Moon Spin Pizza

Moon Spin Pizza in Thomasville, Georgia
113 Crawfordville Street
Lunch 11 – 2
Dinner 5 – 9


To steal a line from Elizabeth Barrett Browning, dear Moon Spin Pizza, “how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” What can I say? As a New York ex-pat, I am continually on the search for two things – good delis and good pizzas. When a friend said, “Moon Spin is the best pizza I have had this side of Brooklyn” I knew I had to make a trip. Luckily for me, work takes me through Thomasville once a week so I have a really good excuse to get into this restaurant often. Is Moon Spin Pizza worth a road trip just for the pizza? I think a little road trip road north would be worth your time if you like pizza as much as I do. Plus, there are a few more menu items that are fairly drool-worthy on their own.

Where to begin? Moon Spin Pizza occupies a bright store front on the edge of downtown Thomasville. Outdoor seating is not only available but rather inviting. Inside, choose a table or grab a spot at the counter and catch a glimpse of the kitchen action. The wall mounted television is usually set to ESPN. The staff members like their sports and tend to proudly broadcast their fan affiliation with their choice of attire. On one visit, I somehow found myself immersed in a conversation about college football. While you might expect this to be a haven for Georgia fans, the staffers actually root for a range of teams.

Multiple chalk menu boards grace the walls. For the complete menu, a paper version is available.

Pizza dough here is made daily from scratch. Patrons can choose a classic New York-style or wheat crust. Sauce is made from fresh Roma tomatoes. They grind their own fennel seed and grow their own basil. The freshly made basil green goddess dressing, when available, is absolutely delicious.

Moon Spin tries to buy organic and local as much as possible. Some of the produce used is grown at their own Moon Spin Farm. Other menu items may come from other local Thomasville farms such as Sweet Grass Dairy and Pasco Farm. Moon Spin features sausage from Bradley’s Country Store in Tallahassee and chicken from Springer Mountain Farms in Mt. Airy, Georgia.

Menu items include pizza, salads, calzones, breadsticks, gelato, and cookies. The homemade salad dressings are also available for purchase by the pint. Dressings include herb buttermilk, blue cheese, red wine Dijon, lemon vinaigrette, and the previously mentioned seasonal basil green goddess.

Recently, a scaled down version of the calzone was added to the menu. The regular calzones are football sized and, including one topping as a filling with the requisite cheese mixture, cost $9 even. The smaller calzones are advertised as “half the size and half the price”.

Pizza by the slice is only available during the lunch hours. In the evening, you have to order whole pies. I have been known to stop by at night, order a pie, eat one slice there while it is hot, and then box the rest to go home to Crawfordville. Toppings for your pizza are classified as classic, specialty, or gourmet. Fifteen toppings are listed as classic. I recently asked for a topping not listed at all – ricotta cheese. The kitchen was happy to add some generous dollops of ricotta to my slice for me. Eleven more item choices grace the specialty list. For the gourmet palate, you can opt for Sweet Grass specialty cheeses, pesto, organic arugula, or chicken grown without hormones or antibiotics.

You can build your own pie by choosing your own toppings or opt for one of ten listed specialty pizzas. These pizzas all have moon themed names. The Blue Moon offers blue cheese, Canadian bacon, and mushrooms. The Harvest Moon includes artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, spinach, and mushrooms. The Lucky Moon features arugula, sliced chicken, and sweet onion. I opted for a slice of the Howlin’ at the Moon for lunch one day and the spicy Bradley’s sausage with jalapenos had me downing multiple glasses of diet Coke.

Moon Spin offers a nice variety of beer and wine. They have Bud Light and Newcastle on draft. Bottled offerings include Yuengling, Sweetwater, and Fat Tire. The wine list features some organic and local wines.

I have not tried the “World’s Best Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cookies” or the gelato yet. One day, when I am really feeling indulgent, I am going to order the gelato coffee float and a cookie. Hm, just thinking about it makes me want to drive to Thomasville today.

Word has it that one of Moonspin’s owners was one of the founding MoMo’s partners. While I do enjoy both of MoMo’s Tallahassee locations, I really think Moon Spin is something different and special. Does it rival the pizza I grew up with in New York? I don’t think so...However, the calzones rival the best I have enjoyed anywhere.

Check out Moon Spin’s website or add them as a friend on Facebook: http://www.moonspinpizza.com/.