With apologies to Los del Rio: Heeeeey, Margherita!
No matter how incongruent the name might appear, the original Urban Cowboy Public House actually opened in Brooklyn before they established their Lockeland Springs location in East Nashville. Since then, the boutique hotel has offered the neighborhood some really outstanding and innovative food options in their small adjoining Stable House.
Never afraid to mix things up a bit, Urban Cowboy reached out to some of their Brooklyn friends to provide a fun dining experience through the coldest months of winter. Roberta’s is one of the country’s best known wood-fired pizza purveyors, and they have previously served a residency at another Urban Cowboy property in the Catskills, so it made a lot of sense to invite them for a little Southern hospitality, especially with our COVID-19 dining restrictions being at least a little less stringent than New York’s.
Brooklyn’s temporary loss has been Nashville’s gain throughout December, with Roberta’s offering both indoor and outdoor dining plus delivery service of their epic wood-fired pizzas, salads and cocktails. The menu lends itself nicely to ordering multiple pies for sharing since they’re only 12” pizzas. But like they say, any pizza is a personal-size pizza if you really believe in yourself.
The Roberta’s menu is delightfully and intentionally spartan, relying on classic ingredients instead of stunt pies. In addition to a classic Rosso with tomato, oregano and garlic and the prototypical Margherita tri-color of tomato, mozz and basil, their Famous Original is about as exotic as Roberta’s gets, topped with tomato, mozzarella, parmigiano, caciocavallo, oregano and chili. They’re like the Occam’s Razor of pizza makers, and that’s a very good thing.
So don’t let January slip by without trying a pizza from Roberta’s at Urban Cowboy at 1603 Woodland St. They’re open Wednesdays through Sundays from 4-11 p.m. operating at limited capacity with indoor and outdoor table service on a first-come, first-served basis. The full menu is also available for takeout or delivery via Seamless, Postmates and Grubhub.
