Adventure #48: Giovanni's Pizza Stand

We chose to play it close to the vest on our return from hiatus - we hit up a well-Yelped establishment called Giovanni's Pizza Stand, tucked away in a Valero on South Lamar. We even played it safe with the pizza, going for their Margarita: fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic, mozzarella, garlic, Romano cheese, and olive oil.

We didn't call ahead, so we had the opportunity to see some other pizzas that went out, and they looked pretty good, with a char on the edges of the thin crust. Hopes were as high as they can be for gas station pizza.

As you can see, the crust looked promising. Things went downhill from there. . .

The fresh tomatoes were standard slices of tomato, which helped inundate the pizza with excess liquid, which was a problem due to the underdone crust. Disclaimer: there was a six-minute car trip to take this pizza to warm seating, which definitely could have contributed to the sogginess.

The crust is where this pizza starts and stops - without sauce, the crust really need to be supportive and taste good, and this crust did neither, which is a shame - the garlic, romano cheese, and basil were all above average and delivered great flavor. Given a heartier char and some nicer tomatoes, this pizza could be a standout in the South Austin scene. If you're in the area, you should ask them to bake it a little longer and let us know what you think.

- Ian