Vinny’s Pizza
4414-B Lebanon Pike, Hermitage. 874-2224. Hours: 5-10 p.m. Mon.; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Tues.-Thurs.; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Fri.; 5-11 p.m. Sat.; 5-9 p.m. Sun.
Sam Boni’s Pizzeria
423 Broadway. 259-7404. Hours: 11 a.m.-midnight Mon.-Wed.; 11 a.m.-3 a.m. Thurs.-Sat.
Michaelangelo’s
4100 Hillsboro Circle. 385-9200; 205 22nd Ave. S. 329-2979. Hours: 11 a.m.-midnight Sun.-Thurs.; 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Fri.-Sat.
“Wow, that’s a lot of meat.” The concise critique came from one of the half-dozen Scene staffers who were uncharacteristically struck dumb and motionless by the sight of Vinny’s Big Meat sitting before them. Accurately named, the pizza had been constructed at Vinny’s Pizza in Hermitage and driven in to the office for consideration in the Winter Olympics Pizza Challenge.
It was not necessarily the size of the pizza but the inch-high mound of pepperoni, sausage, ground beef, ham and bacon covering the breadth of the pie that had caused jaws to drop. And there were no pork-filler sausage balls or phony bacon bits on the Big Meat, but rather zesty hunks of Italian sausage and whole strips of real, cooked bacon.
Vinny’s Pizza, which opened last April, was one of three competitors in this impromptu competition. The other two are also recent arrivals in the Nashville market: Michaelangelo’s has been open about a year in Green Hills, but has already expanded to a second location just off Elliston Place; Sam Boni’s Pizzeria opened this winter on Lower Broad.
A brightly painted takeout-only storefront in the Kroger shopping center on Lebanon Pike, Vinny’s is owned and operated by Lantz de Contreras, who moved from Chicago with the intent of hatching a national pizza franchise. The effusive Contreras makes no bones about what he thinks of national pizza chains, which at best he describes as “mediocre.”
His pizza is Chicago style, which he emphatically believes is far superior to even New York style pizza, and he offers a short history lesson to explain. “When Italians came to America in the early 1900s, the northern Italians stayed in New York, and southern Italians went to Chicago. Southern Italian cooking is more flavorful than northern. Chicago style pizza is heartier. New York pizza uses sauce that is made primarily from tomatoes, with some herbs and seasonings. Chicago pizza sauce, and my pizza sauce, is three-quarters roasted red peppers...with roma tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes and lots of fresh herbs, and the flavor is much more robust. We also use Italian sausage I fly in from Chicago, and we use a blend of five cheeses.”
That may well be true, but the sole complaint submitted by our panel of experts was that there was not enough sauce on the pizzas. But given most people’s cravings for toppings, and the remarkable generosity with which they were dispensed, it hardly counted against the total score.
Vinny’s Big Meat will delight carnivores, but if your tastes run toward earthier toppings, you can’t do better than the also aptly named Vinny’s Incredible Veggie, a colorful harvest of fresh vegetables. Large spinach leaves form a bed under slivered red onions, fat slices of freshly cut mushrooms, sweet peppers, roma tomato chunks and marinated, seasoned rounds of zucchini and yellow squash. There are six other specialty pizzas on the menu, or diners can construct their own from 27 available toppings, including marinated steak, capicola ham and Italian meatballs.
The challenge with that much heft is creating a crust that can hold the weight, and Vinny’s is up to the task. Unfortunately, an ordering snafu combined with the 15-minute drive from Hermitage resulted in a one-hour span between the pizza’s emergence from the oven and its consumption. The consequence was that what was intended to be a crispy crust became soggy and limp; once again, all was forgiven thanks to the superior toppings.
Vinny’s does not slice its pies in wedges but uses a diamond cut that results in many two-bite pieces. It also packs the pizzas in a white paper bag, as de Contreras claims cardboard boxes make pizza taste like cardboard.
“Serious Italian sandwiches” are also on the menu, and given Vinny’s pizza virtuosity, I would not hesitate to order a meatball or sausage or especially Mamma Vinny’s Italian Pot Roast sandwich.
Pizzas and sandwiches take a minimum of 30 minutes to prepare; consult the menu at www.VinnysPizzaEnterprises.com, call ahead to order and be sure to take along a map. The Web site also describes the store’s price specials and discounts; a Nashville store is planned for later this year.
Sam Boni’s is the latest addition to Bob Wolf’s growing enterprises on Lower Broad, which also include Wolfy’s restaurant and music club next door, and the Wolf Den sports bar in the Gaylord Entertainment Center. Hockey fans—and certainly Wolf is one of the most ardent—will recognize the name as a play on words for the Zamboni machine that cleans the ice between periods.
Like the nearby House of Pizza in the downtown Arcade, Sam Boni’s Pizzeria most resembles a New York pizza store. A bare counter fronts the pizza prep area at the entrance, and a long, narrow room holds some wobbly but functional seating in the back. Order your pizza by the slice or pie.
This is definitely New York-style pizza, good news for transplants who consider that the only real pizza. The wildly irregular border on the chewy, outer rim is unmistakable proof the dough is hand-thrown, and a bonus for those who consider the crust the best part of a pizza. The base of the pie is thin, which is essential when eating pizza slices like New Yorkers do—folded over lengthwise. (There are two reasons for eating pizza this way: It keeps the layer of greasy cheese and sauce from sliding off the pie, and it is the most efficient way to eat a slice on the go, zigzagging through bustling pedestrian traffic on crowded city sidewalks.)
Toppings are of the standard variety: pepperoni, onions, olives, mushrooms, peppers, sausage. Calzones are fashioned of the same good dough, folded around a pile of spinach and cheese or ham and cheese, and served with a side of marinara.
Michaelangelo’s is neither Chicago or New York style pizza, but your basic American pizza. The crust isn’t crispy or doughy, the sauce is neither sweet nor spicy, and many of the toppings come out of a bag or a can. At least half of the panel of judges at the Scene were satisfied with Michaelangelo’s, though none of the pies elicited the level of praise or passion inspired by Vinny’s and Sam Boni’s.
Still, as neither Vinny’s nor Sam Boni’s delivers in town, given the choice among the major national pizza chains that deliver, Michaelangelo’s offers a worthy alternative to Domino’s or Pizza Hut. Additionally, its calling card seems to be the all-you-can-eat lunch buffet—pizza, salad and lasagna for $4.
The results of the Winter Olympics Pizza Challenge? The gold to Vinny’s, the silver to Sam Boni’s and the bronze to Michaelangelo’s.
