Monday, May 28, 2007

Pizza 51

Since moving out of the South Plaza area over eight years ago, I don't frequent my old haunts as much as I thought I would. I found a new Peanut to call my own, a coffee shop other than Muddy's, I'm frequenting the northernmost Bo Ling's, and aside from dropping in at the Mixx and Accurso's, I mostly drive quickly through the area to get to my people in Brookside or Waldo. But on a recent warm night we found ourselves pulling up outside Pizza 51 to enjoy a little al fresco pizza.
I'm sure there are times when the place is crawling with college kids, but summer means the place is crawling with the younger set. Yelling, galloping, and making chalk drawings on the concrete patio, these kids were having a good night. Mixed in with the young couples, families, and big parties, the vibe on the patio was lively and fun. Ordering at the counter was easy, our table service was quick and attentive, and the pizza was fairly good. The crust had a crispness and chewiness that was very pleasing, but lacked a little in the flavor department. The toppings were plentiful, however, and the side salads were made even better with the addition of their house herbed vinaigrette, which was more like an herb paste and was wonderful for dipping my pizza crust in.

Pizza 51
5060 Oak Street
816*531*1151
open 11am-10pm daily

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

love that herb "paste". the salads at pizza 51 are certainly better than they have any right to be which is what puts it atop the other local by the slice pizza joints in my opinion, namely (joes, papa keno's, and torre's).

Sara said...

i don't know what it is about pizza and salad, but it's like peanut butter & jelly for me - a natural fit. maybe i'm trying to counteract the pizza grease with greens...
good pizza joints, for me, have an (at least) decent salad option.