Pinthouse Pizza

Pizza and beer. Is there a better combination? Okay, so maybe my mom's homemade potstickers and kim chee are a better combination, but that's not always available, so sometimes you have to settle for pizza and beer. For those days, the new(ish) Pinthouse Pizza is there for you.

My first visit to Pinthouse was on a Friday night, after a particularly stressful day. It was LOUD. It was crowded. We had to hover over people for a while before we finally scored spots at the large communal tables that make up the majority of Pinthouse's seating. All of which, oddly enough, was just what I was wanting that night.

Full house.

With over 40 craft beers on the menu (including several house-made offerings), there's a little something for everyone. One of my favorite local beers, Live Oak Hefeweizen, was there. I also tried my first (and definitely not my last) Left Hand Milk Stout here. Delicious. 

In the pizza category, we tried a couple of different pies - an Armadillo (olive oil, artisan sausage, ricotta, cilantro, and poblano peppers) and a Cannonball (crumbled sausage, bacon, pepperoni, Canadian bacon). 

The Armadillo

Cannonball! (a word that demands to be shouted)

I loved the sausage and the fluffy, mild ricotta on the Armadillo, but wasn't fond of the poblano peppers in this context - I'm usually a poblano fan, but the way these were delivered made them taste too much like green peppers, which I don't love. The Cannonball (!) was surprisingly tasty, and I regretted having written it off as "boring" when I'd heard we were ordering one. 

As we were finishing up, my friend asked, "Top five pizzas in Austin?" Unfortunately, probably not - but maybe top ten? I can easily think of five pizzas I like much better (Bola Pizza, East Side Pies, Little Deli, Giovanni's, and Mandola's prosciutto and arugula), but from there the field drops off pretty quickly. That said, the festive atmosphere, the excellent beer selection, and Pinthouse's proximity to our house (also, their great lunch deal - small pizza, your choice of four generously-sized salads, and a drink for $9.50) will likely mean that I'll be back with some regularity, nonetheless.