By Amy Weikel, August 2008

A popular ‘90s restaurant and hangout has recently returned to the Gainesville scene, and while the flannel and corduroy grunge crowd may be gone, the homemade Italian food and reasonable prices are back.

The Original Pizza Palace reopened earlier this year in the same location that closed almost a decade ago.  Curious how a once popular restaurant would be so many years later, I decided to give it a try. My dining date and I visited the restaurant for dinner and arrived shortly after 5:30 pm on a Monday. 

Upon entering the large green building, we were immediately greeted by a pleasant girl that would double as our hostess and waitress. Being early into the dinner hour, the restaurant was not at all crowded – which picked up as we were leaving. With only a handful of other diners throughout, we were given our choice of seats.

The dining room was very clean and had the most tantalizing aroma of baking bread lingering in the air. The décor is colorful and displays an eclectic array of art. The yellow walls and green accents were more reminiscent of a kitschy Mexican cantina but nonetheless provided for a cheery dining environment.

Since “pizza” is in the name of the restaurant, and I had been taunted by the warm smells of bread from the moment we walked in, I felt inclined to order one of the pizzas.  I chose a small - four-slice - basil, tomato and olive pizza ($6.95 + $1 for each topping).  My dining companion ordered the lasagna with meat (a vegetarian one is also available), which included a small dinner salad and bread ($9.75).

While waiting for our food, a basket of bread and herb-infused olive oil were brought to the table. The bread was warm, soft, mildly sweet and absolutely fantastic—swoon-worthy if you are a bread connoisseur. It was more of a hearty wheat consistency, and was an excellent alternative to the typical faux-butter and garlic soaked white bread served so often at restaurants. 

The dinner salad arrived next and was impressively stuffed with green leaf lettuce, shredded red cabbage, carrots, tomato and onion. I must say, I was expecting the usual watery iceberg lettuce with the obligatory tomato wedge and giant white onion slice, so this salad was an impressive surprise.

We opted for the sweet-and-sour tomato dressing, which would be comparable to a Catalina or French dressing. In my opinion, it was a bit too oily and not as flavorful as I would hope with a name like ‘sweet and sour.’ Aforementioned dining companion agreed with this assessment and would probably opt for another one of their homemade varieties, such as tamari ginger or the spicy vegan.

Our entrees arrived shortly after and were piping hot. We first sampled the pizza, which tasted fresh and truly homemade. The crust was not greasy (a definite plus in my opinion) and had a good texture—crunchy, but not dry. All in all, it was a very mild-tasting pizza. No pools of grease from the cheese, the tomato sauce was not overly tart, sweet or garlicky. In fact, if I order a vegetarian pizza there again, I would probably opt for extra sauce, just to lend a bit more flavor.

The lasagna was exceptionally good for anywhere, much less for a place that touts itself as a “palace.” In fact, it may have been one of the best lasagnas I have tried anywhere.

I tried the sauce alone, and it was very savory and flavorful (if I were better with herbs and spices, I would give you a breakdown). Each layer was well stuffed with cheese, spinach and sausage, and was topped off with a pile of melted mozzarella cheese and baked. I definitely didn’t feel like I was eating empty layers of noodles covered in sauce.

In fact, my debonair dining date scarfed it down so fast, I am only basing this on the two bites I was able to get.

In the name of well-rounded reporting, we wanted to sample a dessert as well and tried the carrot cake ($3.50). The cake looked to be homemade as well, and we were given a very generous slice. The cake itself was very moist and fresh. The icing was creamy and had a slight taste of lemon, which was a nice change to the usual dense cream-cheese icings.

The restaurant offers salads and a plethora of pastas, as well as calzones and stromboli, and beer and wine. The dinner menu even offers a selection of smaller- serving dishes for the not-so-hungry, which range from $2 to $5.25.  Its lunch menu offers selected items off the dinner menu, as well as sandwiches, which include an avocado sandwich and a tempeh melt. The restaurant offers dishes for meat-eaters and vegetarians alike.

Overall, the food was good. Everything tasted homemade and fresh. The service was excellent. Our waitress was consistently kind and attentive throughout our meal, which was a great plus to the experience. 

Located at 604 N.W. 13th St., the restaurant serves breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday 6:30 am to 2 pm and dinner is 5 pm to 11 pm. On Saturday and Sunday it serves dinner from 5pm to midnight.  Hours seem to vary, so I would call ahead to verify, 352.377.5571. And although it is cash-only, there is an ATM inside.