Chattanooga Has Fun 2.5

551 River Street
Chattanooga, TN 37405
Phone: (423) 756-7492
Website: Pisa Pizza

Pisa Pizza has been serving up gourmet pizzas, pastas, and sandwiches to Chattanooga residents for almost a decade. Operating out of an old warehouse, complete with garage doors and a tar ceiling, the eatery has become a local favorite with an eclectic atmosphere that caters to a large and diverse range of customers.

Ten years ago, Scott Courter was living in Atlanta when he got a call about opening a restaurant in Chattanooga. Skeptical at first, eventually Courter agreed and made the move. He, along with Bob Nichols and Chip Baker, decided to open a pizza place with a Chattanooga vibe. They called it Pisa Pizza—pun intended.

The idea was to serve freshly made, gourmet food, but before anyone could begin dishing out specialty pizzas and pastas, the owners needed a place to actually house a restaurant. Luckily, Nichols had a building lined up; however, it would take a lot of hard work to transform an old warehouse into the quirky restaurant the owners had in mind. The building received the works—plumbing, electrical wiring, internal walls—before opening to the public on August 19, 1999. It quickly became a hit in its North Chatt neighborhood.

Though the building itself is an attraction, as in not your usual, run-of-the-mill place for an eatery, the food is what really brings people back again and again to Pisa Pizza. As current owner and operator, Courter still makes it a point to serve everything as fresh as possible. “I wanted a place where I would want to come eat,” he says. The restaurant uses locally bought produce, freshly made dough, and homemade sauces. Just recently, Pisa Pizza also began making freshly baked cookies for the dessert menu. “[It’s] great,” replies Courter when asked what he thinks of the fare, “I’m very proud of my food.”

Aside from being fresh, being gourmet has also had a large role at Pisa Pizza. “There was no other place with a white sauce or margarita pizza when we started,” says Courter. Today, ”gourmet” still sets this place apart from other pizza restaurants. The eatery offers some 38 toppings and four sauces to go on either white or whole-wheat crust. Of those 38 toppings, a customer can find the classic pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, etc. You can also ask for corn or eggplant with feta cheese and even proscuitto. The combinations are endless—and the best part is that pizza is not all they serve. The restaurant dishes out five different pastas along with several sandwiches and a long list of salads, appetizers, and extras. In addition, there is a fairly lengthy beer and wine selection available.

When it first opened, the then-trio of owners knew they wanted something with a directly Chattanooga feel. With that in mind, the interior of the restaurant is decorated with Chattanooga-themed memorabilia. Pictures of local residents pop up on the walls and even at the counter. Many of the eatery’s specialty pizzas have local names, such as the Coolidge Park Pie or the Fat Man Squeeze. And it’s not just the pizzas, but the sandwiches and pastas too. Try a Vine Street Veggie or the Dogwood Dagwood. How about the Choo-Choo Chicken Ziti? It is these little touches that make Pisa Pizza an authentic Chattanooga eatery.

The current restaurant is located near Coolidge Park on River Street. The porch offers seating for roughly 15, while inside there are six booths with table seating for nearly 40. The floors are concrete and the walls are colorful. It is an interesting design with a wagon and an old bike hanging from the ceiling and a dress mannequin hiding the corner. A large pizza oven sits against the backdrop of a metal wall near the counter. Clientele matches the décor.“The demographic is across the spectrum,” says Courter, “from politicians to punk rockers.” And though not a typical family restaurant, the place is definitely family-friendly.

For nearly a decade, Pisa Pizza has been serving up (and delivering) gourmet pizzas, pastas, and sandwiches to the Chattanooga area. The food is fresh, the feel is local, and the staff is dedicated to serving the only best.

Pisa Pizza is located at 551 River Street. (423) 756-7492. www.pisapizza.com