Having just moved across town and away from Tallahassee's college sector, I've had the pleasure of seeing a new side of Florida's Capital City. I rarely ventured too far east because everything I thought I needed was right by campus. Now that I've moved, I'm ready to start exploring again. First on the list was finding a good pizza place.
I was always a big fan of Momo's and Decent Pizza because of the monstrous slices. "Bigger than your head," they say. But now I hesitate at the thought of driving 15 minutes to get comically large pizza. I had to adapt, so I checked out the first local pizza place that I saw: The Leaning Tower Pizzeria.
Something about the name drew me in. It sounded Italian enough to imply authenticity and it was right down the road. So after a long day of unpacking boxes with Lindsay, we decided to give them a try.
I ordered a 16 inch pepperoni pizza and got a 2 liter of Pepsi to share on the floor of our new home. The "Move-In Special" I call it. All we needed were some paper towels and we were ready to dine.
The pizza was pretty good. The pepperoni was solid, and even though the crust could have been crispier, I enjoyed it.
I went with a few friends to eat in at their restaurant the following week. The place was small and fairly quiet aside from the authentic Italian music that played on the radio. I'm pretty sure someone in Matchbox 20 was Italian so that counts right?
Since I was already familiar with their pizza, the only thing left to try before forming a real opinion was their calzones. So we all ordered our food and the waitress brought out these heavenly rolls that were treated with olive oil and diced garlic. The entrées took a little while to come out, but these scrumptious morsels eased our growling stomachs. Honestly, with a steady supply of those garlic rolls, I don't know if I could have ever complained.
Lindsay and I shared a Booey sized pepperoni and sausage calzone. It's a calzone that's big enough to share with your "boo," but saying that it serves two is sort of an understatement. It was more of a cheese filled shawl made of bread. I could wrap myself up with this and brave a trip through the arctic. For 16 dollars you can feed two and have two more meals out of it.
The calzone was delicious, and was different than the ones I am used to. The bread was fluffier and the outside was somewhere between flakey and crispy. It was jam packed with cheese, sausage, and pepperoni, unlike some places that have overly bready calzones. The amount of goods was pretty well distributed throughout the delicious Italian pizza pocket.
I would definitely recommend trying Leaning Tower Pizzeria. Their pizza is good, and their calzones are amazing. It's a great place to pick up from, but be sure to get those garlic rolls. They are probably the best I've ever had.
Tags: Dining, Food, Italian, Leaning Tower, Pizza, Pizzeria Florida, Tallahassee
Pedro SemperteguiPedro Sempértegui is a recent graduate of Florida State University's English department. After growing up in the quiet suburb of Coral Springs, Fl, he moved to the capital to pursue writing. Since Tallahassee's nightlife has introduced him to new music, awesome food, and delicious microbrews, it's only right that he tries to pass on that knowledge.
