Have you Hurd... I am on a Mission to Find a New Favorite Pizza Joint?

Since the recent closing of lone Columbus location of Belleria in late December, I have been working all possible leads to uncover a solid candidate to become my new favorite pizza place.  Unfortunately, many of the leading contenders have some pretty glaring limitations.  Being that they are too far from either my home or office, lack adequate conveniently-located parking, or they offer only carry-out and delivery.  Maybe I am living in the dark ages, but I think the best place to enjoy a quality pie is right out of the oven.  Putting it in a box and throwing it on the passenger seat of a car that then winds it's way across the miles to my house does little to enhance my enjoyment of a creation best served with the cheese still hot enough to burn the roof of my mouth..  I also don't want to park a half mile away or have to call my credit card issuer and beg for a credit line increase so I can buy enough parking minutes to enjoy the meal without racing to the finish line.  It is for these reasons that some great locations have not yet risen to the rank of all-around favorite. Some are seasonal favorites (locations near campus are good when OSU is not in session), a few others are saved for in between meal stops (when crowds are less and parking is more accessible), and perhaps one or two more are special occasion stops - we only travel that far afield when we have some other specific reason to be there, rather than just for the pizza.

I spent a good part of this week helping a good friend and co-worker, Rob, from Milbank, South Dakota soak up the local flavor.  I try to introduce him to one or two new spots (new to him anyway) and also revisit his favorites from prior visits.  In the new category, we hit the Local Cantina for lunch and the B Spot for dinner.  To fulfill the returning favorites portion of the program, we ventured to Scali Ristorante, Schmidt's, J. Gumbo's, and Skyline Chili.  It was a lucky break that on Wednesday evening, a large number of our associates (including my brother-in-law and three of my nephews) were volunteering to cook and serve dinner at the Manna Cafe at the Broad Street United Methodist Church.  Manna Cafe happens to be on the corner opposite our corporate headquarters office in the Discovery District downtown.  I will share more on Manna Cafe in a later post, but first a little bit of history...

On a prior outing at the Manna Cafe, my co-worker and nephews were my cooking crew for the day.  In the early afternoon, they found themselves with a short span of time on their hands and somehow ended up in the adjacent gymnasium where Rob proceeded to school them in the game of basketball.  As my nephews are not currently at an age where they typically respect their elders, this South Dakota beat down was utterly shocking for them.  Little did they know that Rob not only played basketball, but coached youth basketball for several years too.  He was, in the popular parlance, a ringer.  -smile-

It was only natural, that on his return to Central Ohio, the nephews would be spoiling for a rematch.  This time they invited my brother-in-law and me to join the fray as well.  Given that I hadn't picked up a basketball in any fashion in more than ten years, I worked the phones feverishly to recruit some additional support for the seniors team, but my efforts fell flat.  And, as luck would have it, the lone co-worker who was eager to join us that night ended up on the nephew's team.  Thinking back with a bent toward conspiracy, I wonder if maybe they were working the crowd at Manna Cafe that night looking for a ringer too... They were successful, where I was not.  -grimace- Although I won't reveal the final score of the two games we played that night, suffice it to say I will be practicing before the next rematch.  The good news is that no matter who won, everyone was up for a trip to a nearby pizza place.

Hounddog's 3 Degree Pizza (www.hounddogspizza.com) is just a short trip from the site of the round ball game we played and was recommended by a co-worker.  Although it was a bit of a challenge to find it, even using a GPS locator, we managed to get there after one trip around the block and several passes through the small (and completely full) parking lot.  The signage from the parking lot side of the restaurant is far more prominent than the High Street side.  In spite of the full parking lot, the crowd inside the dining room was light and we immediately found a table and received prompt service.  We ordered up some happy hour beers (for those who were old enough), soft drinks (for those who were not), a plate of jalapeno poppers, and two pizzas (one 14"/one 16").  Both pies were Smokin' Joes style - hand-tossed garlic buttered crust.  One was loaded with their regular (billed as a mildly sweet tomato and basil) sauce and all the meats.  The other with their spicy sauce plus spicy sausage and pepperoni.  The waiter indicated the spice level was perhaps a medium with just a bit of kick and not the least bit offensive.  Since we wanted to get a feel for the overall flavor without overpowering it with heat, that seemed like a good choice.  The nephews gladly scarfed the jalapeno poppers as fast as they arrived at the table.  Thankfully, the pizzas arrived almost immediately after that.  The crust was exactly as advertised.  The generous brush of garlic butter was a nice touch and both pizzas had sauce and toppings aplenty.  The only contrary observations would be that the mildly sweet tomato and basil sauce didn't seem to be sweet at all and the spicy sauce really didn't seem to have much kick.  Pizzas were still very good, just not quite what we expected.  I didn't think it was possible that we would completely devour both pizzas, but there was hardly a crumb left and I am fairly certain someone was talking about drinking the extra garlic butter off the pans before they took them back to the kitchen. -mmmmm-

Atmosphere was pretty low-key.  Not surprising, given the proximity to campus.  Service was excellent.  Not sure yet if Hounddogs will move up to the all-around favorite yet, but it is definitely a contender.  Will be going back soon for a follow-up visit with other parties to confirm our initial observations.  Please stay tuned for further updates.


In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this passage in the Chronicles of a Dining Scout and Shade Tree Chef.

Dining Scout, Shade Tree Chef, and Author,
Michael Hurd,




aka "Big Mike"