Old Town Pizza (Oldtwn)

Before heading to Dante's last night to see Irish band Bell X1 (so good! so cute! aaah, those accents!), we wandered into Old Town Pizza on NW Davis Street. It was either pizza or VooDoo Donuts for dinner and it seemed prudent to preface a night of Smithwicks and Irish rock with something more substantial than a Grape Ape donut.

"Old Town Pizza is good, but it's no Apizza Scholls," Tata declared as we walked in, and while she may have a point with regards to the actual pizza product, I completely dig the atmosphere at Old Town--minus the haunted by a ghost named Nina thing, because I'm a little afraid of ghosts. The restaurant is old and cozy without being smelly/creepy, and the low ceilings, dark wood, exposed brick, and old-fashioned bar make me want to linger much longer than is necessary at a pizza joint.

The process is simple: order your salad/pizza/pasta/panini at the window, order your pitcher of beer at the bar, find a table, discuss just how attractive Irish and English accents are (very). The four of us girls ordered a large pizza (the pizza comes in two easy-to-remember sizes: small and large): half House Special--salami, pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, black olives and bell peppers, and half Dragon Lady--a "wicked blend" of sun-dried tomatoes, feta, spinach and pine nuts ($22.95). We also ordered two spinach salads ($6.75 each)--spinach, crispy proscuitto, dried cranberries, feta, and house Dijon dressing. I thought the dressing was a little light on the spinach leaves, but I didn't want to say anything lest our slightly snippy server sic Nina on me.

We complemented our meal with a pitcher of African Amber Ale brewed by Mac and Jack's Brewing Company (WA), a copper colored brew with nutty notes, creamy mouth feel and a nice finish ($12 a pitcher).

If you don't want pizza, Old Town offers a few classic pastas--spaghetti & meatballs ($7.50), Pesto ($8.50), Chicken/Veggie Alfredo ($8.50), and Chicken Marinara ($8.50). They also have four paninis--Milano (canadian bacon, salami, greens & tomato); Caprese (fresh mozzarella, pesto, tomatoes), Ham & Cheese (probably obvious), and Meatball (served open-faced and topped with mozzarella)....all a reasonable $6.95. Old Town also offers some excellent lunch deals M-F 11:30 to 2:30--cheap slices and mini-pizzas, salad for $1.25, and a free haunting by Nina. Sorry--that may or may not be available...I don't know what Nina's haunting habits are, but you can read about it at www.oldtownpizza.com/HauntedHistory.html.

Aaaahhhhh!!!! It's Nina!!!! I was just kidding!! I loved the dressing/spinach ratio!! It was perfect!! Oh wait, this is actually a picture of Bell X1 lead singer Paul Noonan at Dante's...he was pretty dreamy all right, Irish accent or no. But oh that accent...
-J

Old Town Pizza * www.oldtownpizza.com * 226 NW Davis * 503.222.9999 * Sunday - Thursday 11:30 - 11PM, Friday & Saturday 11:30 Midnight * yes, they deliver...on bicycle, yes they have a ghost. her name is Nina.