Apeizza e Vino ~ Southlake, Texas ***CLOSED***

Last visit: Jan 2014

First visit: Dec 2013

For the second new restaurant that the RJG tried, after a lengthy cold spell, I had awaited a visit from Mr. Music - a true connoisseur of the Napoletana pizza tradition - to try NE Tarrant's latest coal oven venture. With Campania (Southlake) going completely down the tubes (our last visit was not good, and it seemed to be on its last legs), and INZO (Roanoke) starting to mail it in, there is definitely room for a new pizza place in Northeast Tarrant with a 900 degree oven. Grimaldi's (Grapevine) pretty much owns this market as far as the RJG is concerned (and Coal Vines (Southlake) which is slightly different in my mind). But there's a new sheriff in town! Let me introduce to you all Apeizza e Vino, the second location for the burgeoning Denver based chain. Lafayette is east of Boulder, and it's quite ironic that one of our favorite coal oven pizza places in the Denver area is a small chain called Proto's. And the location we tried was in Lafayette! But I never knew about Apeizza e Vino (with only two votes on Urbanspoon, I have to think it's new there too).

The name is literal, and the restaurant primarily focuses on their pizza and a healthy wine list. A limited scope is always a welcome idea to the RJG, as we know then that they are focused (or should be anyway) on their core product. Beers are fairly basic, and they also have salads and appetizers.  We split a salad, and each went with a pizza. The salad was excellent (and quite large, similar to Grimaldi's in that way). I tried the basic Margherita pizza with added homemade Italian sausage and Mr. Music had the Salsiccia e Funghi (Sausage and Mushroom). We were both more than pleased with the pizza texture and sauce. The Italian sausage is truly divine, and not the "off the truck" variety. In speaking with the owner's wife, she stated that if you want it crispier (the way Mrs. RJG likes it) - then it's just a matter of oven placement. The pizzas are bigger than individual size (except for teenagers on the football team of course), so be prepared to take some home. We thought the prices were reasonable, so the overall value is quite good. As an aside, the oven was handmade in Italy and shipped here, and it has the owner's named spelled out in the tile (Debastiani).

12/27/13 (new entry); 1/11/14