kensartisan.com/pizza
www.lovelys5050.com/
apizzascholls.com/
nostrana.com/
scottiespizzaparlor.square.site/
www.50toppizza.it/50-top-usa-...
Did you know that Portland has 5 of the 50 Top Pizza spots in the USA? We were shocked to discover this news and decided to check them out over a 2-day pizza crawl.
We were first in line at about 4:50 at Ken’s Artisan Pizza. Two other couples quickly joined us. They had been there before and raved about how great it was. They mentioned, on the weekends, the line to get in wraps around the block.
As soon as the doors opened, we rushed in and got our small table by the window where Aaron had a view of the whole restaurant. We quickly realized that this was the trendy place to be. In 15 minutes the whole place was full and everyone was excited to be there. It was a fairly small but cozy place with the wood-fired oven front and center for all to see.
Our server, Jeremy, was very friendly and helpful, making recommendations. We ordered the fennel sausage, onion and Calabrian chili pizza and glasses of wine. A young couple next to us were there for the first time and the woman kept saying how much she was looking forward to being there and trying the pizza. They had recently been in Spain and eaten a burrata pizza which is what they ordered at Ken’s.
Our pizza came quickly and it did not disappoint. Long fermented dough, hand stretched mozzarella, fragrant, fennel sausage complemented by the sweet onion and spicy peppers were mouth-wateringly delicious. The crust was light and chewy with that wonderful blistered char. .
Nostrana's dining room was completely full when we arrived and we were lucky to have gotten a reservation next door at their Enoteca with an incredibly well stocked bar and I remarked how much I loved Italy and all their enticing liquors. The spicy smells from the kitchen and delicious cocktails sparked all my senses. We both had Italian cocktails, Aaron a Negroni, which is a specialty and me a Sbagliato, an Italian spritzer, which came in a very large stemmed glass. It was delicious. Guests kept to themselves, but the bartenders were very friendly and helpful with advising us on the menu.
I couldn’t resist the seasonal vongole Picante pizza; clams, broccoli, Calabrian chili, garlic, mozzarella, provolone and lemon. We could immediately taste the clams, and the spiciness of the chilis. It had a light crust, not as charred as Ken’s, but chewy and good. The pizzas here come uncut with their own pizza scissors to do the cutting. The Blue Truck lettuce salad was quite tasty with shaved fennel, beets, carrot, radish, pickled red onion vinaigrette and green goddess dressing.
Our next restaurant was the highly acclaimed Apizza Scholls on Hawthorne. We arrived around 7:30 and had a 20-30 minute wait for a booth. There is minimal seating either at the bar or in a high-backed wooden booth. The bartender was very attentive, keeping us informed of our wait time. We ordered half and half to satisfy us both. Aaron’s half was pepperoni, sausage and mushroom (no surprise). I chose Bacon Bianca based on the server’s recommendation which was bacon, whole milk mozzarella, grana padano/pecorina romana, lots of fresh garlic, herbs, black pepper and EV olive oil (no sauce). The server recommended heating up the leftover pizza in a pan and adding an egg on top for breakfast. I did that and Aaron ate his cold. Either way was delicious. Even 2 days later, our son said it was the best pizza he had ever eaten.
Scotties may have been a parlor before covid but now it was a bustling take-out only business. The server recommended taking the pizza across the street to Great Notion Brewing's outside seating. The Defino pizza was a classic Neapolitan pizza which came granny style in a 16” square. The dough is naturally fermented and cooked at a high temperature once and then a 2nd lower temp resulting in a nice crispy crust. Toppings are upside down with the cheese on the bottom and a generous fresh tomato sauce topped with fresh basil and oregano. It was very flavorful and one of our favorite pizzas.
We were early in line for Lovely’s Fifty Fifty as the line was forming. 50% of the restaurant is ice cream and 50% pizza we found out from the Top Chef Pizza documentary about Chef Sarah Minnick and her family business. We both adored the carrot soup and homemade focaccia bread. Her 12” pizza was a whole grain sourdough style crust with the freshest of local cheeses, vegetables and herbs. Everything is 100% organic straight from the farm. We topped off the meal with a selection of delicious ice creams.