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Love that pizza
By WILMA NORTON © St. Petersburg Times, published January 31, 2001 Paisano's probably makes lots of good dishes and pizzas. The place is always packed, and it does a huge takeout business. We've seen other people getting entrees that look really tasty. We wouldn't know because we always get the same thing: the gourmet spinach pizza, our longtime favorite from this longtime St. Petersburg pizzeria. The crust, not too thick and not too thin, is covered with chopped spinach that has been sauteed in olive oil, as well as garlic, onions and mozzarella cheese. No tomato sauce messes it up. The one we brought home recently ($9.35 for a 13-inch medium pie) smelled so good that our 8-year-old -- an avowed spinach-hater -- even wanted a taste. For the girls, we got a medium pepperoni, normally $9.10. Our cashier kindly charged us $6, even though our coupon had expired two weeks earlier. My husband ordered two small antipasto salads to go with our pizzas, thinking we would need that much. Au contraire. One was plenty. I got the other for lunch the next day. The lettuce was topped with thin slices of salami and capicola, black and green olives, tomatoes, pepperoncini and shredded mozzarella. Handfuls of mozzarella. So much that it almost overwhelmed everything else. Paisano's has a big following. It's usually crowded, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, and it does a huge takeout business. Paisano's also offers baked ziti ($7.95), shrimp alfredo ($8.95), meatball, Italian, Italian sausage, steak and veggie subs ($4.25-$4.95), veal parmigiana or cutlets ($9.95) and capellini with white cream clam sauce ($7.95). The pizza is priced from small to extra large, $5.95 to $10.95. You then add your own items, $1-$1.75 each. Choices include garlic, pepperoni, ham, bacon, Italian sausage, beef, anchovies, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, black or green olives, banana or jalapeno peppers, sliced tomato, broccoli, sliced meatballs, pineapple or spinach. The gourmet pizza list, which includes our favorite spinach, also has a veggie, a Hawaiian, an Italian, a great white and a deluxe. The gourmet varieties range from $7.25 for the small spinach to $16.95 for an extra large deluxe with extra cheese and eight other ingredients. Maybe one of these days we'll branch out and try something besides our regular order. But we really like that spinach pizza. PINELLAS TO GOPaisano's Pizza 'n Pasta 6000 Fourth St. N St. Petersburg Phone: 521-2656 Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 11:30 a.m. to midnight Friday; and 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday. Consumers: Two adults and two children What we got: Medium pepperoni pizza, medium spinach pizza, two small antipasto salads What it cost: $27.98 Time it took: 20 minutes Pay with: Cash, credit cards
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
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From the Times Taste section From the features wire |
