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Friday, Oct. 10, 2008

It's all about the pie at DiGiorgio's

Have you ever been to one of those hole-in-the-wall pizza joints in NYC? The less fancy the decor, the better the pizza, right?

That's pretty much what DiGiorgio's (dee-george-e-oh's) is like. Nothing to look at, really, but the pizza's solid. In fact, the dough is made fresh every day and hand tossed until it's thin and, later, crispy.

You may know DiGiorgio's by its old name, Hawaiian Pizza. They moved to the Kroger shopping center on Zebulon a few years ago and then changed the name. It still has the same owners, who named it Hawaiian because they once lived there. They changed the name because too many people thought that they only carried pizza with pineapple.

They do have pineapple pizza, but they also have the Greek (crumbled sausage, black olives and feta), the Dixieland-All Meat (pepperoni, Italian sausage, beef and bacon Ð I guess it's all the artery clogging that makes it Southern), and the Buffalo Chicken (ranch, chicken tenders, and mozzarella).

If you really want Hawaiian, a good bet would be the Big Kahuna, which comes with pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, Italian sausage, black olives, beef and banana peppers. You can also design your own pizza, choosing from the usual suspects, plus fresh baby spinach, fresh garlic and artichoke hearts. Most specialty pizzas are between $14 and $20 for a 14" large, and design-your-own starts at $10 for a medium to $14 for the xlarge.

If Italian sounds good but a pizza's too much too eat, you can get a calzone or a meatball sub, both for $5.99. On the light side, there is a Caesar salad and a Greek salad, for $3.99 and $4.99 respectively.

For appetizers, we tried the hot wings, garlic cheese sticks and pepper sticks. The pepper sticks were the most novel, adding (my fave) banana peppers to the usual garlic cheese sticks. Next time I'm trying the shark bites, which combine garlic butter and parmesan cheese (which sounds a lot like my favorite appetizer at that great pizza place with the jester). Appetizer prices range from $2.99 to $5.99.

If you don't completely gorge yourself on doughy goodies, you can finish off your meal with a New York-style cheesecake or a chocolate cannoli. A cannoli is that traditional rolled pastry filled with a cream filling and chocolate chips. Drinks come in cans - another reminder of the Big Apple joints. They'll deliver to your house if you order at least $12 worth of food.

The only thing that makes it clear you are in Georgia and not New York is the friendliness of the owner. During our visit, he personally came out and spent about 20 minutes chatting with us while we stuffed ourselves. We now know everything from how his family ended up moving from Hawaii to Macon to what television shows they watch at home. In New York, we'd be lucky to get a "Whaddayah want?" Not there's anything wrong with that.

DiGiorgio's Pizza

5978 Zebulon Road

Three stars

Phone: 474-0000

Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday and Monday

Dress: Casual

Reservations: No

Smoking: No

Vegetarian Options: Yes

Handicap Access: Yes

Noise: Low

Web site: www.DiGiorgiospizza.com

Health Rating: 100