Dewey's is a neighborhood pizza parlor in a yuppie-ish neighborhood. Pepperoni and double cheese, although available, don't dominate this joint. They specialize in fancy named pizzas with fancy ingredients: goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh garlic and really good sausage. Even with a strict pizza/salad menu, it's always hoppin' here.
A friend and I grab a bite at Dewey's around 8 on a Thursday. The place is packed. There's a wait even. The bar seats only five, so we stand in the hallway. Although not a real waiting area, there is entertainment, as a glassed-in kitchen lets you watch pizza in process.
We're seated in under 15 minutes at one of the booths that line the walls, non-smoking, of course, as is the entire restaurant.
We order a drink (they have red cream soda, plenty of microbrews on tap and a small wine list) and begin looking around.
My dining companion is interviewing the next day with the architect who designed Dewey's, so we discuss the interior. As we crane our necks around our booth studying details, no less than three servers walk over offering to take our order. That's one thing I like about Dewey's: attentive service. Servers collaborate on clearing tables, refilling drinks and taking up checks. I've never had to wait for anything.
Back to the interior. The smallish dining room has high, open ceilings with visible ducts, making it noisy when full. The tables compensate with individual lighting instead of overheads. The pizzas are served on racks raised above the plates, so there's plenty of table room.
Time to order. Another thing I really like about Dewey's: At the top of the menu it says, "Dewey's will make 1/2 and 1/2 pizzas for you." I always order half-and-half. Dewey's impresses me because these pizzas are more involved, sometimes with different sauces and cheeses, and still ordering that way is encouraged.
It works out this time because my friend wants meat and I don't. We settle on half Bronx Bomber for her (sausage, green pepper, onion, black olive) and half Socrates' Revenge for me (fancy name for Greek pizza: olives, tomatoes, lots of garlic, onion, spinach). We each get a tossed salad with homemade croutons and homemade dressing.
We wrap up our meal around 9, and the dining room is almost empty. Several couples sit together in the dim lighting enjoying their pizza. The quieter, empty setting is more to my liking.
As we get ready to leave, Heather decides her favorite element of the restaurant is the exterior awnings, yellow with the Dewey's planetlike logo on each. I'm a simple girl — mine remains the half-and-half pizzas.
