Adventure #68: Second

Second, exterior, afternoon

We made our way to one of our snazzy adventures tonight, to a place with $6 Fire Eagle (what?!) and chicken fried stuffed olives. That place was Second, an offshoot of Congress and Bar Congress (they share the same kitchen). So, for the second time in a row, Karin and her gentleman arrived before me, ordered an appetizer of chicken fried olives, and ate it, all before I arrived.

Now how was the pizza?

Adventure #67: Bufalina

The adventure to Bufalina, which doesn't even have a sign on the door it is so new, began with Adam and I enjoying "Today's mozzarella", pictured above. That salad is everything that is right with the Austin pizza scene right now. It seems that recently the newest pizza places have paid a lot of attention to creating the perfect pizza experience. From Pieous with its paper plates, chalk on the walls, inspirational quotes, and the feeling of being with family, to Winflo Osteria with its focus on being an upscale, clean, and an Austin-style way to experience real Italian food. Bufalina falls between them: Cozy and minimal with picnic tables in the center, carafes of water, and the pizza oven jutting out into the dining area.

Adventure #66: Jack Pizza Company (Redux)

We weren't meaning to head back to Jack when we headed out on this adventure. We were downtown, seeking strange new pizza at places like Hoek's Death Metal Pizza and Pizzeria Paparazzi.  Neither were open at 7:30 on a Thursday evening, and hell, I'm not sure if Pizzeria Paparazzi even exists. We found an empty storefront with no hours listed. It's the only place I've ever seen that has a question mark on its Yelp map.

We weren't going to go adventuring without getting pizza, so we went on a clarification mission to Jack. A clarification mission is an adventure meant to clear up disagreement or lingering questions about a pizzeria. Sometimes we're just trying to see if the quality has changed over time. In this case, we'd both had different experiences after our initial visit to Jack in 2010. I'd been a time or two and felt about the same as I ever did. Karin had been back and had a not-so-great pie. It was time to reconcile our opinions! [Disclaimer: these pictures are terrible due to dive bar lighting]

Adventure #65: Pieous

Pieous delivers what it promises, a religious experience through food. From the mozzarella that is made in-house to the perfect sour-dough crust to the chocolate pecan pie that made Ian's toes literally curl up at just a single bite, this place must be tasted to be believed.

Adventure #64: Roppolo's

It's not as good as it looks, folks.

And yet, it's not as bad as it sounds. At least, that's what I found myself thinking as I dove headfirst into these pies. You see, Karin had been dreading this visit for ages. Back in the salad days of 2010, I was new to the Austin pizza scene, but Karin had been around. She was aware of the wares of Roppolo's and had warned me to beware.