Roma Pizzeria (Business Lunch)

Roma Pizzeriar

5206 Village Parkway
rRogersrr

Despite the Governator’s election this fall, California still exudes all things “weenie.” So the prospect of trying one of our favorite foods with a twist from “The Tofu State” didn’t exactly get us pumped up.r

But nearly everything at Roma Pizzeria, a California-style restaurant at Village on the Creeks, was a pleasant surprise, dude.r

Even the manliest of meat eaters would have to admit the ingredients were fresh and filling, the spices were tasty and the cheese was as tantalizing as a stroll down Venice Beach. It’s also one of the cleanest restaurants we’ve ever seen.r

Our sole knock is that we’re sworn thin-crust aficionados, and Roma’s is of the mid-thick variety. Readers who enjoy more bread for the same “dough” should add an entire “star” to this review, since the restaurant doesn’t charge extra for thicker fair. We simply have to borrow from the recent series of A1 Steak Sauce commercials to explain our mantra on crust thickness, “Yes, it’s that important.” r

Roma’s California-modern décor blends pastels, glass and chrome to create a sophisticated yet warm environment that surely will encourage some of west Rogers’ “suits” to take their power lunches a little more leisurely.r

Our duo split a small order of hot wings ($5), six chicken wings glazed with garlic butter and something called “Frank’s hot sauce” served with blue cheese or ranch dressing. The sauce was so good we wiped it up with our fingers and licked them clean.r

A veteran of West Coast cuisine, a local professional who’s dined several times at Roma, was along for our critique. He recommend several items but settled himself on the specialty pizza menu where the sizes break down to individual ($6-$7), medium ($14-$16) and large ($16-$19).r

He got an individual Far East chicken pizza, which is made with with garlic olive oil, peanut sesame ginger marinated chicken, Roma custom cheese blend and topped by sliced parmesan almonds, julienne carrots, green onions and fresh cilantro.r

The build-your-own pizzas range incrementally from $5.49 for an individual cheese pizza to $17 for a three-topping large. Our traditionalist ordered a medium half-pepperoni, half-Canadian bacon ($14) and thought the ingredients were excellent. r