So last weekend I went to visit family in the bustling metropolis of Danville, VA. Some of you may know Danville as the site of the famous Wreck of the Old 97, or that weird town where Mojo Nixon went to high school or maybe you super nerdy history buffs know it as the last capital of the Confederacy, or maybe you just don't know it at all. Well, whatever the case, I know it as home and the building block for everything I know including good pizza. Yes, that's right, that little Virginia border town nestled between two racetracks at the foot of the hills is home to some of the best pizza I've ever had. Pizza so good, that I traveled well past my Davidson County Pizza Summer Borderline. Currently there are about 4 or 5 really good pizza places there and I visited 2 of them in 2 days.
Unfortunately, the place that started it all for me, O Sole Mio, was taken over by white people in the late 90's and quickly fell from grace. It no longer stands. The original operators split off into different factions throughout town which include Ciro's and Frank's. Ciro's was the first place I visited this past weekend. Of course the pizza was fantastic and everything I remembered it to be. The crust was really flavorful and super thin. The sauce was just a little sweeter than Picnic Pizza's. I even got a small treat while eating a slice, a huge chunk of tomato slid out from under the cheese like some sort of reminder that they actually make their own sauce in house and it's not just tomato paste and water. Ciro's pizza comes with just a bit more cheese than most places it seems, which is sort of the Danville pizza formula (sweet sauce, thin crust and tons of cheese). Danville is pretty much the only town where I will eat my pizza with a fork and knife. Probably has to do with the thin crust and heavy cheese, but it's almost instinctual these days. Danville pizza also must be served with Pepsi in a big plastic cup with crushed ice. It just tastes better that way. Ciro's did not let me down.
For day 2 we headed to Frank's which seems to be the family favorite and is definitely more popular than Ciro's or the other places in town. Frank's used to have my formula down with the Pepsi and plastic cups and all that but, since their relocation to Memorial Drive they made the switch to Coke and real glasses. Now this doesn't really make the pizza suffer one bit, but Coke just doesn't taste right with their pizza in my opinion. Coke's just a little too harsh and clashes with the flavor of the pie. Frank's pizza is very similar to Ciro's, they probably use the same basic recipes, so needless to say the pizza we had there was great. The only real differences between the two were the crusts and the greasiness. Frank's crust is a lot drier, but also thicker than Ciro's and their pizza is also a little less greasy. Ciro's I think has the better crust, but when I did a cold pizza A & B comparison, I couldn't decide which one I liked better. I was just basically happy that I got to hit them both up while I was in town. So if you ever find yourself lost in Southern Virginia, you should head towards Frank's or Ciro's or Isabella or any number of pizza places, they will all be good to ya.
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