My wife and I have taken to using Saturday and Sunday afternoons to wander the area and trying out the other pizza joints within about 40 miles. There are all sorts of types and styles of places we have seen. Some have full bar, some beer/wine, some nothing. We’ve seen the gamut of delco/dine combinations. We have actually taken to writing up our own personal reviews on places based on several sorts of things we find important in our dining. We may one day put up a website to share our experiences . . . or just have a notebook in our shop. We want to do all sorts of things to highlight the local businesses in our area and the food they serve. Some of it is fabulous, and some is not really what we like to eat. The focus will be on what we like and what we find important to look at in a restaurant. Then, we will also review the food and service from as objective a stance as we can, then what we personally liked and disliked.
All that said, we have found very scant few places that didn’t actually execute their food and concept at least at average level. Many are above average, and a couple are truly outstanding in the pack. We went to one yesterday. It is an independent 2-store operation called OZ Pizza in Fairburn, GA www.ozpizza.net . If you travel down I-85 south of Atlanta, find a way to get over to GA 29 in Fairburn and love some of his great pie. We tried his slices the first two times we went there, and found them not so much to our preference (they are slices pretty well done; I just am not so much a par-cooked/topped/reheated slice guy) . . . his whole fresh pie was truly stellar. It had a finesse . . . a balance of cheese and sauce to crust (not just a leaden slog of heavy sauce and mounds of cheese). His your pizza guy was dexterous and consistent as I watched his technique stretching skins. The owner, Chris, was very charming, intelligent, friendly, and very obviously trained his staff well. The place really pulls off the food and the concept very well and very clean. His staff knows the diameter measurements of “medium” and “large” (puts him in a minority) and are hopping to help and serve the customers.
His sauce was also a balanced execution that was a simply and gently seasoned tomato sauce instead of a heavy-handed and over-spiced red schmere that lacked any basic tomato-ness. Too many places we tried lose almost all tomato flavor for all the salt, oregano, garlic, sugar, salt, oil, basil, salt, thyme etc they pack into the original tomato product. The cheese was enough to feel value, but not so much it stole the show and covered up the flavors of our chicken and spinach pizza. Crispy and tender crust baked directly on the deck of his Bodgett 1060 (I may miss on the model number) double decks. Open kitchen and really good cleanliness habits of the staff. The only real criticism I would have is the lack of a smaller size for smaller group. I understand it is a business choice and why it goes that way. I just prefer a little smaller than 14" and 16" when just me and wife. Not much of a gig on his place at all!
It is the first place out of a dozen or so nearby that we would be proud and not cringe if someone told us they like Oz Pizza a little more than ours. That’s a place I’d be confident losing out to . . . not that it is likely to happen 