OK, so I’m not going to wade into the epic culinary battle of our times: the New York vs. Chicago Style Pizza Wars. But, seeing as how I do have some experience in the world of pizza making, I can say, with pizza-making and pizza-eat bona fides, if you’re in Duluth, near the Town Green, you can’t go wrong with a pie at Steverino’s.
Sorry kid, you can look, but you’re eating Cheerios. A large Steverino’s Supremo, from Steverino’s on the Duluth Town Green.
So what, exactly, I can hear you asking, are my pizza-making and pizza-eat bona fides. Good questions. I spent two and a half years, while in high school, working at the Straw Hat Pizza Parlor in Pittsburg, Ca., learning and perfecting the craft of mass-produced single-kitchen pizza, picking up the various skills necessary to keep one’s customers from one’s throat because of a burned or undercooked pizza.
Following that, I spent at least one night a week for 15 or so years hanging out with my friends at a place called Cybell’s Front Room in San Francisco. The pizza was good, but the original draw was the Tuesday and Thursday night specials—glasses of beer for 25c apiece (or $1.25 for a pitcher).
So I have either prepared or eaten thousands of pizzas in my lifetime (gawd, what an awful thought), so yes, I know pizza. And Steverino’s offers some good ones.
Located in a century-old brick building on the edge of the Duluth Town Green, Steverino’s offer no frills but good, thin-crust pizza that are crispy on the edges. I’ve tried about six or seven of the specialty varieties and like the Pizza Capriccioa (with roasted mushrooms, prosciutto and artichokes) and the Steverino’s Supremo.
A basic favorite: pepperoni, sausage and black olives.
Regular pizzas range in price from $7.95 for a 10-inch small to $14.95 for a 16-inch large cheese pizza (additional toppings are extra). Appetizers, calzones, sub sandwiches, burgers, salads and desserts are also available, but I haven’t tried much other than the pizza. On the couple of occasions when I have had a salad, they were tasty, with fresh, crisp lettuce and nice but not over-the-top dressings.
There is one other thing I should mention about Steverino’s, and that is the Thursday evening trivia contest. Now, when dining with the kids, we haven’t won the game, but on St. Partick’s Day evening, we did tie for second (and our team—the Mean Green Bean Machine—won the dance-off tie-breaker, thanks to 7-year-old Partick’s complete dusting of a man six times his age).
Steverino’s on the Town Green
3117 Main St
Duluth, Ga.
770.622.2110
Post by and photos credited to Gregory Watkins.