TOURNAMENT OF PIZZA PREP >>>

Engine House No. 9

611 N. Pine St., Tacoma, 253.272.3435

Born: 1972

Pizza Style: Medium to thin crispy crust

Skinny: Built in 1907 the former firehouse now neighborhood restaurant and bar serves 10-inch pizzas baked in an oven. They offer a basic pizza - red sauce with a cheese blend - and customers pick the toppings.

Notes: On a typical Friday night, you'll find yourself dining amid a sea of families with small children, college kids prefunctioning for the night, neighborhood couples watching the game and a couple "guys night out" groups working their way through E-9's beer club. And you're not unlikely to see a couple of high school kids on their first date. It's all about the karaoke Thursday and Saturday nights. Wednesday is their popular trivia night. To join the Engine House No. 9 Beer Club, all you need to do is quaff all 47 domestic and imported beers, lagers, porters, ales and stouts served by E9 (excluding Bud Light and ilk) in 90 days.  Happy hour is 3-6 p.m. and 11 p.m. to close daily.

The Pizza: The crust on E-9's pies is crisp with a raise outer rim; the sauce sweet and tangy with rich tomato goodness; and the mozzarella/Parmesan combo arrives golden brown loaded with enough whole-milk fat to glaze the whole top with the delightful luster. The 10-inch pizzas - which arrive on a plate - ring in at $8 with toppings $1.50 each. Your choices include pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, chicken, tomatoes, black olives, spicy (yes!) sausage, salami, Canadian bacon, pineapple, garlic, red and green peppers. They don't skimp on the toppings.

For not pushing their pizzas much in their marketing, I have to say that E-9 offers up a truly decent pizza. Maybe a spritz of basil and oregano before it hit the oven would put it more squarely in the pocket, but hey - you don't walk away broke like you can at several other pizza joints in Tacoma.

Hours: 11:30 a.m. to midnight Monday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday-Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to midnight Sunday.

The Weekly Volcano will host a South Sound Tournament of Pizza competition in March 2011, much like our Tournament of Tacos. Our readers will seed the tournament.

FORUM: Best pizza in the South Sound?

LINK: Engine House No. 9's happy hour

LINK: Engine House No 9's taco