Lexington Ky Restaurants

Pizza

Your Guide to Fine Dining

Bella Notte

Pizza would seem to be a simple food, a round doughy pie crust covered with cheese and other toppings, then baked in a brick oven. When the peasant women in the hills outside Naples evolved the first Pitsa, which used only mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, they never dreamed their creation would become a worldwide favorite. Today, everyone has their own ideas of what kind of crust they want, what kind of cheeses, and what kind of toppings. Lexington has 37 pizza outlets, some of them chains with a dozen locations, each with its own marketing appeal. We have thick, thin, cheese filled and toasted crusts. We have every kind of cheese imaginable. We have 103 kinds of toppings, some quite common like anchovies, pepperoni and sausage, some more imaginative, like zucchini, smoked salmon and jalapenos. But as we tasted our way across the Lexington pizza landscape, we realized most people cheat themselves by ordering only from home delivery outlets. Most of the very best pizzas we found were at sit down restaurants, where you can order carryout but have to pick it up yourself. And, of course, eating at the restaurant means you can take full advantage of the rest of their menu, meaning drinks, appetizers, soups, salads, and desserts. If you're in town staying at one of the central hotels, you're within walking distance of Joe Bologna's and Mellow Mushroom and an easy drive to the others.

Joe Bologna's is synonymous with Lexington Pizza. Joe opened the town's first pizzeria back in 1972 on Euclid Avenue, catering to UK students. By 1989 he had outgrown the original location and moved into an abandoned church. The conversion to a restaurant is worth a visit just to see. The bar is where the altar was, these are the original 1891 Eastern Kentucky pine floors, and Joe's is one of the few restaurants in America with 41 stained glass windows. But the main reason to visit Joe is his pizza. He's still there, and it's still great. You can order the crust you want. Most people order the thin, and it's excellent, very crisp, perfectly baked. But if you want yours a little or a lot thicker, just tell them. With four decades of students now bringing their children back, Joe's is a matter of tradition. Two of those traditions are the Fried Banana Peppers and the Breadsticks. The sticks are drowned in garlic butter and the banana peppers are crisp and delicious. Most people consider them the best in town. The All Time favorite pizza at Joe's is the Lite Supreme, a thin crust light on cheese and heavy on toppings. It has homemade sauce, onions, green peppers, hot peppers, green and black olives, zucchini slices, shredded carrots and tomatoes, mushrooms, pineapple, and grated romano cheese. Or there's the Meatball Pizza, a medium crust piled high with sliced meatballs, marinara sauce and mounds of mozzarella sauce. The Hawaiin is a thin crust with ham, green peppers, pineapple, barbeque sauce and mozzarella cheese. 120 West Maxwell. Four blocks from Vine Street.