La Volta Pizza Club

January 20, 2024

Hello! So much for posting weekly! I spent the second weekend of January in Chicago. I had a ton of fun and will hopefully post something about my trip and my food excursions in the -8° weather soon. Then, seemingly upon my immediate return to Austin, I got covid. I was only really down for the count for a couple of days but I am negative now, and feeling all better! The main thing that got me through my sick streak was my leftovers from my time at La Volta Pizza Club!

The vibes of La Volta Pizza Club were trendy and upbeat and they had the food to match. I started with a Caesar salad ($14) with whole anchovies (which was huge and perfect to share). First Bite: CRUNCH! This was the crunchiest salad I’ve ever had in my life and the dressing was a perfect twang to complement the freshness of the romain. The main two things that made this Caesar stand out were the croutons, which were tiny like fish tank gravel, and the cheese, which shredded in such a way that it was light on your tongue and looked like snow on the plate. I loved it!! Why we have been subjected to huge croutons and weird hard sprinkles of shredded parmesan cheese, I will never know. Each bite was a perfect mingling of the cheese, fresh greens, crunchy croutons, and salty anchovies! I am forever changed. 

At this point in the evening, the restaurant went into night mode. The dining room's quiet cozy atmosphere transformed into the trendiest oven in Austin, with red lights replacing the normal ones. It was cool and very “cluby”, however, I could see how reading a menu and ordering could be difficult in that lighting. It didn’t bug me much, though, it did keep me from getting a great picture of my pizza. You'll just have to trust me, it looked delicious.

Onto the pizza! I ordered the Classic Pie ($26), which was a lovely combination of fresh mozzarella, pecorino, tomato, and whole basil leaves. First Bite: A classic blend of tomato and cheese all delivered to my lips on a crust that was thin and crunchy but not cracker-like. It was the quintessential pizza. My one critique: 86 the full leaves of basil. One moment I was being assaulted with basil then I am left longing for basil in the very next bite. I would’ve loved a little more consistency throughout the pizza, a little basil in every bite. I know it's an aesthetically pleasing presentation but I'm not a fan of the side effect. Overall a great pie!

I would've loved to stay for dessert but I was SO stuffed by the end I couldn’t muster the room in my stomach to do so. Overall great experience and I will definitely be back, next time with friends, to try more from La Volta and to test some of their desserts!

La Volta Pizza Bar - 9/10