A perfect slice - that's what you'll get at Bella Italia Pizza and Pasta, today's Frugal Floozie Friday feature. I grew up in New York City eating fabulous pizza. I expect a certain cheese blend, a sauce with flavor and zest (and just enough sauce, rather than gobs of it), a crisp crust, and the ability to fold my slice without it drooping. This pizza was perfect!
My friend Jesse Bernstein had recommended Bella Italia to me with such devotion that I simply had to visit:
"The owners are a young couple who have perfected and replicated the Dandy Pizza experience precisely. Dandy's was a pizzeria on Whitney Avenue run by a Sicilian family who spoke no English, but knew what you were ordering. My sister said she has been searching for 40 years to find the taste and here it was in Ann Arbor. This was confirmed by another neighborhood resident who now lives here and confirmed our assessment."
Ah, taste memory - that oh, so elusive and indefinable entity that is rarely satisfied!
Well, let me chime in that the pizza was just like what I remembered eating years ago, as well. That it perfectly fit our mandatory frugal budget of $5 per person - the 16" pizza with one topping was $14.50, making it perfect for my party of three - only made it better.
You can buy two slices of pizza for $5 or less if you pick cheese and/or pepperoni; a slice of a specialty pizza costs $3. Half salads (Caesar, Garden or Greek) cost just under $5. And the calzone, stromboli, and hot subs are a great deal - ranging in price from $7.75-$9.75 and easily split with a loved one to meet the mandatory budget constraints without anyone going hungry.
If you fancy yourself a competitive eater, you could either eat for free or earn yourself a share of $200 - even better deals than $5 per person!
If three people can finish a 30" pizza - with any toppings from cheese to an abundance of goodies - you can get it for free if you can eat the entire thing in 30 minutes or less. Or, if you think you and just one partner can polish off the 30" Meat Lovers' pizza - topped with several pounds of sausage, pepperoni, bacon, and ham - within 60 minutes, you'll win yourselves $200.
As we ate dinner with Motown classics playing in the background, it was a perfect warm Spring evening. We had a great time at Bella Italia for a very reasonable price, and look forward to eating there again.
Bella Italia Pizza and Pasta
895 Eisenhower Pkwy. (in the Colonnade)
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
734-222-9993
Monday - Thursday: 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Friday: 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.
Saturday: 12 - 11 p.m.
Sunday: 4 - 10 p.m.
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Bella Italia pizza sounds wonderful. What a recommendation, backed by another and yet another! And that whole concept of taste memory...I could spend a lot of time on that subject alone! That is blog worthy. :-)
ReplyDelete30" of pizza... no matter how good.. is still a really big pizza!! My stomach hurts just thinking about it! lol
ReplyDeleteOh yum. Pizza is something I can never walk away from. I always thought my tastes would change enough when I was older that pizza wouldn't be my favorite food anymore, but who can walk away from that cheesy goodness?
ReplyDeleteI'm with you - I hate a floppy crust! I make a crust that's a little crispy on the outside and a little chewy on the inside; you can bend it, but it isn't floppy. Wish I'd known about this place last time I was in Ann Arbor! My husband's big pizza taste memory is of a place in suburban Detroit that is no longer there.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think even my bottomless teenager would have little problem eating 30" pizza :)
ReplyDeleteMary,
ReplyDeleteYou are such a good writer! I just love reading all your restaurant reviews.