a guy and a bee
a collection of random thoughts and ideas from me, her, and sometimes us
Tag Archives: coal fire
food review: always up for pizza
for the last couple of weeks, we’ve been trying to go to coal fire over off of 108. we have been several times and always enjoy it but the last few times we went over there, the wait was over 30 minutes so when we called last night and it was already 25 minutes at 615, we decided to pass. we had decided we were going to go to chicago uno and swing by LL Bean afterwards. bee’s coat got screwed up so she wanted to see if they would fix it. as we left the house, I suggested we try Luna Bella in the hickory ridge village center. we always see it when we go to that village center and hadn’t ever been so we figured now was the time.
luna bella (photo from yelp)
the restaurant is a small and intimate italian place that serves brick oven pizza. it was voted as one of howard county’s best in 2011 for pizza and italian so I was excited to try their brick oven style. after waiting more than the estimated 25 minutes, we finally got seated. I figured it was worth waiting to spend money at a local small business instead of a chain place and the place and line were packed. I saw someone from work who decided to not wait as several others did as well. there were also plenty of people getting carry out.
we started with the fried mozzarella which was a nice size appetizer. it could easily be for 3 or 4, but we just split it for ourselves. haha. bee got the eggplant parmesan and she enjoyed it. I, on the other hand, went for the main attraction, pizza. I’m always one for a meat pizza and went with the Pizza Carne. a nice blend of pepperoni, sausage, salami, and canadian bacon. the crust was a little thicker than I expected for brick oven pizza but it was crispy and held all the toppings nicely. they offer their pizzas in 10 or 12 inch and have several prepaid options as well as the choose your own toppings. the gourmet options as they refer to them had a nice variety and also looked tasty. our friend, steve, pointed out that the pizza finito is also real good. meanwhile, the build your own toppings seemed endless. anyway, the pizza and toppings on the pizza carne worked wonders together and i ate the whole thing!
howchow did a post on luna bella a few years ago and had different thoughts on the crust but my experience was that it held up well.
we certainly enjoyed it and will be back to try the other pizzas and menu options. afterwards, we stumbled over to the meadows original frozen custard. it’s a franchised ice cream place but the proprietor of this one is a fantastic guy. we walked in at 810 and they were actually closed, but “since they were there, they were open.” the frozen custard is made fresh daily and they only make select flavors each day so you know it will be good. we ended up getting a cookies and cream ice cream sandwich, which we split since it was pretty large for just $4. well worth it. we’ve been several times and have their club card. if you are looking for a new ice cream place, check it out!
hocofood@@@
favorite pizza in hoco?
lately i’ve been on a pizza binge. i’ve probably had pizza almost once a day for
the past week and a half. and although, i really do enjoy a good slice, it got me thinking, what’s my favorite pizza in HoCo? Most recently, it’s probably the pizza from Coal Fire over off of Rt. 108 near Rt. 100. they have a great selection of pizzas as well options to make your own. you can choose from different sauce and different toppings. we enjoy the sweeter sauce with the ground beef on top. they also have a warm char-grilled warm caesar salad that is tasty too!
it seems like there are a never ending supply of options in howard county though for pizza. there are the standard carry out and delivery places like papa john’s, domino’s, and jerry’s subs and pizza. for a quick pizza, my wife and really enjoy the trattoria e pizzeria da enrico in the king’s contrivance village center. they make a great pizza and is nicely priced. we usually get half sausage and mushroom. that is usually the same we order at three brothers as well, although, we also enjoy the square, thick crust pizza as well. the square pizza was a standard of her childhood.
recently we also tried facci. another wood fire restaurant like coal fire but a little fancier inside and a wider menu variety. even though it’s on the east side of howard county and on the way to fulton/216, it’s worth the drive to it check out for those on the other side of the county.
so my question to you is, what is your favorite pizza in HoCo? with almost at least one pizza shop in each village center and/or shopping center, there are lots of options!
there is even pretty decent pizza at oriole park these days!
hocofood@@@
food review: coal fire pizza
Last night, the wife and I went out to get some dinner and wound up at a relatively new place called Coal Fire in Columbia. It’s right off Rt. 108 and Rt. 100 in what is called Shipley’s Grant. Their pizzas are “charred to perfection.”
We ended up choosing our own toppings and went for ground beef and their classic sauce. The pizza was cooked in a wood/coal burning oven and is a thin crust style. It’s not your standard cheese covered pizza with ground beef. The sauce and cheese combo was pretty good; however, I could have used some extra ground beef but maybe I’m just being greedy. Crust was nice and crusty, but not burnt. Though it was a smaller menu, they had some nice selections including a very good looking Baked Crabby Mac.
The restaurant appears to have a good local following and also has a small bar with a few high top tables, which made it have a fancier feel than your standard pizza joint. We didn’t have to wait, but there was a line shortly after we got there. For less than $20 for dinner, we will return. A 16″ pizza can easily feed two and next time we might get a side or a salad as well. Check it out if you are in the area and let me know what you think!
hey there
a guy and a bee 