Best Thing I Ate This Week: Roman-style pizza at Baldinnuci's Pizza Romana in West Lake Hills

Baldinucci Pizza Romana in West Lake Hills specializes in rectangular cuts of Roman-style pizza.
Baldinucci Pizza Romana in West Lake Hills specializes in rectangular cuts of Roman-style pizza.

This week's installment of Best Thing I Ate takes me down memory lane with a taste of Rome.

New York. Detroit. Neapolitan. You’re probably familiar with that trio of pizza styles, but you may not know as much about the Roman style. You’ll find two distinct examples of pizza in the Eternal City: the paper-thin round variety (tonda) served at restaurants and the rectangular al taglio (“by the cut”) served at the city’s countless pizzerias. The crunchy slices with the honeycombed centers are the best grab-and-go food imaginable.

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The family-run Baldinucci Pizza Romana in West Lake Hills focuses on the latter (as well as a heavier New York Style), and their Margherita, with its bright basil and tomato sauce and creamy fresh mozzarella, reminds me of slices ordered by weight in Rome. The maximalist lasagna pizza, with its meatballs, Italian sausage and Romano and whipped ricotta cheeses, didn’t evoke any specific Italian memories, but I'm happy to deviate from tradition when it's as satisfying as this slice.

The tiny restaurant has expansion plans, and while the pizza is better than most delivery in town, try it for the first time in the shop if you want the crackly base and lithe interior of the airy slices at their best.

(3300 Bee Caves Road, #110. 512-382-1166, baldinucci.pizza)

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Best Thing I Ate This Week: Roman-style pizza at Baldinnuci's