As stiflingly redundant as eating out on a budget can be, the unique qualities of places like Iggies elevate the dining experience far beyond the Styrofoam box expectations of greasy counter take-outs.
Superficially, it doesn't seem as if Iggies is anything for the Domino's Joyless Luck Club to get its panties in a twist over. The décor -- concrete floors and surprisingly limited decorations -- initially comes across as pretty restrained.
After I sat down, I noticed a large, long table of customers laughing and cheering on the other side of the restaurant. As they stylishly sipped wine, the hair-gelled gentlemen and chic, skinny women with funky haircuts looked more "cool" than I ever could.
"Funky," however, isn't always a complimentary term. When I walked toward the tiled bathroom, I noticed one of Iggie's wall decorations was a giant painting of two greyhounds dressed in bumblebee costumes. Then, outside the bathroom, I found another giant painting of a greyhound -- this one done up in medieval threads.
Too confused to let it go, I asked one of the servers about it. She said that they were pictures of "Iggies," a.k.a. Italian Greyhounds. Well, that explained a lot – but not why the dogs were dressed up like bees and Rapunzel. Which still seemed a little freaky.
After a moment, I wandered up to the counter where the register was unattended. One of the cool guys men from the giant table noticed me and skipped my way, a glass of white wine in hand. He slid behind the counter and smiled, saying, "The Salsiccia pizza is really good."
After staring at the chalkboard of options for an awkwardly long time, a woman, whom I later realized was the owner, left the cool kids' table to wander up behind the counter, also with her wine, and put her arm around the man's shoulders.
"Do you like cheese?" she asked. "Our Salsiccia pizza has the best cheese ever."
Warmed by the helpfulness and relaxed atmosphere, I agreed to the choice without even reading the menu and silently forgave them for the doggie costume decor.
Dish: We originally planned to share, but I downed three of the four slices of my pizza before my roomies even sat down. The Salsiccia boasted sausage, fennel, tomato ragu, and the touted Taleggio cheese. One of my roomies had the Alice pizza (basil, pesto, fresh tomato, garlic, spinach, goat cheese and parmesan), and the other ordered the Pepe (arugula, ricotta and lemon). The Pepe looked like a lettuce patch. The Salsiccia was insanely good and the Alice was tasty, but I could have lived without the Pepe; I'm not a rabbit, and I prefer not to dine like one.
Damage: Iggies is BYO, so we brought along a yummy red wine in an effort to cut costs. Iggies offers free wine glasses to customers. In the somewhat self-serve atmosphere here, you gotta grab your own utensils and drinks, but that's no problem. My Salsiccia pizza was $9.50 for an 8 inch, the Alice was $8.50 and the Pepe was $7.75.
Decision: Iggies was funky (in a good way) and relaxed -- a welcome change from bland chain restaurants. The owners and workers seem to love the place, and weren't seething over the register with looks of rage as they rang up our meals. Iggies cuts it a little close to our self-imposed $10 limit, but it's definitely worth the dough.
Superficially, it doesn't seem as if Iggies is anything for the Domino's Joyless Luck Club to get its panties in a twist over. The décor -- concrete floors and surprisingly limited decorations -- initially comes across as pretty restrained.
After I sat down, I noticed a large, long table of customers laughing and cheering on the other side of the restaurant. As they stylishly sipped wine, the hair-gelled gentlemen and chic, skinny women with funky haircuts looked more "cool" than I ever could.
"Funky," however, isn't always a complimentary term. When I walked toward the tiled bathroom, I noticed one of Iggie's wall decorations was a giant painting of two greyhounds dressed in bumblebee costumes. Then, outside the bathroom, I found another giant painting of a greyhound -- this one done up in medieval threads.
Too confused to let it go, I asked one of the servers about it. She said that they were pictures of "Iggies," a.k.a. Italian Greyhounds. Well, that explained a lot – but not why the dogs were dressed up like bees and Rapunzel. Which still seemed a little freaky.
After a moment, I wandered up to the counter where the register was unattended. One of the cool guys men from the giant table noticed me and skipped my way, a glass of white wine in hand. He slid behind the counter and smiled, saying, "The Salsiccia pizza is really good."
After staring at the chalkboard of options for an awkwardly long time, a woman, whom I later realized was the owner, left the cool kids' table to wander up behind the counter, also with her wine, and put her arm around the man's shoulders.
"Do you like cheese?" she asked. "Our Salsiccia pizza has the best cheese ever."
Warmed by the helpfulness and relaxed atmosphere, I agreed to the choice without even reading the menu and silently forgave them for the doggie costume decor.
Dish: We originally planned to share, but I downed three of the four slices of my pizza before my roomies even sat down. The Salsiccia boasted sausage, fennel, tomato ragu, and the touted Taleggio cheese. One of my roomies had the Alice pizza (basil, pesto, fresh tomato, garlic, spinach, goat cheese and parmesan), and the other ordered the Pepe (arugula, ricotta and lemon). The Pepe looked like a lettuce patch. The Salsiccia was insanely good and the Alice was tasty, but I could have lived without the Pepe; I'm not a rabbit, and I prefer not to dine like one.
Damage: Iggies is BYO, so we brought along a yummy red wine in an effort to cut costs. Iggies offers free wine glasses to customers. In the somewhat self-serve atmosphere here, you gotta grab your own utensils and drinks, but that's no problem. My Salsiccia pizza was $9.50 for an 8 inch, the Alice was $8.50 and the Pepe was $7.75.
Decision: Iggies was funky (in a good way) and relaxed -- a welcome change from bland chain restaurants. The owners and workers seem to love the place, and weren't seething over the register with looks of rage as they rang up our meals. Iggies cuts it a little close to our self-imposed $10 limit, but it's definitely worth the dough.
