The problem with pizza is…

…that I have a problem with pizza.

Some people binge on booze or poison with pills – my drug of choice is cooked in a brick oven and comes to my table piping hot and sliced into eight heavenly pieces. For years, I’ve tried to curb my “pizza problem” with faux-pizza manufactured by Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice, but sadly, I’ve been terribly unsuccessful. I’ve tried to convince myself (and others) that pizza is, in fact, really healthy: um, hello – it incorporates a majority of our food groups AND it’s delicious when you put veggies on it! Nine out of ten people remind me about the various cheeses and meats I also like to pile on…haters. Alas, I haven’t been able to kick the habit, so instead, friends and family have grown to accept my pizza problem.

Here’s where I get my fix: SHORTY’S (this place is so good it deserves all caps)

I call it “Pizza Sunday.” Occasionally, it occurs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as well, I prefer not to discriminate… Shorty’s is thebomb.com and Sunday is my personal favorite day to order their pie-in-the-sky-brick-oven-perfection. Here’s why:

- Shorty’s cooks their pizzas in a brick oven so the entire restaurant smells mouthwatering-ly amazing. Their pizzas are thin crust “decatur style” and are served nice and crispy. A large has eight slices, but they are thin and upon finishing the entire pie you don’t feel enormous and stuffed like you’ve eaten a bunch of gross fast food pizza slices. Seriously, I dream about this pizza and talk incessantly to anyone who will listen about how much I love Shorty’s.

- It’s hard for me to even walk into Shorty’s and not fast track the server for my usual*, but there is more to this restaurant than just pizza. They have great salads (my favorite of which is the rocket salad: arugula, lemon, olive oil and parmesan) and awesome guacamole. They also have a few other entrees, but honestly, I’ve not gotten past the pizza…

photo credit: images.citysearch.net

- Shorty’s is in the strip connected to L.A. Fitness at N. Druid Hills and La Vista. It’s absolutely no frills and my usual dining attire there is either sweaty workout clothes (hot, I know) or whatever I wore to bed the night before. The staff is pretty hipster and the atmosphere is totally laid back.

- Cheap wine.  I think that is all I need to say on that…