Pizza Roma

I’d had quite an eventful week. And I *do* mean an *eventful* week. I decided it was one of those weeks that required a massage reward at the end of it. But even that was not going to be enough. In addition to the massage, I decided I also needed a big-time good food reward (like I said…….it was quite a week).

So I scheduled a massage for 11am on Saturday. And oh – that massage was lovely. It surely was. I had previously instructed Richard to pick me up at precisely 12 noon (post-massage). And he was right on time. I then told him to cart us both to the Pizza Roma Diner on Dorchester Road in North Charleston. I’d read a few things about this place that piqued my interest, and then Richard and a friend lunched there last week. Richard brought me back a piece of their Oreo cheesecake and I knew then…..an outing to this restaurant would be in my future (my very near future). And indeed, it was!

The outside of this restaurant truly is diner-style, and the inside is no-frills except for this most decadent piece of art: the dessert carousel. Of course, Richard and my newly-relaxed self sat down in a booth right across from the dessert carousel. I mean, was there any other seating choice (for me, anyway?).

One of the co-owners took our order and talked with us several times during our meal. He indicated they had owned the restaurant since last year, and it was obvious that lots of care went into their menu, food preparation, and food presentation. While the menu includes lots of tempting Italian (and some non-Italian) offerings, Richard and I were both in the mood for a good hearty sandwich. Richard got the 12″ Italian sausage “hero” (it’s listed as a “sub” on the menu, but NYC-born and bred Richard refuses to call it anything but a hero). This “hero” was huge and included a generous serving of mild Italian sausage with house marinara (“first rate”, per Richard) and melted mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Even my 6″ sub (I’m ok with calling it a sub) was huge. The sub roll was very high-quality and was the perfect container for the three large and tasty homemade meatballs, house marinara, and melted mozzarella and parmesan. Oh my – comfort food at its best.

And now for the best part of all (for me, anyway) – the dessert, of course! It was so hard to decide what to order. That dessert carousel taunted me, filled with tall three-layer hummingbird cake, strawberry-almond cheesecake, a meringue-covered tres leches cake, what appeared to be a mint chocolate chip cheesecake, and I can’t even recall how many other desserts there were. There were a bunch, and they all looked mighty good. Apparently co-owner Chef Heather is a trained pastry chef and, from what I saw (and ate), a very talented one at that.

So – the pressure was on. Which dessert should I choose? In the end, the peanut butter cup-topped peanut butter cheesecake called my name (and I answered!). With all of that good stuff sitting on top of a chocolate cookie crust, how could it not be good? Well trust me – it was. This was a lick-the-plate-clean it’s-that-good cheesecake. And while I went with the cheesecake, I must say that the tall layer cakes in that carousel were just beautiful and utterly delcious-looking. I would be thrilled to be a guest at a dinner party that featured one of those gorgeous cakes for dessert. (BTW – Richard said he was too full and ordered no dessert. How does he do that???? Why does he do that????).

After Richard and I finished our Pizza Roma Diner meal, we both remarked on how delicious this lunch had been (and for a relatively inexpensive price, too). So today I got my massage, I got my meatball sub, I got my PB-infused cheesecake. I’m relaxed, satiated, and rejuvenated! It was just what I needed.