Wasn’t planning on doing another restaurant review so soon, but Jen and Elizabeth and I were driving around the block looking for parking, having no idea where we wanted to eat a late lunch, and came upon a place I didn’t even know had moved into town:

img_0292

Turns out they’ve been there a couple of weeks (and by “there” I mean down from Whitey’s Ice Cream); the grrrl at the counter said there’s another one in Minneapolis, which I found easy to believe after looking at the pizzas that were available beneath the glass. If you’re wandering down East Washington looking for a slice of something bland, then keep walking, ’cause you won’t find it at Mesa. The first thing I saw was a pizza with penne, and a little further down was the mac and cheese pizza. Everything was beautiful to look at, but it made me a little nervous, as I’m not adventurous with my pizza at quite that level. But I do eat pineapple, and there was a slice of “Barbecue Chicken Pineapple,” so I went with that. Jen got a slice with fresh mozzarella, roma tomatoes, and basil. Pretty cheap: I think it was seven bucks for two slices and a can of root beer.

While we were waiting for the pizza—I wasn’t watching how they were heated, but they seemed not to have been kept on warmers, which helped the taste—Jen and I sat down with the little girl, and checked the place out. I don’t know if it’s a conscious decision to go minimalist, or if they just haven’t been in there long enough to have everything in order: no particular décor at this point, just freshly painted walls. I appreciated the fact that before they had the first picture hung, they had a place to recycle cans and plastic.

And then the pizza was ready.

And it was excellent.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever had pizza with this little grease before. Everything tasted fresh, and warm, and perfect. Not much more to say than that. The food was great, served on paper plates. I hope they don’t change a thing before the next time we get in there.