Columbus has seen a swarm of new pizza shops open in the last month or so. First Bono Pizza in Grandview opened (or re-opened, depending on your take); then, Clever Crow opened in the kitchen at Circus; now Downtown is getting into the act with Yellow Brick Pizza, an East Coast-style pizzeria that specializes in artisanal pies and craft brews. Located on Oak Street east of Parsons, Yellow Brick Pizza proprietor Orin Hemminger is currently testing the waters with a low-key soft opening. There is seating for about 40 people in the dining room, as well as about 10 or 15 seats at the bar.
Yellow Brick makes pizza in small, medium and large sizes. You can build your own pie or select a few of the specialty pizzas. Yellow Brick also offers cheese pizza by the slice for $2.
There are a wide variety of meatless pizza options at Yellow Brick (sorry vegans--you're out of luck on this one!). The crust is soft and thin, akin to a New York pizza without the necessity of folding your slices.
Vegetarian pies include the Rhode Island Red (a crispy crust slathered in red sauce and olive oil sprinkled lightly with parmesan), the Big O (a red sauce pizza topped with feta, artichoke hearts, spinach, tomato, garlic and red onions in a swirl of pesto), the Mad Greek (a traditional Greek pizza), the Oak Street (alfredo sauce with mushrooms, garlic, onion and potato), Meggie's Veggie (mushrooms, artichoke hearts, green peppers, onions and tomatoes), and the Green Man (pesto sauce with spinach, green peppers, artichokes and green olives).
I sampled the Green Man, which is named after a character from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia who used to be a high school mascot that gets used by Charlie while tripping on acid at a Philadelphia Eagles try out. As seen in the picture above, the Green Man is an explosion of secondary color with both green sauce and toppings.
The crust is soft, buttery and delicious. The cheese is well-portioned. The toppings are fresh and tasty, although the spinach somewhat overwhelmed the delicate nature of the pesto. Although the flavors weren't completely balanced, the pizza was still very good.
There are also a few meatless appetizers. These include French fries, cinnamon sticks and mushroom pizza sticks.
In addition to the delicious, eats, Yellow Brick also dishes up a decent selection of craft beers. Happy hour specials include half-off drafts and $1 PBR cans from 4 to 8 pm. Taps include Abita Purple Haze, Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA, Founder's Porter, La Chouffe, Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold, and Stone Pale Ale. There is also a large list of beer in bottles.
With gourmet pizza popping up all over the city, it was about time that Downtown was added to the revolution. If you enjoy pizza, beer and/or the continued redevelopment of the Near East side, Yellow Brick Pizza should be right up your alley.
