Part 1…Dr. Ho’s Humble Pie

Something becomes a little too official when I get a text at work saying “pizza roadtrip this week,” to which I respond, “Charlottesville when I get out of here.”

I digress.  A good friend of mine, Brendan, dropped us a comment a while back urging us to check out a place called Dr. Ho’s in Charlottesville.  I have also been interested in checking out the hype behind Christian’s pizza, a staple for the UVa kids apparently.  It was an hour drive and I had gas in my tank. I gave Grant a call and we charged.

After about an hour, we took exit 118A and drove 9 miles outside of Downtown Charlottesville. It was dark, in the middle of nowhere and I had Grant convinced he would soon be raped and murdered. That was not the case at all. With snow on the ground keeping our eyes alert, we made a u-turn on Plank Rd. and drove a complete circle around a weird gas station complex that also housed a family chiropractic clinic and our destination, Dr. Ho’s Humble Pie.

This place definitely has character. No uniforms on the staff, a kitchen you can see when you walk in and all kinds of local stuff stuck all over the walls. Dr. Ho’s ‘rules’ included no cell phones. Apparently the rule isn’t so strict. The only other dude in the place picked his up and promptly responded, “nothin man, same shit, different toilet.”  Fucking hilarious.

How about the pie? Not bad at all. $10 for a 14″, we each tried a beer while we waited for a half pepperoni half cheese. We kept an eye on the kitchen from the bar top and it looked like they took care in making sure the pizza cooked how they wanted it. They did a pretty damn good job with the crust. Awesomely crisp outer and a light airy chewiness inside. Some of the best I have had in a while. The cheese was similar to most local shops, nothing stellar but a step above a chain pizza. The sauce? Nothing great. Brendan noted the real good stuff lies on their specialty pies. Their menu did look very promising.

Part 2…Christian’s

We actually had to hit up Brendan to get proper directions to the best Christian’s in town.  You see, Christian’s has exploded into a mini-chain of sorts in Charlottesville and we wanted to make sure we ended up eating at the best one.  We rendezvoused at a Shell gas station in a spot that looked to be our lucky parking space.

The Christian’s we were taken to is one in downtown Charlottesville in a cute little outdoor shopping mall.  I think we were told this is the original location, but I could be wrong.

Anyways, we ordered a large cheese pizza and the price was sick at just ten bucks. 18 inches for ten bucks?  Steal.  This could have easily fed four hungry wahoos.  While the price was right, the pizza was pretty damn mediocre.  The crust was reminiscent of a typical Piccola’s slice; a very thin slice with a droopy wet crust and a very thin, almost non-exsistant cornicione.  The cheese on this guy was pretty buttery smooth, something I personally enjoy.  Sauce was kept to a minimum and took a back seat on the discriminatory flavor bus, and a crust this generic generally has little flavor.

Christian’s definitely has a good following in Charlottesville from what I hear, even friends down here in Richmond have talked about hitting them up for a couple greasy night slices.  We even brought back a few slices to surprise said dudes and they were more than happy to chow down on em.

All in all, twas a good first pizza quest of the year and we definitely need some more suggestions from yous guys so we can pop a stop in your town for some impromptu slices!