Rummy's....Pizza and Wings

Rummy’s Pizza
Crawfordville


Friends familiar with the Tallahassee Rummy’s Pizza restaurant in the Killearn area were pretty excited about the opening of the Crawfordville Rummy’s location. I was just happy to have another choice for pizza, especially an option that is not a national chain. I do occasionally order from the local chain representatives. To give them their due, places like Domino’s and Pizza Hut offer great prices and they deliver. If I want a large quantity of pizza to feed a crowd economically, I go to the chains. When I want a pizza with a little more personality, I am going to open my wallet a bit wider and choose a place like Rummy’s.

In any discussion about pizza, the question has to be addressed, “Is it NY-style pizza?” Many southern pizza joints lay claim to New York pizza bragging rights. Few non-New York pizza parlors, however, actually achieve that distinction. I’ll get this out of the way right now. Rummy’s Pizza is not going to make you feel like you are visiting Little Italy. That said, Rummy’s does plate a decent pie.

Rummy’s has been open in Crawfordville for well over a year now and has had ample opportunities to iron out the new restaurant wrinkles. It appears they have settled into a comfortable groove and consistently generate regular business. On a Friday or Saturday night, I often wish they had two cash registers – one for the eat-in crowd and one for handling take out orders. I also wish that one person would handle calls while another would handle the people paying at the register. Sometimes that line at the register gets long and hold times to place an order can take a while.

To date, I have generally really enjoyed Rummy’s pizzas. There are times when I would like the crust to be a bit crisper all the way to the center of the pie, though, and it makes me wonder if they sometimes rush the baking time.

Rummy’s offers a nice variety of meats, veggies, and cheeses to top your pie. They even offer local favorite Bradley’s Sausage, in hot or mild. I would love to see them add artichokes and maybe even eggplant to their veggie topping list but it is otherwise a comprehensive variety of the healthy stuff. Hm, they offer an eggplant “rolotini” entrée…surely they could toss some eggplant on a pizza, right? To be fair, I haven’t yet asked.

Patrons can request their own combination of toppings or order from a list of ten signature pizzas. I personally recommend the Veggie Lover’s, the White, and the Buffalo Chicken.

Rummy’s also offers football-sized calzones. You can enjoy a standard cheese calzone or add any one of the many pizza toppings as an additional stuffing at $.75 per ingredient. With a starting price of $8.95 for the basic cheese, those extra stuffings will take your calzone cost quickly over the $10 mark.

They also offer an array of appetizers, a six-pack of salads, and a nice variety of classic Italian pasta specialties. Burgers, sausage dogs, and hot dogs with or without chili are also available. They have a kids’ menu with offerings under $5. Three of the items include chips or fries. All the children’s entrees include a small drink.

In the mood for a hoagie or hero, sub-style sandwich? Rummy’s offers meatball and chicken parmesan, classic cheese steak and chicken “Philly” sandwiches, and a sausage and pepper combo. These sandwiches include your choice of chips, fries, or veggie sticks.

I have developed some favorite orders over the last year of dining at Rummy’s. If you like spicy sausage and ricotta, I recommend ordering a pie with sliced spicy Bradley’s sausage layered with ricotta and marinara sauce. For salad lovers, try the buffalo chicken salad with char-grilled chicken breast. I am not sure what vendor supplies their bleu cheese dressing but I think it is one of the best available in this area.

Rummy’s wings can be ordered tossed in your choice of any one of nine flavors. The Spicy Garlic and Mango Habanero sauces are worth a visit on their own. The last time I ordered takeout, my husband I ordered 10 of each flavor. When I walked in to pick up our order, the manager mentioned that the kitchen was using a new pepper in the Mango Habanero wings. He handed me a small green-stemmed red pepper to take home with my order. The bhut jolokia pepper, also known as the Red Savina habanero, is billed as the world’s hottest chili pepper.

I loved the new kicked up Mango Habanero sauce with the bhut jolokia. My husband said it made him sweat and he downed the better part of a beer with his portion. I found the sweet and peppery hot sauce partnered nicely with a bite of bleu cheese dipped celery.

If you still have an appetite for a sweet ending after finishing a Rummy’s meal, the menu does offer a few dessert choices. I can vouch for the sticky sweet fried honey dough. Share a basket of these sweet doughy little bites with a few friends.

Rummy’s bills itself as an Italian Grill and Sports Bar. The dining room boasts multiple large screen televisions. I have watched a few football games here and even caught a presidential debate over a late supper during the last election cycle.

The bar part of Rummy’s name translates into beer and wine. Beer is available by the glass, the pitcher, and the bottle. Wine is offered by the glass. They’ve recently added sangria to the menu. On a recent visit, I received my Shock Top draft with an orange slice, always a nice touch with a Belgian white, Witbier style brew.

There is an outside seating area with umbrella-topped rounds for those who wish to dine alfresco. Smokers are out of luck during football season, though, as there are no televisions outside. Perhaps they can get a glimpse of the gridiron action through the large glass windows?