Dining
14-inch pizza with two toppings
Pizzereal $14
Little Italy $9.99
Castrillo’s $12.75
There was a time when the notion of pizza wars in East Nashville might have sounded about as likely as the arrival of rustic French cuisine in Five Points. But gentrification happens.
As chain-link fences have yielded to manicured lawns and neglected blocks have given way to loft condos, upwardly mobile investment in East Nashville has ushered in a lot of dough—the kind that carries tomato sauce and toppings and gets delivered in a cardboard box.
Yes, East Nashville now boasts a competitive landscape of independent pizza stores. At one geographic extreme, there’s Little Italy, an unassuming family business just across the river from downtown on Woodland Street. At the other end of the map, there’s Castrillo’s Pizza, set back near the intersection of McGavock and Riverside, where a nascent nexus of stores is giving shape to a neighborhood known as Riverside Village. In between, there’s Italia on Woodland and Pizzereal at Five Points.
Eyes on the Pies Pizzereal takes top honors in the Scene’s East Nashville Pizza Showdown.
The good news is that three out of four deliver. And three out of four (not the same three) are open for lunch. Eager to separate the semolina from the chaff, the editorial department of the Scene staged the East Nashville Pizza Showdown, an underground competition conducted at lunchtime on the low filing cabinets by the cubicle just outside the boss’s office. (Italia is not open for lunch, and thus was not part of the taste test.)
As with any competition that pits hot foods against each other, timing is key. All contenders need to arrive warm and fresh, in order to afford an apples-to-apples comparison. And you need to hold constant as much about the products as possible. In our case, we asked Little Italy, Castrillo’s and Pizzereal to bake up their finest pepperoni-and-mushroom pies and to have them at our office on 12th Avenue South, on the north lip of the Gulch, by 1 p.m. (We dispatched a team to pick up the specimen from Pizzereal, as it doesn’t deliver.)
Little Italy delivered the pizza without incident. Castrillo’s called from 12th Street in East Nashville wondering where we were. And the Pizzereal pickup was delayed when the owner realized he had forgotten to bring in his cash box to make change. (In and of itself, this delay was no big deal, and in no way did we penalize the Pizzereal pizza, but the cash-strapped transaction underscored the fact that Pizzereal runs on a slightly more erratic schedule than many larger restaurants. We’ve witnessed similar quirks on other dine-in visits, like the time the owner needed about half-an-hour for the oven to heat up. The inconsistency can be frustrating or endearing, depending on the customer.)
Once all the contenders were in position on the filing cabinet, we evaluated the products based on appearance. The Pizzereal ’za immediately stood out for its appetizingly ragged homemade rim, not quite as tall as a typical deep-dish crust. The cheese topping of the Little Italy pizza bore oven freckles of browned cheese, while the Castrillo’s pizza was virtually paved with pepperoni, leaving little cheese visible. The most salient difference among the three pizzas was the use of canned mushrooms by Castrillo’s, an egregious topping faux pas in the eyes of many judges.
When we bit into the slices, several tasters noticed a faint synthetic flavor in the Little Italy sample—described as something between plastic and metallic and suspected to be associated with the pepperoni. Castrillo’s and Little Italy shared a uniformity of texture, with the overall sensation being chewy, bready crust.
Pizzereal provided the superior sauce, accented by visible bits of diced garlic, but it was also the oiliest, a fact that became more noticeable as the pizza cooled and olive oil turned the thin, crisp underside of the pie into a soggy base.
As is often the case with such taste trials, our comments were hypercritical but did not reflect any overriding dissatisfaction. Far from it. We greedily devoured the pizzas and stored the phone numbers in our desk drawers for later days.
But our work did prove fruitful as we unanimously established a favorite East Nashville lunchtime pizza. The overall winner? Pizzereal.
Unfortunately, Pizzereal does not offer delivery at this time, though owner Paul Koumanelis says he isn’t ruling it out for the future. A Boston transplant and former commercial baker, Koumanelis opened the restaurant in October 2004. Housed in a rehabbed foursquare—complete with exposed brick walls, hardwood floors and local art—one block off Five Points, Pizzereal seats 40 inside and 20 on the new front patio. The terse menu includes shish kabobs from Koumanelis’ family recipes, a generous and crisp Greek salad with homemade vinaigrette, and specialty pizzas, including the Spinaci (baby spinach tossed in pepper-infused olive oil, basil, garlic, mozzarella, pepperoni and mushrooms for $20.95) and the Tuscan (fresh chopped kale tossed in pepper-infused olive oil, mozzarella, mushrooms and labne (yogurt cheese) for $19.95). Pizzereal serves wine and beer, including Yazoo.
With an exhaustive list of ingredients that includes peppers, sausage, blue cheese, feta, garlic, basil, Kalamata olives, banana peppers, pineapple, jalapeños, spinach, ham, pepperoni, mushrooms, anchovies, onions, Roma tomatoes and turkey, the combinations for topping Koumanelis’ homemade crust are endless. Pizzas start at $11 and toppings are $1.50 each, so choose wisely, as creative combinations can get pricey. It’s also a good idea to call ahead. Koumanelis is virtually a one-man show, and you never know when he’s going to have to pop out for minute, maybe to pick up some change for the till. Give him a buzz to let him know you’re on your way—he’ll leave the oven on for you.
Pizzereal is located at 203 North 11th St. and is open noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday and 5 to 11 p.m. daily. Carryout available. Phone: 226-2206.
Little Italy is located at 412 Woodland St. and opens at 10 a.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. The restaurant closes at 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight on Friday and Saturday. Carryout and delivery only. Phone: 248-4949.
Castrillo’s Pizza is located at 1404 McGavock Pike and is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 to 9 p.m. on Sunday. Carryout and delivery available. Phone: 226-2900.
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