When it comes to restaurant pizza (or takeout), local favorite Austin’s Pizza has been our first choice for many years. Mangia is another but they hit the financial skids recently and the location closest to us changed its name to The Pizza Bistro (a story for another day). Austin’s Pizza is when we don’t feel like dining in, spending a couple hours in a restaurant, etc.; deep-dish pizza is reserved for special occasions.
We also prefer AP because buying from them helps the local economy unlike Domino’s and Papa John’s. I already knew about those two’s toxic politics so I had been weening myself off their crap for years. Papa John’s is lousy anyway, I call it bread-tangle pizza. It should be served with laxative, not the little vats of grease…I mean butter for the excessive crust.
AP can be a hard sell with others, especially if they have children. The sauce contains some red wine and it just has an adult taste. Somara often requests light sauce with hers, her loss. I’m not a perfect Italian myself, I hate olives and mushrooms, blech! They do have great combinations I recommend if you want to break away from the mundane. Last year they had a contest pitting five different entries submitted by customers. You could order them for a limited time. I think each purchase was a vote. Two were bitchin’, alas there could only be one. At least I did often eat a winner! The Haole which is Hawaiian for honky.
Austin’s Pizza had a short stint near our vet after Lucky Dog moved out to Round Rock. It wasn’t around long enough for us to check it out. Then Jeremy ordered a couple pizzas from them during my 2007 birthday party. We were hooked yet there was no nearby location to feed the need…until the strip mall next the monstrous movie theater expanded. Somara and I were stoked over AP’s return to Pflugerville! We pick up a pair on our way home from work at least once every couple weeks.
This dovetails over to a great employee who makes the experience of picking up pizza fun! Lindsay! We met her over the Summer and she always remembers us which is a nice thing. It’s like going to a favorite bar or coffee shop with a healthier product; pizza isn’t known for destroying livers. While our order is coming together, we catch up on Austin’s cool happenings. As of last week Lindsay is now the assistant manager of our location. She earned it as the shift leader. I think it’s no coincidence I see Pflugerville’s AP being steadily busy. The downside is we won’t see her as often since the AM opens the shop. I did get a ray of hope when we dropped off a little congratulations gift today. I met Lindsay’s boss, made sure to let the manager know Lindsay kicks ass and the manager told me she’ll be handling Friday nights. Personally I would like Lindsay to have a life, enjoy a weekend evening so I will definitely make a more conscious effort to order a Super Pep, Haole or Meaty Maddness to show my appreciation for her sacrifice!