Second Helpings: Slices of Life, Part 2

“Second Helpings” offers tasty, bite-sized restaurant listings compiled from new and previous reviews, guides, and poll results. This week’s entries were updated by Erin Mosow. For quick, reliable info about Austin eateries, check here.

Marye’s Gourmet Pizza

3663 Bee Caves Rd., 327-5222 Monday-Friday, 11am-9pm; Saturday, noon-9pm
Marye’s does a brisk lunch business with a special that includes an 8-inch pizza of the day, a choice of salad, and an iced tea or soda. The pizza of the day might be a conventional Margherita pizza or something really wild like the Que, an olive-oil-glazed crust with barbecued chicken, red onions, cilantro, jalapeño, and smoked Gouda. Recent specialty additions include a pesto and sun-dried-tomato pizza topped with feta, provolone, and mozzarella and the Diablo — a combination of Roma tomatoes, chipotle mayonnaise, red onions, smoked turkey, and jalapeño jack cheese. Each is prepared on a perforated, thin, crispy crust with abundant cornmeal dusted on the bottom. Marye’s also serves a wide selection of sandwiches and calzones.

Milto’s

2909 Guadalupe St., 476-1021 Monday-Saturday, 11am-10:30pm; Sunday, 11:30am-10:30pm
Milto’s is a longtime UT-area institution serving both Italian and Greek specialties. The Greek salad with excellent house dressing comes with a chewy roll made out of pizza dough and coated with spices. It’s a wonderful prelude to their thick, chewy pizza with plenty of tomato sauce. Milto’s Alfredo Artichoke Pizza and lasagna are two of the restaurant’s standout Italian dishes.

Pizza Nizza

1608 Barton Springs Rd., 474-7470 Monday-Thursday, 11am-10pm; Friday-Saturday, 11am-11pm; Sunday, noon-10pm
Opened in 1990 by former Whole Foods Market partner Mark Stiles and his wife Sylvie, this restaurant near Zilker Park serves pastas, salads, and pizzas in an artfully funky décor that takes a lot more from Milan than Sicily. In addition to choosing from a wide variety of toppings, Pizza Nizza diners can choose from a range of pizza sauces, as well. The pineapple pizza is a good bet on hot summer days after a dip in Barton Springs.

Reale’s Pizza & Cafe

13450 Research Blvd., 335-5115 Monday-Thursday, 11am-9:30pm; Friday, 11am-10pm; Saturday, noon-10pm
The drive up Research may be tedious, but Reale’s is much closer than the East Coast pizzerias that it accurately approximates. On the way, you can decide whether to go for the big, bubbly crusted 16-inch pie, which gets a little wet in the middle, or to stick with the 14-incher, which stays crisp all the way across. It’s a tough choice. You sacrifice the big bubbles with the 14-incher, but the crust stays perfect. Check out their daily lunch and dinner specials at www.realespizzaandcafe.com.

Rounders

1203 W. Sixth, 477-0404 Monday-Friday, 11:30am-10pm; Saturday-Sunday, 2-10pm
Downtown now has its very own New York pizzeria. Their pies are hand-tossed into a thin crust and baked until crispy. The casino-style interior is a match for Sixth Street partyers looking for a bite to eat before they head out, and the restaurant is conveniently located for downtown lunch hours. An abundance of available ingredients, fresh salads, and made-to-order calzones are sure to please.

Saccone’s Pizza

13812 Research Blvd., 257-1200 Wednesday-Sunday, 11am-10pm 2701 Hwy. 183, Leander, 512/259-1882 Monday-Saturday, 11am-9pm; Sunday, 3-9pm
Saccone’s motto is “Pizza With a Jersey Attitude.” While it’s hard to muster up Jersey attitude in a restaurant full of little-leaguers screaming for more video-game quarters, Saccone’s many varieties of thin-crust pies (whole or by the slice) do a good job of putting you in the right frame of mind. Saccone’s also serves 1-inch-thick Sicilian-style pizza cut into squares and has added the classic Pizza Margherita to the menu. Pasta, calzones, stromboli, and subs round out the menu. Both locations serve beer and wine and will be introducing an expanded menu within a month.