AMY STOCKLEIN
Village Pizza’s signature pie is a deep dish, but it’s not the only thing it does well.
Back in the mid-2010s when I was at UW-Madison, students divided themselves into factions based on their loyalty to either Ian’s Pizza or Pizza Di Roma. Village Pizza, which opened in mid-October at 616 University Ave., aims to serve the same hungry college kid demographic, offering slices until 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Owned by brothers Arturo Ruiz and Berna Cazares, Village Pizza specializes in Chicago-style deep-dish pies. The brothers have transformed the former Bob’s Copy Shop space into a bright, casual eatery decorated with colorful paintings depicting scenes of Italy. A native of Mexico City, Ruiz has cooked in Madison restaurants for years, including the east and west side locations of Rosati’s Pizza, a Chicago-based chain. Village Pizza’s concept is similar to Rosati’s, offering salads, sandwiches, deep-fried appetizers, and entrees like fried chicken and baby-back ribs in addition to pizza. There’s a charming, family-run vibe to the place, and on all my visits service was friendly and fast.
The pizza is quite good, and I will talk more about it momentarily. But first, I want everyone to know that Village Pizza also serves tacos on Tuesdays! They’re not listed on the menu, and I haven’t seen them advertised anywhere besides a Facebook post announcing the Feb. 20 launch, but these tacos might be the best thing at the restaurant. Available with beef, chicken and pork, the tacos are $2 each and come with a double corn tortilla, diced onion, cilantro, fresh lime, and fiery housemade salsa.
Taco fillings are extremely generous, and all three are excellent — particularly the beef (more like chopped steak) and the pork (done al pastor and topped with a big hunk of fresh pineapple). Side orders of rice and beans are satisfying and big enough to split. Housemade horchata, a classic Mexican drink made from rice milk and cinnamon, is a sweet and refreshing complement to the meal. Village Pizza also offers a special taco pizza on Tuesdays, which is next on my list of things to try.
So, back to the pizza. This might be blasphemy, but I will admit upfront that Chicago-style pizza is not my favorite. Is it even pizza? It’s more like a casserole with crust! Still, I genuinely enjoyed a deep-dish, vegetable-packed “Harvest” pie. Topped with bright tomato sauce and generously layered with spinach, mushrooms, artichokes, green olives and tons of mozzarella, this pizza is impressively hearty (and almost feels healthy). I was impressed by the taste, texture and overall crispiness of the crust, but I felt like the rest of the pizza needed more time in the oven. This was an issue with all the pizzas I tried — thin or thick, the crust was perfect, but the toppings were borderline undercooked (especially the vegetables) and the cheese was pale, not browned.
A thin-crust margherita pizza was the closest to the style of pizza I like best — light, crisp and simple, topped with big slices of tomato and olive oil instead of sauce. It came with spinach instead of the promised basil, but no worries. Village Pizza is extraordinarily generous with cheese — in this case, fresh mozzarella — but this can actually be a downfall when it inevitably starts to cool and harden. As much as I liked the pizza, it was better when I brought it home and revived it under my own broiler.
There’s also a double-dough option, which is two thin crusts stacked and gathered at the edges. This middleweight pie holds up well under hefty toppings like roast beef, green peppers, mushrooms, alfredo sauce and a mountain of mozzarella (this is the eponymous “Village” pizza).
Sandwiches, like the chicken parmesan, are good, and the kitchen also does fairly well with deep-fried appetizers — battered mushrooms and dill pickles get a thumbs-up, as do the “sweetbites” — little chunks of fried dough dusted with powdered sugar. I wasn’t as impressed with the wings, and the accompanying blue cheese dressing tasted disturbingly sweet.
Will Village Pizza ever be as iconic as its campus-area competitors? The restaurant is already setting itself apart with its array of offerings. If the pizza thing doesn’t work out, they could easily rebrand as one of Madison’s best taquerias.
Village Pizza
616 University Ave., 608-285-5956
11 am-10 pm Sun.-Wed., 11 am-3 am Thurs.-Sat., $2-$21
