Indie Pizzas II

House Pizzeria

House Pizzeria is a nondescript building from the outside, but pleasantly low-key, cleanly designed, and groovy inside. It has a fantastic, eclectic, and cheap CD jukebox, as well as a limited but superb mix of beers on tap, with Italian sodas, sangria, Mexican Coke, and Maine Root root beer on tap and by the pitcher. Ice-cold, bubbly root beer poured from the pitcher with pizza is a wonderful combination. There’s a small, screened-in patio on the shady side. An imported-from-Italy wood-fired pizza oven sits in full view when you order at the counter. All of the pizzas are 12 inches and range between $9 and $13 – 10 choices plus some specials. House Pizzeria stresses fresh and local whenever possible, and our hopes were very high that this might be the pizza of our dreams.

The thin crust is light and fluffy with a pleasing char, a nice yeasty flavor, and a golden-brown finish. The cheese tastes imported and excellent, and the sausage was homemade by someone who understands the importance of seasoning and flavor. The tomatoes were simply canned whole tomatoes lightly crushed and barely seasoned; exactly the way they should be.

The one problem with our pizza at House? Too much tomato. The chunks of tomato were too big, and there was way too much of it on the dough. What should have been a mild sweet-tart flavor lurking in the background, contributing to the whole, became an assertive megalomaniac, dominating the taste. Close, so very close.

This article appears in September 11 • 2009.