Overton Park Pizze Stone (Closed)

Edited to add: New at Overton Park Pizze Stone--Sunday nights are kids nights 5-8pm!
Bring in your kids, and they'll let them build their own pizza at the table and then cook it up for them!

Overton Park Pizze Stone
1545 Overton Park
725-7806

After the storm a couple of weeks ago, Warren and I decided to try the new pizza place in the old Marena's/Rustica spot. We arrived at 6pm, despite being monkey-less. (They were at a sleepover and we were trying to catch an early movie.) I figured it was a fancy place, since the previous two tenants focused on fine dining, but it wasn't. Well, the decor was still fancy (doesn't seem like they changed much) and the menu was definitely fancier than say the Pizza Cafe, but it had a very casual feel on the inside.

And it was crawling with families.

It was almost comical. We sat in a window seat and marveled at how many people with kids kept piling in. "Wow, it's awesome how the neighborhood is coming out to support this place," I remarked. "It was smart of them to go with a more casual menu."

We had a very nice dinner. We tried a couple of appetizers and the Lucca Brazzi (Sleep with the Fishes) featuring marinated anchovies. Warren really liked it, but I couldn't do the anchovies. Regardless I was determined to return with the monkeys (Satchel, 7, and Jiro, 5).


We decided to ride our bikes over tonight before going to see the Juke Joint Duo at the Shell. We got there around seven and found the restaurant full, but not nearly as packed as our first visit. The main dining room seemed full of people without children. We were led to the back room where we found several other families, mostly with small kids. The monkeys were fairly starving, so we started looking at the menu right away. The kids were debating between cheese and pepperoni when our waiter came over. We went ahead and ordered drinks--lemonade for the boys, water for us--and the waiter asked me if we wanted him to go ahead and put in the kids' order. I declined, but thought it was nice of him to ask.

By the time he returned with the drinks we had decided on the cilantro chicken wings appetizer, a pepperoni pizza, a pesto pizza, and a Napoli pizza. The monkey's friend, Will, who is nine, was with us, and I wasn't sure how much he could eat. Besides everything sounded good.

Having a friend in tow made the monkeys a little more hyper than usual. The noise level at our table was higher than I would have liked and Satchel and Jiro were both having a hard time behaving. All in all, it wasn't too bad--the volume in the restaurant was pretty loud overall. (Thankfully loud enough to drown out the killer burp Satchel let loose.)

After 15 minutes or so our chicken wings came out. They were really hot (temperature wise) which turned off the kids initially. Warren and I were not deterred. I thought they were very flavorful and well cooked. They were more sweet than hot and I'm not sure I would have known there was cilantro in them were it not for the name. Once they cooled off Satchel ate three of the seven. He liked them so much that I had to forcefully remove the bones from his mouth due to the loud sucking noises he was making!

Jiro and Will, who both refused the wings, were clamoring for pizza. Our waiter stopped by several times to check on us and assure us that the pizza was coming. He said that they were getting slammed with take out orders. Normally I would have been annoyed, but I was in a good mood and I appreciated having the information, even if it wasn't what I wanted to hear.


The pizza did finally arrive (maybe 15-20 minutes later) and we all eagerly dug in. (I noted that it was cut in squares--a change from our first visit.) The kids all declared it delicious and were very happy. Warren and I both liked the Napoli and pesto pizza. The Napoli featured pepperoni, sausage, and crimini mushrooms. The pesto had goat cheese, mozarella, tomato, and pine nuts. The pesto was a little over cooked around the edges, but the center pieces were perfect.

We all stuffed ourselves, but had plenty of pizza left. (Two would have been plenty.) I was faced with a quandary--how would I get it home in my little bike basket? I saw that the table next to us had a styrofoam container, which would fit perfectly, but I really am trying to avoid the FOAM. I asked the waiter for foil and he gave me a look. I explained that I was anti-styrofoam, and he happily offered to get me a cardboard box. I accepted, and then realized that there was no way it would fit in my basket. So he brought out several sheets of foil and apologized all the while. I felt ridiculous by now and just said, "Ok, bring me a styrofoam container, I don't care." He then brought me three and said, "Here you go, you don't have to use them all if you don't want to."

Meanwhile another guy came over to ask how everything was. "It wasn't too slow was it?" I smiled and said it was fine. It was. (I prefer fast, but fine is fine.)

I sent Warren and the boys out to ready the bikes while I paid the tab. Our total was $50, which was a bit much for a pizza dinner. (~$10/person) Had we stuck with two pizzas instead of three, it would have been more reasonable, I'm sure.

Anyways, we had a nice time, and will probably go back with and without the monkeys...and maybe just call for take out. They also do lunch, which might be more conducive to tighter budgets.