Editorial
Front Page - Friday, November 12, 2010
River City Roundabout
The Pizza-capades
Erica Tuggle
(This is article one of two in the River City Roundabout “The Pizza-capades” series)
Good pizza is one of the finer things in life. Many locals make it a personal mission to find the so-called “Best Pizza in Town,” and to compare new pizza with old favorites. So when a new pizza place opens, there is a certain duty to try out their brand of dough.
This month, downtown Chattanooga hit the pizza jackpot as not just one, but two new pizza parlors opened up in the area. One of these is Pizza ChaCha! Located at 863 McCallie Avenue, it is only a few steps away from the UTC campus, and (if you can believe it) parking was a cinch! The other new pie house in town is Hill City Pizza, on the NorthShore, in the former location of the Mudpie Restaurant.
The first place I tried was Pizza ChaCha!, a place that is hard to miss. Pizza ChaCha has been painted neon green and orange on the outside in a statement that says quite clearly that they want your dining experience with them to be a visual treat of aesthetics as well as a taste sensation.
Inside Pizza ChaCha, there is more flair in the decorum. Every piece of furniture and the art on the walls looks like it was handmade. I mean this in a good way. The beautiful pictures on the wall appear to be made from table legs and have bright colors employed in their making. The tables feature the Pizza ChaCha logo, and you can feel the dried glue beads on the edge of the table for authenticity on the homemade nature of this furniture.
The styles of the booths in the restaurant are glittery for one, posh for others and one even features a type of faux leather covering. The choice is yours. One of the tables features handprints from children, and if you saddle up to the bar style dining, you can draw on the chalkboard in front of you.
Besides all this, Pizza ChaCha has a lot of selection in this tiny place. With 34 toppings, there is a lot you can put on your pizza. They only charge for the first five toppings, and as the menu says, “Want more than 5? Knock yourself out!” The pizza crusts also come in the thin variety, hand tossed or gluten-free.
If you are looking for something really different, you could do the “ChaCha!” In preparing this dish, they take one of their signature pizzas and put a fresh salad in the middle of a hole they have cut in one of their 12-inch pizzas. If you are just not feeling pizza, try one of their sandwiches.
There is the “ChaCha! Slammer” with ham, turkey, rare roast beef and provolone cheese added to the other fixings and served on a white hoagie roll, lightly toasted and with chips. There’s also a ChaCha! Italian Hoagie and Veggie Hoagie that are self-explanatory and self-gratifying.
Pizza Cha Cha has Orangina, Panna, San Pellegrino, Peroni Beer, Moritti Beer, Amstel Light, Michelob Ultra, Miller Lite, Budweiser, Bud Light and Coke products. It’s going to be hard to not find something to like here. This place even does orders to go, and you can find out exactly what you want before calling or visiting by going to www.pizzachacha.com.
Right now, ChaCha also has many specials going on. A 12-inch cheese pizza is $7 and domestic beer is $1.75 every Saturday from noon to midnight in honor of football season. Every Thursday, the $7 cheese pizza is available, a two topping ChaCha is only $8.50, personal pizzas are $4.50, one topping personal pizzas are $5.25, and showing a UTC ID can help you save every day.
When we visited Pizza ChaCha, we went for a simple 12-inch pepperoni and mushroom pizza. We were given a handmade order number with a picture of a content hen on it, although there are many other kinds of animals to receive as order markers. The pizza came out surprisingly quick for a Friday evening order, but we aren’t complaining. Personal pizzas are served at ChaCha on a cutting board and with basil leaves on top.
Our slightly larger pizza was on a metal pan, but still came with the garnish of basil leaves on top. All in all, ChaCha pizza is tasty, well priced and will be convenient to many in the area.
Also opening soon, right beside ChaCha, is Jitterz coffee shop. We are sure that this place will do fine being so near to the UTC campus, and should be especially busy during midterms and finals.
Look next week for article II in the “The Pizza-capades” series. Email Erica Tuggle at Reporter@hamiltoncountyherald.com
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