Old Town Pizza in Roseville
Mar 29, 2017 01:00PM ● By Style
Caboose
Before transforming into OTP, it was home to a Safeway, a gym, a bank and various other businesses. While the classic red brick and awning support the notion of a bank or office building, the quaint copper figure—captured in the act of serving pizza and sited outside—ensures you’ve come to the right place.
Once inside, contemporary combines with antiquity; brick walls and concrete floors coexist with big-screen TVs and 24 craft beers on tap, including many local favorites. The menu boasts an array of appetizers, Italian-inspired subs, desserts, and specialty pizzas with names that pay homage to the region’s rich railroad history like BBQ Boxcar, Veggie Train, and Caboose. The latter—a substantial pie consisting of four types of delicious cured pork (pepperoni, sausage, linguica and salami), onions, black olives and mushrooms—is an overwhelming customer favorite.
Our table started with the sampler appetizer plate, replete with wings, garlic bread, chicken tenders and dipping sauce. The slightly spicy buffalo-style wings were baked naked, making them ultra-crispy, and would have been just fine by themselves, sans sauce, with a pint of one of the rotating beers. The garlic bread, which featured thick slices of French bread topped with a buttery garlic spread and melty mozzarella, was nearly impossible to keep our fingers out of.
A caprese salad followed and again featured the juxtaposition of new and old that would have been at home in an upscale Italian restaurant. The beautifully plated presentation of fresh red tomato, alternately shingled with thick slices of mozzarella and whole basil leaves—complemented by a drizzle of balsamic reduction—tasted as good as it looked. Place the same ingredients on a thin crust and you have their Pizza Margherita, which for me is the test of a quality pie.
With two large dining areas, plus a private party room, game room, outdoor patio, and sports bar atmosphere, it’s a pizza parlor that beckons patrons to sit back, eat (and drink) up, and stay awhile.
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. (Sunday-Thursday), 11 a.m.-10 p.m. (Friday and Saturday)
Try This: Chicken Wings, Garlic Bread, Caboose, Dessert Pizza
Alcohol: Beer and wine
Tab: $$
Heads-Up: Daily Happy Hour from 8 p.m. to close (weekdays from 2-5 p.m.), 24 rotating drafts, additional locations in Auburn and Lincoln, gluten-free crust available on small pizzas, daily lunch specials from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.