Rounders
1203 W. Sixth, 477-0404
Sunday-Thursday, 11:30am-10pm;
Friday-Saturday, 11:30am-11:30pm
www.rounderspizzeria.com
Located in an old house several blocks west of Lamar, Rounders gives you a 1950s cocktail-lounge vibe, strongly reinforced by the early Vegas-era furnishings and decorations. A few video games are inside, and there’s a bar with a big selection, but it’s all about the pizza, and the pizza is very good. Service is top-notch without being smothering, and the plush chairs are übercomfortable. We decided rather quickly that we like Rounders.
The pizza emerges relatively quickly, which let us know that we were dealing with a hot oven (the hotter the better). Pies come in 14- and 18-inch versions and range in price from $11 to $16, with add-ons in $1-3 increments. We ordered a 14-inch because we were hitting a couple of pizzerias that day, and later wished that we had gone large and gone nowhere else.
The dough is fresh, yeasty, thin, and cooked to a perfect golden brown with the right amount of charred spots. Tomatoes are crushed and spread in a thin layer, and a high-quality mozzarella is lightly distributed, giving you tiny windows of tomato-red showing through. There’s a subtle hint of aromatic garlic (extra garlic is free upon request), and the sausage is richly seasoned, robust, and fatty. All in all, a near perfect pie that comes close to rivaling our previous faves. If Rounders isn’t on your pizza radar, it definitely should be.
This article appears in September 11 • 2009.
