Good pizza in Austin?

[ChzHead]

Hi all! I've been in search of good pie ever since I've moved to Austin 8 years ago. I've even had pizza's Fed-ex'd down from the Chicagoland area. Hey, sometimes a girl needs her butter crust!!

I stumbled across this great place for pizza a few months ago called Rounders. It's on west 6th street just west of Blanco (it's more west of Z-Tejas). If you're a fan of thin crust east coast style pizza, you've gotta try this place out!! The bigger pizza pulls better, but the smaller Casino size is great for 3 people. If you'd also like a treat, get a calzone. It's one of the best that I've tasted in the area! Just a warning for you anchovy lovers, they place them on the pizza in a freaky line style down the center of the pizza......not what I would choose to do, but that's how it's done there.

Has anybody else been to Rounders? I can't go on without going at least once a week now!

Cheers!

[NewYorkTexan]

I am also a big fan of Rounders. The owner is a really nice young guy and the type of restaurateur you like supporting.

My personal bias is for thin crust pizza and Saccones and Reales (along with Rounders) are my favorite examples thin crust east coast style pizza. Although recently my experiences at Saccones has been mixed with an occasional soggy crust.

[coolranch]

Been to Rounders many times. I posted about it on the food trail thread some time ago. I 'spose I should have started a new thread for him.

I know the owner through a mutual friend. He had some hiccups in the beginning, but the pies are great. We were lucky to try just about everything on the menu one night before he opened. The calzones are really delicious (I think it's the ricotta).

I live south, and we used to trek up to Saccone's and Reale's once or twice a month for a NY/NJ pizza fix.

Adam will be happy he got some more pub on egullet.

[ChzHead]

Adam will be happy he got some more pub on egullet.

I hope so! We've been going there so some time now! He once sat down with me and my husband and asked who made the better pie, him or the other chef Mark. I told him that's like answering the question that his girlfriend would ask, "Am I prettier than she is?"......needless to say, I didn't answer the question. Although, Mark is really good with rubbing a LOT of garlic on the crust....it's DAMN good!

I'm also happy to hear that Adam is doing great, I was torn about telling people about that place....we didn't want the place to go under, but then again....we didn't have to wait for a table!

[markf424]

I haven't hit Rounders but plan to do so next time I'm in town - sounds awesome. I'm definitely partial to Saccone's and have tried to convince Dan to open another shop further south, but he didn't seem terribly open to the idea. Seems he's pretty stubborn on remaining a mom and pop shop, which I can definitely appreciate. Guess I'll just have to keep driving for my pizza fix.

[rlm]

Hi - I lived in Austin for a few years (how I miss thee) and loved Marye's Gourmet Pizza on Bee Caves. You can eat there or get a take-and-bake to go.

Also enjoyed the Cook's Spicy Special at Brick Oven (with spicy beef).

And Reale's pizza! How could I forget about that?

Double Dave's has good pizza rolls and stromboli, but I was never that crazy about their pizza.

Never heard of Rounders but will have to check that out the next time I'm in town (if I'm not already full from all the other great stuff like Texadelphia and Louie's 106).

[zephyrus]

for those of us live out west in the hills there is a fairly new pizza place on bee caves, in the old five star que space, called Yaghis New York Pizzeria. while not quite as good as saccones they are pretty damned close. oh and they also serve up one of the best gyros i have had in austin.

casey

[fitz]

We tried Reale's the other night, and I have to confess that the place didn't live up to all the hype for me. For starters, we'd heard (from one review) that there was live music on Wednesday evenings. For me, as a musician, the phrase "live music" connotes some kind of interaction between musicians, not just a guy hanging out in the bar singing alone with the karaoke machine. (He sure did sound Sinatra-like, but it's just not the same as someone leaning on the piano, whiskey in hand, crooning "It's quarter to three, there's no one in the place except you and me...")

We just ordered an antipasto and a white pizza (half spinach). I know everyone's got different ideas about what constitutes antipasto, but I know that this was nothing like the spreads we had at my relatives' houses on holidays back in NJ. (Not saying it's instrinsically bad, but I wouldn't want it again, ever.) The whole business seemed pickled, there was just a tiny bit of ham and cheese, and what was there was so peppery that I couldn't eat it (and I like pepper!). The breadsticks they served had to have been frozen, and they were nothing less than pure yeasty evil. The first bite or two were tolerable, but as soon as they began cooling off they turned into a sodden, heavy mass of dough.

We didn't fare that much better with the pizza, either. After a fairly long wait it arrived with the cheese barely melted. I need to see happy little bits of browned cheese on a pizza, so we asked if they could give it another minute to brown. After a good five minutes or so, it was redelivered to our table with just the merest hint of color on the cheese. I only downed one slice of it that night, and though I subsequently ate the leftovers, I wasn't loving 'em, and I won't be in any hurry to go back (at least not for pizza, especially since the crust wasn't the nice thin stuff I expected).

May be worth trying an entree, though...

The not-usually-so-cranky Fitz

[Jaymes]

Dear Not Usually So Cranky Fitz,

I like Reale's. It's a pretty darn good neighborhood American-Italian joint. Especially for a non-Italian town like Austin.

I am certain that I recommended it here, but hope that my modest recommendations fell far short of "hype."

I've had excellent calamari, among other things, and very much enjoy the typical American-Italian "red sauce" dishes, which is what I usually order.

But - it is certainly not the best Italian I have ever had. And I'm not much of a pizza fan, so haven't gotten that.

To sum up, if someone from a great "Italian town" asked me if there were any great Italian restaurants in Austin, I'd have to say that I haven't found any.

But when someone tells me that they'd like to find a nice, cozy little neighborhood GOOD Italian place here in Austin, I always say, "Have you tried Reale's?"

I guess it's all in what you're accustomed to and what you're hoping for, isn't it?

[foodie52]

I loved the "happy bits of brown cheese" part of your review, fitz.

[Tremor]

I ate at Rounders for the 3rd time (since hearing about Rounders on this thread) this past weekend, and it's my new personal favorite. Although always subject to change, my current pizza haunts are, in order of preference:

Rounders

Saccones

Niki's (in Dobie Mall)

Gino's (in Round Rock)

Guess I'm going to have to give Reales another chance, since so many of y'all like that place. Back for more research...

[ChzHead]

Tremor,

You've gotta try the calzones!! They are the best!

Cheers!

[sarahsoda]

I tasted Rounder's for the first time today, and I had mixed feelings about it. As far as Austin goes, it is definitely the pizza with the most potential to be like east coast pizza. If they would just put on half the amount of cheese (I mean good God, the cheese was thicker than the freakin crust how gross), make the crust thinner and learn how to cook a pizza well done, without totally burning it, then I would love it. I lived in Trenton, NJ and still visit frequently. Up there, you can't get a bad meal. They don't know how to make any of that stuff in Austin, you can't get an Italian hoagie, a cheesesteak hoagie, I bet you people in Austin never even heard of a pizzasteak! And the pizza, forgeddaboudit, there is no such thing as bad pizza. The crust always thin and crispy and hand tossed, the cheese always fresh from the market and used sparingly as it should be. And sauce is always homeade fresh. The only way I can get great Italian food in Austin, is to cook at home. Edited November 13, 2003 by sarahsoda (log)

[Tremor]

Tremor,

You've gotta try the calzones!!  They are the best! 

Cheers!

I had planned on taking your advice and getting a calzone at Rounders this weekend, but had a change of plans and didn't make it there.

(BTW - I wasn't positive if you meant try a calzone at Rounders or at Reales, so my plans are to try one at both! )

[foodie52]

Maybe we should all just go out for pizza....