Ohio Pizza-politan Adventures: North High Pie and Rising

Ain't nothing wrong with a little char: the pies of Natalie's Coal Fired Pizza
help make the north part of North High Street a bit of a pizza destination 

If one remembers, what has become a more or less regular series of posts on this blog was inspired by the simple question of whether the little town of Worthington was, in terms of sheer numbers, the the pizza capital of Central Ohio. We never did find a definitive answer for that question due to a number of factors, but we did realize as the end of the year was coming that we really hadn't explored for anything new in this area in quite awhile.

We considered that fact as more than enough incentive to get back to this pizza-heavy corridor of the metro, as we dropped by two places less than a mile from each other on the northern reaches of High Street in the area between Old Beechwold and Worthington.

Charleston Choosing (Part 2): Grits Are Good For You, and The Slice you Needa'

Walking on top the High Battery, the seawall and promenade which
was originally part of the town's coastal battery defenses

The fact that Charleston's culinary scene has risen on a national level cannot be denied, though if you take as de facto what this USA Today article states, this attention might be a bit much for the locals, as it has perhaps unsurprisingly brought in increased car traffic, raised rental rates, and created staffing shortages in the hospitality industry.

Even with these issues, I am certain the attention given to the local food scene by these national luminaries is deep down a point of pride for the residents of this city of just under 135,000 people, and we were obviously not about to deny ourselves our first sampling of this diverse food scene.

The Greater Columbus Pizza-politan Area

The Ohio State University Campus: a heavy (unsurprisingly) pizza area

As covered in my last blog post, a simple question about Worthington being the pizza capital in terms of ratio of pizza to people proved to be a lot more complicated than I would have thought at first glance. A lot of it has to do with geography - ragged city borders from years of annexation and the normal flow of business means some popular destinations for the city's residents are actually not in Worthington proper.  But as a countering force, there is a hometown pizza aspect that does drive diners to prefer one pizza place over another.

With obviously other factors at play like price and convenience, I figured that a bigger picture was needed and that all pizza places in the area needed to be mapped. Who knows, similarly sized suburbs like Bexley or Grandview Heights might be more pizza-rich than Worthington, or maybe I could pinpoint some relative pizza hot spots. So a couple weeks after I started looking into the topic, I broke out my Google Maps and centered it on the Columbus area and punched in the word "pizza".

Takeout Pie of the Month: Adriatico's

Pizza is one of those things that is hard to do badly. Sure, there are plenty of mediocre pizzas, but even those versions matched with solid liquid refreshment under the right circumstances (a birthday party, a hard day of moving, etc.) can sate hungry souls quite satisfactorily.

There's also something about pizzas that are quite appealing: leftovers, and more specifically cold pizza. I had personally been of the reheat-the-pizza camp all my life until my spouse had mentioned to me that cold pizza for breakfast was something she quite enjoyed. Despite her testimony, I remained a skeptic until we stopped by a pizza place in Klamath Falls, Oregon during one of our first big road trips together for dinner. The pizza fresh out of the oven here definitely fell into the mediocre category. However, a stint in the hotel fridge had transformed the remaining slices into a fairly satisfying breakfast the next morning. Since then, I've enjoyed many a leftover slice cold from the fridge.

One of the things we still have not done enough of since I've moved here is explore the pizzas of the Columbus metro. I've proposed to my spouse a pizza of the month idea to help correct this deficiency, and she seems to have gone along with the idea. It seems like with enough time, we ought to get through all of them eventually, right?

First off: a pizza that has been a favorite of my spouse's since she was a student at Ohio State University - Adriatico's.

Location: Adriatico's resides in the South Campus area of Columbus), providing its pies and other wares to students and other pizza lovers alike since 1986 (the original location of Adriatico's can be found next to the University of Cincinnati campus.)  My spouse has had the pleasure of numerous lunches consisting of their wares; however, I was only introduced to their pizza fairly recently.

Dining Experience: Most people get Adriatico's pizzas to go or for delivery, which isn't surprising as they are catering to the student and faculty population of nearby OSU. Unlike many other takeout places, you actually can dine in here at Adriatico's, but don't expect a lot of room, as the (unfortunately) blurry pic below shows. During the warmer months, a few umbrella-decked patio tables are available on the sidewalk in front of the building to provide more seating.

You can dine at Adriatico's, if you don't mind being
really close to your neighbors.

If you are not jonesing for pizza on your visit, Adriatico's also offers a line of subs, salads and calzones to prospective diners.

From the Takeout Box:  For me, Sicilian style pizzas were never quite anything I stumbled upon while I lived in the Bay Area, but it was available in a few select locations. Two such purveyors reside in the North Beach neighborhood: the long-standing Golden Boy Pizza as well as nationally renowned Tony's Pizza Napoletana, which has recently added this style to their menu. Due to this lack of experience with the style, and my spouse's familiarity with it, this what we've stuck with for takeout.

Adriatico's Sicilian-style pizza is a greasy but fulfilling creation,
bracketed with a quite satisfying buttery crust

The first thing I noticed about the pizza was, not surprisingly, its thick crust and its nicely golden-brown color. A glorious ring of browned (but not burnt) ringed the main topping area and had cascaded on top or just over the crust. This appetizing look was confirmed by my first bit of this crust, with a uniquely buttery taste and its nice combination of crunch and chew.

Another bonus is the slightly spicy sauce: both my spouse and I are not fans of the sweeter sauces, and Adriatico's fits the bill here.

My spouse jokes that Adriatico's pizza is a diet-killer, and she really wasn't kidding. Adriatico's tends to produce a greasier pizza than most, and this in combination with the thicker crust and non-skimpy amounts of toppings leads to a satisfyingly full belly after only a few pieces.

Cold Pizza Worthiness: due to the greasy nature of the pizza, the bottom crust had obtained a bit of a soggy texture; however, the outer crust was still quite good. I'd probably lean toward reheating leftover slices in the future if possible, but I could easily eat this cold if I were feeling like a lazy-butt or similar in the morning.

Verdict: Adriatico's is a good solid eating pizza, perfect for filling bellies. If this place had been around when I was a college student, I might be 20 pounds heavier than I am now. While I might venture to their thin-crust pizzas and other menu items just simply out of curiosity, my spouse has sold me on their buttery thick-crust Sicilian style as our de facto pie of choice.

Adriatico's New York Style Pizza
265 West 11th Ave (South Campus)
Columbus, OH 43201
614-421-2300
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