Pizza with a flair

A couple of weeks ago, our editor, Deidre Pike, skipped town on us. This left us on a Wednesday afternoon with no one to guide our weekly staff meeting. So instead of being responsible journalists and running the meeting ourselves, we went to lunch.

We found ourselves at The Blind Onion Pizza & Pub. This location, at the corner of Kings Row and McCarran Boulevard, has had a few restaurants in and out over the years, and they were almost always pizza places. And while Blind Onion is a pizza place, it offers up a lot more than the typical fare.

Walking into the restaurant, it looked like a pizza place, but one look at the menu told us something very different. Blind Onion didn’t have its roots in Reno, but rather the Pacific Northwest, in places like Portland and Vancouver. Obviously, all that rain must have inspired some creativity when it comes to making pizza (long hours inside, I guess).

The standards were there, like the General’s Pizza, which is a standard combination with pepperoni, sausage, salami, mushrooms, onions, olives and green peppers. But then there were more intriguing selections, like Popeye’s Pizza: pesto-alfredo sauce, chicken, spinach, onions and tomatoes.

We are not a hardcore meat-eating bunch, even though I am the only vegetarian in the group. And the idea of chicken on pizza scared a couple members of the group, so both the pizzas we ordered were vegetarian. Blind Onion does offer a full selection of meats, though, even advertising their chicken as “chicken breast.” I assume this is opposed to the small, unidentifiable, dark meat chicken pieces that are thrown on some pizzas. Blind Onion also has smoked oysters available.

We opted for the pesto and broccoli pizza, with pesto-alfredo sauce, broccoli, mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes, and the Margherita, with light red sauce, tomatoes, mozzarella and fresh basil.

Broccoli on a pizza was a first for many of us, even though I worked at a Round Table in California for more than four years, creating many pizzas with a variety of toppings. While I liked the pizza, especially the sun-dried tomatoes, it was received with a mixed reaction from everyone else. We all agreed that the Margherita was wonderful. The basil made the flavor crisp and tangy, but they didn’t overdo the spice, letting the other flavors come through.

And I can’t talk about a Blind Onion pizza without mentioning the crust. In a word: phenomenal. Possibly the best of the thinner crusts I have ever tried. I normally go for the extra thick Chicago-style crust, but I could survive without a problem eating crust like this. Everything from its flavor to texture was great. Light and flaky, but sturdy enough to hold the toppings.

The Blind Onion also has a wide selection of salads and hot or cold sandwiches available if pizza doesn’t work for everybody. While you’re waiting for your food, you can enjoy playing a variety of table games. You can challenge co-workers or friends to some checkers or Pictionary—or if you’re feeling nostalgic, you can engage in a rousing round of Candyland.

And in what is one of the funnier restaurant promotions I have seen, anybody named Fred gets $1 off any draft beer. Note: You must be able to prove your name really is Fred.

The Blind Onion made a name for itself in Portland and Vancouver. Judging from our visit, I’m guessing it’ll make a name for itself in Reno, too.