Eighth Stop: Tom’s
Papa Dino’s
Date: March 4th, 2012
Location: 290 Main
Street Florence, KY 41042
Ranking: 39
We were actually aiming for Bourbon House Pizza last Sunday,
but upon arriving found a note on the door: the restaurant would be closed for the evening due to
unforeseen circumstances. We were
bummed, of course, especially since we had taken measures to make sure that
this was an “open on Sundays” kind of place. However, we acknowledged that the circumstances causing them
to close were probably much more important than us being able to eat pizza for
lunch, and began a spontaneous hunt for a new pizza location in the area.
So, where else would we go? Courtney remembered another Florence location on the
list: Tom’s Papa Dino’s. We made a quick phone call to confirm
that they were indeed open, and made the additional 15 minute drive down to the
Union area.
This little restaurant is family-owned, and has been in
operation for a little over 50 years.
The vintage-looking sign out front shows the restaurant’s age, and
suggests how embedded this little pizzeria has become in the local community
over the years. Tom’s Papa Dino’s
is definitely on the smaller side, but we’ve found this to be common for most
of the good pizza places. The
lights are low and the colors are warm and inviting; there is also some family
memorabilia adorning the walls to make it even cozier. We snagged a table towards the back
with a view of the kitchen and promptly ordered an appetizer. At this point, at about 4pm with no
lunch, and after driving around Florence for what seemed like 2 days, our
stomachs were growling. The battered mozzarella sticks were the perfect
antidotes to our hunger while we waited for the pizza.
We had looked over the menu, and though they did offer a
standard amount of specialties and a list of potential toppings, we opted for
something pretty basic. The
Paparoni features double pepperoni and extra cheese. You can’t go wrong with these two, so we took this easy
route and placed our order pretty quickly. We enjoyed some mozzarella sticks as we waited, and
discussed whether or not these proprietors are aware of our blogging mission. Here is a scenario that we
imagined: (Server) “Tom! Papa Dino! The girls from Top This
are here!” (Tom/Papa Dino break
out in a panic) “Mama mia! Let’s give them a pizza that will make
their hearts melt.”
We had ordered a large pizza chiefly for its promise of many
leftovers and second suppers. It
came out, piping hot and simply smothered in mozzarella cheese. The Paparoni is constructed in layers
(i.e. cheese, pepperoni; cheese, pepperoni), rather than just throwing down a
mat of cheese and topping it with the pepperoni slices. This is nice, as you get little hidden
treasures of flavorful pepperoni as you eat, as well as some crispier pieces on
top. There was ample sauce, which
was enough to match the extra cheese and pepperoni; they really balanced it all
quite nicely. The sauce was a both
a bit tangy and sweet, like most we have encountered.
Considering the gooey mounds of cheese atop its surface, we
were both impressed by the thin crust.
It withstands the cheese well, and we found ours to still be firm and
dry. Our only real problem came
when we tried to slice and serve this bad boy. The amount of cheese piled onto this pie makes it difficult
to cut, as the cheese doesn’t seem to want to be separated from its brother and
sister cheese strands. This became
easier as the pizza cooled but, of course, we were too impatient and hungry to
wait for that. In the meantime, we
were victims of the dreaded topping avalanche, which actually wasn’t so bad, as
long as those toppings were making it to the right place (i.e., our
mouths).
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| This is Robyn's 1st piece, after the arduous slicing efforts that took place before making it to the plate |
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| "Since we started adding the icing on these, we can't keep 'em!" said the lady in charge |
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