Lunch today at Silvio’s pizza on North U. This is becoming one of my favorite places for lunch. It’s close to work, it’s creative, it’s organic (so I get to feel good about a lunch with cheese in it), and it’s got a great mix of fast-food decor and slow-food sensibility. Silvio’s serves sandwiches and pasta and calzone, but the main event is the organic pizza, in a variety of styles and flavors. Today, I virtuously ate a single slice of mushroom and a cup of lackluster minestrone. Shameless Perry had the stuffed potato and sausage with cream sauce, and vegetarian Jim had a slice of eggplant and something else I fogot to note. We all liked it.
Silvio’s web site says: “Silvio’s pizza is thoroughly Italian. Silvio is from Italy’s Abruzzo region. For 25 years, in his father’s bakery, Silvio was lovingly taught to produce the highest quality breads and pizza dough.
“Silvio’s sauce is based on fresh organic herbs and organic tomatoes. The flavorful crust incorporates fine olive oil and is made with organic flour exactly the way Silvio’s father made it. Most of Silvio’s always-fresh toppings are not available at other pizzerias.”
What’s not to like? I do have a few complaints. The soup was bland, although wholesome (I suspect vegatable rather than chicken stock) and the pizza isn’t at it’s best when it’s not fresh out of the oven, and if you’re going in for the odd lunch-time slice it’s luck of the draw whether you get that or not. It also seems a little pricey for a slice (the lunch special of soup, slice and a drink is 5.00), but givne the commitment to organic ingredients and careful preparation, it is, in the words of a car salesman I once spent an uncomfortable hour with, it’s a good price-value relationship.
I have not nearly explored the dessert case enough. Even though my lunch-companions are both friends as well as colleagues, we were in haute-business mode, so I was shy about buying one of the the drippy apple pastries for a three-way split. But there are definitely some greasy, doughy things in there worth spending some time with. They also have fresh-baked bread for sale on the counter.
Don’t expect anything fancy. The cutlery is plastic, the chairs are vinyl and the tv is always on (but it’s on the food chanel!). And though it’s not fine dining it is fine food.
All I can say is when you go to this place, don’t order the salad, espec if you only have an hour for lunch. I took my friend Donna here for her birthday last year (I told her we could go somewhere more fancy but she wouldn’t have it) (she is way more frugal than me). So Donna ordered a slice of pizza, which I remember looked delicious. But, trying to be healthy, I made the mistake of ordering the Ceasar salad. And they just could not manage to make that salad. There were only one or two other people in there. But I waited, and waited, and waited. I asked, they said it was coming. Donna finished her pizza. I finally had to go up and demand my money back. (Donna was horrified. She thinks I am really impatient. ) What was that all about? They didn’t even say – “oh it’ s right here,” or, “we’re sorry.” They just said oh ok and gave me the money. Like it happens all the time. Not sure why they have salad on their menu. Is it a trick? Like, you are a loser for ordering salad – this is a pizza place. We will punish you.
But you didn’t get any lunch? Oy! Interesting. We need to send in a neutral third party to order a salad and see what ensues.