Eat Your Heart Out

Spartan Pizza

Jeremy and Nicole Portwood are another hardworking, local entrepreneurial couple who have parlayed a food trailer success story into their first brick-and-mortar operation. Their new place is a snug spot a couple of blocks west of their former trailer location. It features an open kitchen and limited counter seating because the focus here is on takeout and delivery, although plans for outdoor counter seating are in the works. Grab a craft beer at the counter and watch the staff tossing dough for 10- or 14-inch pizzas or building hot, hearty sandwiches, all named for Greek gods. While all the Spartan sauces and salad dressings are made fresh in-house, queso aficionados will want to try the secret Portwood family recipe for jalapeño cheese dip, served cold with some hot tortilla chips made at El Milagro just across the street. It’s a taste treat. For our money, the Spartan dough is the real star working in the service of the mythic pizza gods – tossed and stretched, it provides the pizzas with a base that’s crisp on the outside but still chewy; baked in thicker sheets, it’s the perfect delivery system for hot sandwiches. Can’t wait until their delivery area includes my street.

This article appears in May 1 • 2015.