I've read plenty of good reviews of Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza in the Whole Foods Shopping Center in Orlando's Sand Turkey District. Anthony's slogan is "Pizza Well Done." When the waitress came over, she gave us a speech that broke down to "We burn our pizza. Warning you now so you won't send it back when the crust is black." It seemed like a funny gimmick to me, to specialize in burnt pizza, but I gave it a try anyway.
The cheese pie was served, and the crust was indeed black around the edges. I gave it a try, and it was a really tasty pizza. The crust was thin and didn't really have the burnt taste I was expecting, the coal oven actually gave it a really nice flavor. I did find it a bit strange having black hands from all of the charcoal after picking up the slice, but I guess that's part of the novelty of coal oven pizza. The cheese wasn't overloaded, the pie had a good amount of the salty mozzarella. The sauce was slightly spicy and really tasty. Anthony's makes little pools of their sauce rather than spreading it evenly around the whole pizza. I guess this makes the pizza look more gourmet, but I know a few people that have issues with pies like this. I personally don't mind the sauce puddles, as long as the sauce tastes good.
I was really quite surprised with the pizza. My hopes really weren't all that high, but it was really tasty. It wasn't necessary the best around, but it was still pretty good. I'd eat here again! Although there is one complaint I had. I know Anthony's is sandwiched between the tourist attractions and some of Orlando's most expensive restaurants, but that is no excuse not to give free refills on drinks. People expect free refills...
We love this place. Have only been to the one in Palm Beach Gradens but we are visiting the Orlando location on Monday. Their wings are amazing! If you go back try them! And their salad is awesome too. Love their pizza! If you are into "really" spicy, try the Italian Finger Peppers on your pizza!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review ... decided to try the new Millenia Mall location based on your review.
ReplyDeleteThey still don't have soda refills, so I got my pizza dine-out instead of eat in.
The flavor was excellent, the toppings were present in good amounts, the crust was crispy.
In addition, while I was waiting for my pizza, they also gave me samples of a huge meatball and three chicken wings. The meatball was excellent, and may be added as a topping on my next pizza. The wings had a good flavor, but it worried me a little that they were cold inside.
I'm pretty sure I will be back for more pizza, though. Yummy!