Restaurants

La Pizza touts itself as "specializing in fresh gourmet pizza made from scratch." I took a few friends there for lunch one day to see about this new pizza place in Broken Arrow.

Walking in, the first sensory experience was the blather of a television blaring the day's latest news. We had the place to ourselves, so we sat down, and the owner came to us, proceeding to tell us about his pizza and his recommendations. After a few minutes of listening to his sales pitch, we decided upon a large Alfredo specialty pizza ($15), which came highly recommended.

While the pizza was being made, we shared a Large Salad ($2.99). It was good, but nothing special -- a lot of light green iceberg lettuce, with a few other veggies for color. The menu says, "in order to serve you our true Italian Experience, please keep in mind our pizzas are made from scratch, therefore please be patient so that we can better serve you."

That was good to know, because it did take longer than what we would have expected, especially during lunch. (It might be a good idea to order ahead to have it ready when you arrive.)

After the pizza was made and baking in the oven, the owner sat down and visited with us about his place, saying that the pizza is basically his grandmother's recipe. She and her husband began the family business many years ago in lower Manhattan.

After a full family history, he headed back to the kitchen to check on the pizza, which was ready, and immediately brought to our table.

This Alfredo pizza was loaded with white sauce and white cheeses -- ricotta, mozzarella and provolone; it also had tomatoes, green peppers, mushrooms, pepperonis, and Italian Sausage. The crust was made of a wheat dough and prepared fresh each day, as are the sauces, says the owner.

We all enjoyed the pizza; all agreed it was tasty and fresh. The dough was high and large around the edges, a bit too much dough for one of us diners. The bottom crust was firm to hold, yet supple enough to fold while eating, Manhattan-style.

We enjoyed the taste of the pizza -- the crust, the cheeses, the other ingredients - but there was little to make it stand out as superior to others we have had at other dining experiences. We all agreed it was a good, solid pizza.

Other specialty pizzas on the menu include Barbeque Chicken (well-seasoned grilled chicken strips, with their special barbeque and pizza sauces); Greek (grilled chicken strips, black olives, feta cheese, tomatoes, pesto sauce and onions); Chicken Fajitas (grilled chicken stripes, bell peppers and black olives); and South of the Border (jalapenos, black olives, onions, cheddar and mozzarella cheeses with tomatoes). Stuffed Pizza is also served.

La Pizza also serves Stromboli ($3.50), Garlic Rolls ($3.50/ 1/2 dozen), and will soon have other Italian dishes, such as lasagna.

A second La Pizza location in Tulsa is at 475 S. Sheridan. We enjoyed our experience here -- it is a casual dining experience, something the family would like.

La Pizza

407 E. Kenosha, 71st St. (Broken Arrow)

258-3414

Hours: 11am-9pm

Rating:

Atmosphere **

Food **1/2

Service ***