"East Nashville. Where friendships go to die."
- Roadie
For this edition of Friday Night Slice, we took the first of several trips down the long and winding road that leads to East Nashville. The hipster urban sprawl over the past few years has been the impetus for many new businesses on the East side, with new restaurants cropping up alongside new coffee shops, bars, modern furniture stores and expensive haircut salons...
But Castrillo's isn't new, it just has new owners. For a long time, Castrillo's has enjoyed the reputation of being a somewhat hidden gem in the Nashville pizza world, but the new owners cut out the dining-in option, billing the restaurant (according to the "hey, I just learned FLASH!" website) as "East Nashville's take out and delivery Italian bistro." So on this Friday evening, we took out.
Castrillo's serves a hand-tossed pie with a tasty, gooey and slightly chewy crust. It is thick, soft and buttery without any overwhelming (or underwhelming) flavors to detract from its primary role. The sauce is similarly simple in flavors, gently spiced and spread evenly in appropriate, middle-of-the-road quantities. The texture of the sauce is outstanding with consistently well-blended tomato throughout and a calm, complementary dousing of oregano.
The freshness and quality of the toppings was apparent. The pepperoni was juicy while the mozzarella was dense and creamy, generously covering the top of each slice with a very high pull-away.
Overall, the pizza was good. Nothing mindblowing, but a solid good. I would certainly go back when in the area. While we stuck to pepperoni and cheese for this review, Castrillo's offers a variety of interesting specialty pizzas (i.e. "Under the Sea" starring octopus, mussels and crab on a pizza) along with calzones and deli subs, pasta, wings, appetizers and desserts.
Castrillo's
1404 McGavock Pike, Nashville, TN, 37216 (map)
Mon - Sat 11:00am - 2:00pm and 4:00 pm - 10:00 pm, Sun 11:00 am - 9:00 pm
Take Out and Delivery Only
* * * * *
Cold Pizza:
Friday Night Slice, Part 1: MAFIAoZA's and Joey's House of Pizza
Friday Night Slice, Part 2: Pizza Perfect and Pizza Perfect Kebobs
Friday Night Slice, Part 3: Rudino's Pizza and Grinders
Friday Night Slice, Part 4: Chicago Style
Friday Night Slice, Part 5: Pie In The Sky
Got any suggestions for places that I should cover? Let me know!
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