Cost: Pizza by the slice with a drink – around $5. Pizza delivered: about $16 Medium/$24 Large
Location:910 Willamette Street, north of Eugene Station.
Distance from Campus: 1.3 miles
Cheap pizza reminds me of home.
In Bend, OR, there is a restaurant named Pizza Mondo. I visit Pizza Mondo whenever I am in town, as it was a favorite after-work spot of mine throughout high school and as I started working at a downtown cafe. I would buy a slice of pepperoni pizza and a coke to cap off the day after work. Since I uprooted to Eugene for school, I have been on the prowl for a spot with by-the-slice pizza to fill the Mondo-shaped hole in my heart.
Sizzle Pie may just fill that hole.
Much of the restaurant is colored with black and red. The ‘pick up’ and ‘order’ signs are painted black and red, as well as the Sizzle Pie logo. These seem to be choice colors for the late-night audience Sizzle Pie would attract, which takes me to the next point: their hours.
Sizzle Pie is open from 11am to 3am Sundays through Thursdays. On Friday and Saturday, they keep the doors unlocked until 4am for night owl and party-hard alike.
A huge sign, which that spans the distance of the bar, is painted black on the exterior, with aged light bulbs lighting up the sign’s message in red: “EAT PIZZA EVERYDAY”. At the bar, some folks cozy up to their partner, some talk with the bartender, and some sit silently contemplating their drink of choice alone. The bartender is talkative, offering suggestions for drinks to those who ask.
The wooden tables, which form an L along the two main windows, seat four. A family of four sits in front of me, their small son sliding napkins back and forth across the laminated tabletop. Industrial-looking light fixtures dangle above each table in what look with metal cages.
My only complaint centers on how they call out order number for pickup. One of the waitresses yelled out each order with unnecessary volume: “207!!”
Pizza by the slice won’t break your wallet. For a slice of pepperoni and a fountain drink, I paid $4.75 and added a $1.25 tip. The pepperoni pizza, here called an “Ace of Spades”, was delicious (greasy, hot pepperoni tops a chewy cheese base). There are a number of other choices for by-the-slice pizza, not to mention their delivery menu.
I haven’t been to Sizzle Pie in the daytime; but, part of me wouldn’t want to go then. I prefer the late-night aesthetic. From my seat, I watch a street band perform outside under a street lamp. I look at people who’ve probably just finished work hunched at the bar, and wonder which happenings from the day the tired faces reflect. I like the solemn but lively atmosphere of the night. So, buy an “Ace of Spades” and a drink around 1am and tell me what you think.
The Distracted Duck 