There's a song recorded by Dean Martin back in 1953 that many people born well after that year may still have heard at least once. It goes "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore." The song is about love, as expressed via the Italian word amore, but the association of the moon with pizza is a unique bit of benign weirdness from the Rat Pack era. Of course, both objects appear circular from a distance, so there's a natural similarity of shape. That trait is celebrated at Moon Pie, a place that describes itself in terms of its "pizza and patio."
Chicagoland pizza
Moon Pie is situated on the ground floor of the Ten-O-One building, a contemporary brand identity that has recently been applied to the structure at 1001 North Central Avenue, just across the street from the Roosevelt / Central light rail station. Roosevelt Row diners may already know this address from Rough Rider, which is situated in the same building's basement. While the more upscale and creative place is hidden downstairs, the current strategy appears to be a more open, accessible, and casual dining experience facing Central Avenue at street level.
vegetable pizza
Moon Pie's space faces Central and can be reached from either that side of the building or via the alley between Central and First Street, which is where Ten-O-One's shaded bike rack is located. Because Moon Pie's space blends almost imperceptibly into the building's lobby, it is also possible to reach the restaurant by walking through Dialog, the coffee house and design shop that is also part of the ground floor. The restaurant's airy dining room offers a view of Central on the west side and makes a seamless transition into an expansive patio to the north.
meatball sub
The emphasis at Moon Pie is pizza, more specifically a type of pie typically associated with Chicago. This is not the indulgent deep dish pizza that several chains have propagated nationwide. Instead, it's a tavern-style pie with a thin, crisp crust that approaches the texture of a cracker. The shape is circular, as would be expected with anything compared to the moon, but the pizza is cut into a grid of square pieces rather than triangular slices. The result is a menu of twelve-inch pies good for one hungry person or two people sharing pizza and a salad or starter.
arugula salad
There are five standard pizzas, occasional specials, and a build-your-own option available at all times. The Chicagoland is first on the menu and an obvious place to start. Over a base of red sauce and melted mozzarella, fennel sausage and parmesan are paired with giardiniera, the spicy relish of pickled vegetables most often associated with Italian beef sandwiches. Equally bold in its mix of spicy and sweet flavors, the Hot Honey pizza is topped with slices of soppressata, Calabrian chilies, pickled red onions, and the hot honey the pie is named for.
chicken bacon avocado sandwich
Many of the pizza toppings and ingredients also find their way into appetizers, salads, and sandwiches that augment the pizzas on the menu. Ricotta stuffed jalapeños are a mixture of contrasting flavors and textures: creamy ricotta; salty, crisp prosciutto, hot honey, and spicy peppers. Ricotta is also available in whipped form as a dip with breadsticks. The salads include the classics Caesar and Cobb, as well as a tangy, tart mix of arugula, strawberries, goat cheese, and walnuts tossed with a lemon vinaigrette. All of the salads can be accessorized with chicken.
rircotta stuffed jalapeños
A meatball and ricotta pizza blends two classic Italian restaurant ingredients in a straightforward combination. Other pies on the menu forego the tomato sauce in favor of a base of cheese alone. The white pizza has a smooth blend of ricotta, parmesan, and mozzarella with garlic and basil. The vegetable pie goes all green with pistachios, pesto, and arugula. Recent specials described on a whiteboard and on social media have included pizzas with toppings like barbecued chicken, bacon, jalapeños, fresh garlic, red onion, and red pepper flakes.
hot honey pizza
The one form of non-pizza entree is a selection of half a dozen sandwiches. A meatball sub is exactly as it should be with a trio of plump spheres of ground meat anointed with mozzarella, basil, and tomato sauce in a lightly toasted bun. A chicken sandwich has a slight Southwestern twist with thinly sliced roasted poultry, mild jalapeño aioli, lettuce, and avocado. Other sandwiches, all accompanied by a small side salad, include a classic Italian sub of cured meats, a muffuletta with charcuterie and olive spread, and a classic meatless Caprese sandwich.
Brownie à la Moon
There is only one dessert on the menu: a Brownie à la Moon served in a skillet with vanilla ice cream. While serviceably prepared, it does seem somewhat perfunctory, like a dessert for the sake of a dessert. On the other hand, its dark, circular, and cratered surface reinforces a lunar theme. The large bar offers a broad selection of draft beer and some of its own cocktails, which are more Southwestern or tropical than Italian or Chicagoan in theme. A recent Downtown Daiquiri featured Puerto Rican white rum with Aperol and banana, strawberry, and lime flavors.
Downtown Daiquiri
With a patio full of casual outdoor seating and cornhole equipment, Moon Pie seems like it's operating a combination of a beer garden and a pizza tavern. It's a somewhat surprising choice for this prime, high-visibility location, but definitely an aesthetic upgrade compared to the trailer that served as the kitchen for the prior tenant in this spot. With the contemporary feel of this restaurant, music from Dean Martin and his peers is seldom heard on the speakers, but there's still a place to see the moon, eat some pizza, and perhaps even feel a little amore on the patio.
1001 N. Central Ave., Phoenix AZ 85004
https://moonpie.pizza
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