2001 or 2002 for a while at that doomed start-up.” If she says, “Who?” then say, “Just bring me some pizza, okay?”