Friday Night Slice, Part 8

Ahart's Pizza Garden

This week, we're traveling Southeast on I-24 to Ahart's Pizza Garden in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. We first learned about Ahart's a few years back when the Mr. was in school in Murfreesboro. One of his professors recommended the new local pizza spot opened in 2003 by his neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Ahart.



Ahart's offers fresh, handmade thin crust pizzas. You can design your own pizza with either traditional or gourmet toppings (including the likes of albacore tuna, almonds, capers, or a dollop of sour cream?) or choose from the 22 signature styles ranging from the 'Boro Pizza (fresh basil, sun dried tomato, garlic and feta cheese) to the Bony Marony (no sauce, broccoli, mushrooms, fajita chicken, tomato, garlic, parmesan and roasted red pepper). We, of course, ordered the regular 10" thin crust pizza with cheese and pepperoni.



Ahart's crust is very thin, dense and crunchy. It's certainly not intended to be the highlight of the pizza as it has a very plain flavor with little happening beyond the standard ingredients. The sauce is middle-of-the-road as well - a basic tomato sauce that is spread evenly and thinly without any lingering chunks. The cheese is a creamy and tasty blended mozzarella and mild provolone which decreases the pull-away, but adds a slight smoky flavor. The pepperoni slices were typical of what you'll find in most pizza places: pretty good and pretty juicy, but with an uneventful amount of spice of flavor. I think that I could have done without that dousing of oregano on top though - it seemed a little heavier than usual.



We've visited Ahart's a number of times over the years and it has always been great. It became a staple of our visits to the 'Boro. Unfortunately, on the evening that we dined-in for this review, the pizza was not quite as good as I remembered. Maybe it was just an off night. I'll certainly keep going back.

...and for those of you who save room for dessert, you'll certainly want to take a peek at the dessert tray, featuring the homemade cheesecakes and pies of Mrs. Bonita Ahart. Mrs. Ahart was in the restaurant on the evening of our visit and we sampled a slice of her thick, gooey and delicious Oreo pie. Mmmm.



the dining experience:

Ahart's has a family-owned, local feel, offering a cozy medium-sized dining room with booths, tables, televisions and a couple of arcade games. On Friday nights and game nights, the restaurant is more crowded, but its the never loud, bustling room that you'll find at MAFIAoZA's or Pizza Perfect. With pizzas made to order, it isn't the fastest place that you could go, but the service is always friendly.



Ahart's Pizza Garden
476 Old Fort Pkwy. Murfreesboro, TN 37128 (map)
Sun - Thur: 11:00am - 9:00pm, Fri - Sat: 11:00am - 10:00pm
Dine In and Carry Out


* * * * *

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
Friday Night Slice, Part 6: Castrillo's Pizza
Friday Night Slice, Part 7: California Pizza Kitchen


Got any suggestions for places that I should cover? Let me know!