Marietta-Style Woodfired Pizza: A Delightful Bite With Crust Just Right

When the locally-loved Sessions Stand moved to its new location in a larger space, the tiny corner space it occupied for years was left vacant. Neighbors wondered what would become of the corner.

We had to learn the meaning of "Marietta-Style" at Micah-Angelo's. Hint: there's no pounding bass line, shuffling or dancing involved. :-)Photo byDeanLand / OurTravelCafe.com

In July, we found out: Micah-Angelo's, a new pizza joint, opened up featuring fresh-crafted pies for carry out and al fresco dining on the small patio deck. With a woodfired oven, the new place advertised "Marietta-style" pizza. So of course, we had to find out exactly what that meant.

Thus, we ventured in for a weekday lunch visit, curious about what "Marietta-style" meant. After all, the performer PSY created a world-wide phenonmenon with his song and video "Gangnam Style." Could Marietta-style ignite a similar response? Inquiring minds and pizza lovers wanted to know.

On our first visit, we drove up the street to park at Lews Park, as the only two spots availalbe were taken at our 11:45 am arrival. After our short walk back, we were intrigued by the "Peaches and Pork" pie but decided to try the more traditional "Tre Meat" pizza.

While we were intrigued by the seasonal special "pork and peaches," we tried a more traditional TreMeat on our first visit.Photo byDeanLand / OurTravelCafe.com

Now, for the unfamiliar, it's important to know that Micah-Angleo's woodfired oven produces pizza FAST. So, there's no 20 minute wait after ordering. Instead, we placed our order at the walk-up window and within five minutes, had our hand-tossed, sourdough crust, freshly-baked and slightly charred pizza in hand. And don't be fearful of that "sliightly-charred" description as those darkened and crispy portions of the crust add both texture and a delightful flavor to the pizza.

Both the speed and the char are a direct result of the super-hot woodfired grill, which operates at more than 700F-degrees. During super-busy times, you'll likely have a longer wait because there is a finite capacity to place and manage the artisan-baked pies in that marvelous oven.

Firing pizzas a more than 700F-degrees means there's no 20-minute wait for baking.Photo byDeanLand / OurTravelCafe.com

A few more notes that distinguish Micah-Angelo's from other local (and chain) pizza restaurants. Here, there's just one size of pizza that serves four to six people -- unless, of course, you're feeding always-ravenous teenagers. And at lunch time only, you can order pizza in a slice combo.

You'll find seven "standard" pizzas on the menu. Those include basic cheese, a few meat mixes, some veggie options, a spicy pie, a white mushroom pie and the aforementioned seasonal pork and peach.

Beverage options are limited too. Your options include bottled water or soft drinks.

And Micha-Angelo's is a sister restaurant to the original Sessions Stand, which in within easy walking distance across the street. So while we didn't do it, we suspect there would be a problem carrying your food over to the other place if you wanted to mix and match from the various menus.

Customers can enjoy their pizza in a small outdoor dining area. We carried ours home to enjoy it in air conditioned comfort.Photo byDeanLand / OurTravelCafe.com

As to the "Marietta-style," we're still not quite sure what that means. But, for the record, there was no fancy shuffling or dancing, no high fashion, no dark sunglasses and no bass-driven music pounding out a ryhthm in the background as we waited.

What we can report is that we enjoyed our TreMeat pie, especially that delightful char and the crispy portions of the crust. In reality, we wished we had a more crispy crust more uniformally across a larger portion of the pie. So maybe next time, we'll see if there's an option for getting that kind of bake from the woodfired oven. Given the pizza artistry, we suspect we'll be delighted by the result.

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