MONDAY, MARCH 21: WEST REGIONAL, FIRST ROUND >>>
With nothing but rainy weather in the 10-day forecast, we're pretty psyched that spring is really starting to unfurl in the South Sound, beckoning us out of our dark caves and into the rainy streets. In fact, it's enough to make us want to start out this awesome week with some pizza. Because to us, nothing says "spring" like rain and pizza.
After the Washington Huskies got eliminated from the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, the South Sound jumped on their computers and smart phones and voted in the Tournament of Pizza in droves. At the end of last night, two pizza battles were neck-to-neck and two were blowouts.
Primo Grill and The New Frontier Lounge battled back and forth all day, changing leads several times. It's our guess that Primo Grill's witty newsletter it sent out Friday to its subscribers might have made the difference as the Mediterranean restaurant ended up edging out The New Frontier with 50.9 percent of the votes.
The other close game was Upper Crust Bistro & Bakery vs. Adriatic Grill. We dropped by both restaurants yesterday to check out the behind-the-scenes game day action. Surprisingly, the quieter one - Upper Crust - ended up winning with 50.4 percent of the votes. It could be that the Northend Tacoma Upper Crust was shelling out $5 glasses of wine. Smart move. Upper Crust will meet Primo Grill in the second Round March 28. Lives will change after this one.
When business partners Pat Nagle and Carole Holder opened their Harmon Tap Room to take on production of their beer production, they skipped reproducing the popular pizza recipe from their neighboring Hub joint. Instead, they came up with a new recipe - and it worked. The Harmon Tap Room pulled in 70 percent of the votes over Italian restaurant Ravenous to advance into the Second Round.
The other blowout came in the matchup between The Rock and Meconi's Pub & Eatery, each sitting on opposite ends of downtown Tacoma. The local franchise, more pizza centric Rock grabbed the most votes of the day, smoking the friendly hangout that is Meconi's with 74 percent of the votes. The Rock moves on to the Second Round to face the Harmon Tap Room March 28.
The following four pizza joints will advance to the next round:
Sponsored by al Forno Ferruzza Traditional Sicilian Cuisine
OK, time to move on to today's pizza battles.
(CONTEST CLOSED. SEE TUESDAY'S SPEW POSTS FOR WINNERS.)
Tides Tavern vs. Terry's Office Tavern
Through the years, the Tides Tavern, which serves booze, has seen a number of colorful owners, not the least of which was "Three Fingered Jack," a Jerry Garcia look-alike who ran it in the late '60s and early '70s, and whose tenor voice now entertains Mariners' fans before every game outside the stadium. The Weekly Volcano tipped drinks with Three Fingered Jack this past St. Paddy's Day. He says he's voting for the Tides in this battle. The cigarette smoke and carpeted walls are gone from Terry's Office Tavern in the Northend, but their kick ass pizza remains.
Nick-N-Willy's Pizza vs. Fondi Pizzeria
Pizza by the slice, microbrews and wine, happy hour specials, lunch and dinner specials - the Northend loves the Nick-N-Willy's franchise because they do it all: take-n-bake, carry-out and delivery. Can you have a take-n-bake delivered? Yes. Can you take out a delivery person? You bet. Sure, Gig Harbor's Fondi Pizzeria doesn't feel as if we're sitting between Rome and Naples where it takes its name. And the guy working the ovens isn't a rude man-child in a starched shirt who looks down my wife's shirt at every chance, but the pizza takes us back to Italy. The Naples-style pies take full benefit from the blasting heat of those brick-dome ovens and touched with olive oil.
Blue Cannon Pizza Co. vs. Lakewood Pub & Grill
Tucked into a newly developed Gig Harbor shopping center that is filled with every imaginable retailer selling pretty much everything under the sun is Blue Cannon Pizza Company. At Blue Cannon it's all about the thin crust. The menu is not creative fusion focused, nor is it a walk on the wild side. Blue Cannon offers eight meat-laden specialty pizzas and five vegetarian pies in a casual, semi-self-serve, kid-friendly environment. The Lakewood Pub & Grill trashed the former owner's outdoors-y motif and serves tasty pizza and other pub food in a simple, clean environment. Every slice of Lakewood hangs out at the Pub.
Stonegate Pizza vs. The Fan Club
Yes the monstrous Stonegate Pizza on South Tacoma Way is a mishmash of art, layout and ideas that sports two live music rooms and a rum bar. However, their pizza is undeniably well through out and incredible. Owner Jeff Call brought in his uncle Larry Turco's crust - the original cracker-like pizza dough recipe that made the Cloverleaf Tavern's pizza famous beginning in the early sixties. The Fan Club, a Lakewood neighborhood sports bar in an old McDonald's building, is known for its pizza, which they take their time building by hand.
Game 1: Oldschool Pizzeria (108 Franklin St, NE, Olympia) vs. Chuck E. Cheese (625 Black Lake Blvd., Olympia)
Game 2: Brewery City Pizza (several Thurston County locations) vs. Apollo Pizza & Pasta (2302 Harrison Ave. NW, Olympia)
Game 3: al Forno Ferruzza (408 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia) vs. Dirty Dave's Pizza Parlor (3939 Martin Way E., Olympia)
Game 4: Mercato Ristorante (111 Market St. NE, Olympia) vs. Infernos Brick Oven Pizza (111 Tumwater Blvd. SE, Tumwater)
LINK: What's up with this pizza tournament?
LINK: Oh hell yes I want the Weekly Volcano newsletter!
