DaVinci's Gourmet Pizza

After a large number of recommendations, we decided it would be best to begin again with a fan favorite, in the heart of Nashville: DaVinci’s Gourmet Pizza. We drove up Hayes Street and located DaVinci’s by its neon sign and Christmas lights on the surrounding trees. It was nestled a block off of bustling Broadway, behind the redesigned Hutton Hotel garage. One could easily spend years in Nashville and never know this two house block existed. We chose to park on the street, but noticed that there were signs outside the neighboring establishment welcoming pizza lovers to park there after 5pm. We noticed the porch as we walked in and wished it looked out on something other than a garage.

We entered the restaurant and Tracy immediately commented on how eerily quiet the dining area was. There was no music playing and the patrons were limited to one room. Even so, there were only three tables in use, including ours. We wondered if this was a typical crowd or if we just caught DaVinci’s on a bad night.

There was an Italian mural on the wall in the next room and muted flat screens on every wall in the room that we were in. The candelabra in the fireplace and quirky Italian phrases in unexpected places made us feel very welcomed and warm.

After perusing the menu, we decided to forego any wine because of its limited selection. On the other hand, they appeared to have a very nice selection of beer. We chose not to indulge. We also noticed that there were only two appetizers available and both were variations of a bread and sauce. What happened to the good old days when they brought out some bread and olive oil to dip in?!? We decided to split a classic caesar salad ($8.95 Large) in true Italian fashion. As they say…when in Rome… The lettuce was fresh, but could have easily come from a bag (not freshly chopped). Tracy liked the dressing because it was “more vinaigrettey than creamy.” Brian commented that he was very pleased with the “ample croutons.”

After our salad course, we were more than ready for our pizza. It is often a real struggle to pick a pizza with more than one person. Everyone has their favorite toppings and DaVinci’s has a lot of options to choose from. Luckily, this pizza parlor has the solution. You pick two ways to top your pizza and they will make it, half and half (Add $1.50 Medium). Brian set his sights on the Rosemary Chicken Pizza ($7 Half). The menu describes it as: (white) roasted rosemary chicken with sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, onions, fontina and provolone cheeses, After all, who can resist artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes? Tracy picked a more traditional pizza topped with pepperoni and mushrooms ($6 Half).

When the pizza arrived, we dug right in. Fortunately the pie was just the right temperature and did not require any cooling time. No forks necessary for this pizza!

Brian started with a slice of the rosemary chicken, which was surprisingly lacking in the flavor department until he got to an occasional undercooked onion or the sun dried tomato goodness – a pleasant surprise in an otherwise ordinary slice. The chicken and artichoke provided a complementary texture to the crisp, light crust. Brian was almost certain that with each successive bite he would come across a base of alfredo sauce, but alas, no sauce, and even with the fontina and provolone, the pie remained sparsely cheesed.

Tracy’s first bite came from the pepperoni mushroom side. The zest of the marinara sauce and the perfectly proportioned pepperoni, mushrooms and cheese made this half a table favorite. We decided that the best part of the pizza as a whole is that it wasn’t dripping in grease so we didn’t feel bad that we left no slice uneaten!

Our waiter definitely didn’t push desert on us; in fact, he wasn’t really around much at all. We got one drink refill and he brought our check as soon as we finished the last slice. If you’ve been an alphabedible follower, then you know that no meal is ever complete without dessert. After a little prodding, the waiter ran through the dessert choices but recommended the cheesecake ($4.75) without hesitation. It came out warm and creamy, with a drizzle of chocolate and a thin, delicate crust. We enjoyed our beginning mouthfuls until we noticed that the temperature of the slice was a little bit inconsistent. Even with the confusing hot and cold, we noted it as one of the better cheesecake slices in town. You’ll have to stop by DaVinci’s to see a slice because we dug in so fast that we forgot to take a picture!

After taking our entire meal into consideration, we remain on the fence as far as rating is concerned. With a handful of other great Nashville pizza joints, we think DaVinci’s falls somewhere in the middle, neither great nor terrible. We would like to wait to render final judgment until we can go back and sample some of their other signature pizzas. While it is not the first place we would recommend, we would certainly not turn anyone away.

Pros: Timely service, Affordable (especially when splitting), conveniently located

Cons: Lack of music and personality

Price: $$

Location: Convenient to downtown and midtown living. Block off West End

Food Quality: Middle of the road, but still satisfying

Drink Quality: N/A

Service: The waiter was also the chef so we didn’t see him too much.

Ambiance: TV screens on every wall make it a great place for sports watching but it was way to quiet. Feels like you can’t speak above a whisper.

Tune in next week for more good “E”ats!