Brentwood is experiencing a flurry of restaurant activity in the new developments that line Franklin Road near the town's old city center. National chains dominate the options, however, thanks to Brentwood's attractive demographic of well-heeled families. But a little west of the new shopping centers lies Maryland Farms, the expansive collection of office buildings that bustle with activity each Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. But after 6 p.m. on Friday, the area is a ghost town. Restaurants that are busy during the lunch rush sometimes don't even open on the weekends.
Last fall, a new pizza place opened up on Ward Circle where Joey's and Sal's had operated before. After a renovation, the only Tennessee location of Tampa-based Westshore Pizza and Cheesesteaks is what materialized. It's slick and clean with a lengthy menu that includes (along with pizza and cheesesteaks) numerous sandwiches of all types, salads, burgers, and Italian entrees. The pizzas are, in my opinion, a little pricey for chain-store pizza ($11.99 for a calzone seems high; there are no "small" pizzas for kids), but I was recently lured in with a coupon.
The first thing I noticed was that even at 5 p.m. on a Saturday, there was a pretty decent-sized crowd. Nearly half the restaurant was filled, mostly with families. It's a fast-casual concept where you order your food at the counter and they bring it out to you when it's ready. We ordered an appetizer of garlic knots and an 18-inch pizza for the three of us to share. I figured if that wasn't enough to fill us up, we could always get another appetizer from the fairly long list of options.
According to the website, the restaurants make their dough fresh from scratch each day, so I had high hopes that were soon well-satisfied. The small order of garlic knots came out quickly and kept us busy while our pizza cooked. They were delicious chunks bread cooked to a nice golden brown crust, served swimming in a tin of melted garlic butter. They also come with a side of the restaurant's own house-made sauce for dipping. We had enough of both left over to use for our pizza crusts.
The 18-inch pizza was larger than I imagined. It had a great thin crust that bubbled with giant air pockets at the edges — my favorite kind. The aforementioned sauce is really good, and the pizzas come with just the right amount. The inside tips are a little soggy from the weight, but you can easily fold up the slice, New York-style. The most amazing part is that we actually had one large slice leftover. Considering I've eaten a whole large pizza at other restaurants all by myself, this says a lot about the size of this pizza. It's big. And it was really good.
Even though I really enjoyed the pizza, next time I want to try one of the toasted subs, as well as the cheese lasagna and eggplant lasagna. The prices for these items are all around $8, which seems like a good deal. And though the pizza prices can get a little high with toppings, there are beer specials (the selection of draft beers is better than average), printable coupons, and discounts for additional pizzas in your order, which makes dining with groups a little more cost-effective.
Westshore Pizza and Cheesesteaks
214 Ward Circle
Brentwood
