Fresh toppings and a lightly crisp crust make for the best pizza downtown at Macon Pizza in the Alley — as long as you buy a whole pizza, fresh. If only the pizza by the slice and the pasta lived up to the same promise.
Macon Pizza is the fourth restaurant to make a stab at this location in out-of-the-way Mulberry Street Lane; none of the others lasted very long despite a great interior. The décor hasn’t changed since the last restaurant, Spaghetti Alley, closed up shop.
The service is prompt and friendly, if occasionally a little intrusive, and when we ordered pizza it came reasonably quickly (probably 15 or 20 minutes). While we waited, we munched on some meaty chicken wings and delicious fried calamari. Although the calamari were rather pale, the taste was light, crisp and not rubbery. The bread sticks are deliciously garlic-buttery.
When the pizza arrived, the sauce was flavorful and not too dry or soppy. The toppings are generous and fresh. The dough, for everything from pizza to bread sticks to calzones, is excellent.
But although the restaurant has an all-you-can-eat “pizza bar” at lunch for $6.95, be warned: It consists of a handful of pizza slices rotating slowly in one of those heat-lamp boxes, with a big bowl of pre-tossed green salad sitting next to it.
Take a pass on that and try a calzone or grinder (that’s a hot sub sandwich, for the uninitiated). Calzones are chock full of vegetables or meats. Even the small-size calzone made two meals for me.
The chicken Parmesan grinder was well-received too, although it came with only a bag of chips as a side. At a sit-down restaurant where the sandwiches can cost as much as $8.95 and your dining partner might be eating an $11 pasta dish, a chip bag just doesn’t cut it.
Now I come to the pasta. There are a variety of Italian standbys available, from spaghetti and meatballs to eggplant Parmesan. I tried one of the two carbonara dishes.
I love a good carbonara and I have never, thank God, had carbonara like this before. It had a weird, thick consistency almost like manicotti (which is not in it), with vague overtones of scrambled egg. I took home leftovers but couldn’t face them, and they landed in the trash.
WHY do restaurants persist in calling some sauce they invent by the name of some existing but DIFFERENT dish? Spaghetti Alley did this too with a disgusting “pesto” that wasn’t pesto. But I digress. Perhaps other pasta dishes here are better.
If I was grading just the pizza, Macon Pizza would get at least three stars. Fortunately for those of us who work downtown, the restaurant has just started delivering, so you can enjoy this tasty Italian pie from the comfort of your own home or office.
Macon Pizza in the Alley
Two and a half stars
Address: 575 Mulberry Street Lane
Phone: 742-5555
Hours: 11 a.m.-“until” Monday-Friday, 5 p.m.-“until” Saturday
Price range: $6.50-$14.75 for pizza; other dishes range from $5.50-$10.95
Payment: Cash, Mastercard and Visa
Smoking: No, but employees expressed willingness to put a table out on the patio on request.
Alcohol: Yes
Kids menu: No
Noise level: Low
Health rating: 100
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