Review from 2010:
It's the Friday before USA's birthday, so naturally the best place to go is downtown Nashville. That won't be painful at all, right?
Luckily there is some super solid pizza down there off Broadway. I still haven't made it to Manny's House of Pizza in the Arcade which has so far been the most suggested spot in town, but I did hit up Taste of Italy just down the street on 4th Ave North between Church and Union. The first time I saw this place was while we were walking towards the Christmas parade last year and it was freezing balls and I was starving. It was the first place we came across that looked decent and was actually open. We hopped in and I got an amazing calzone. I have always wanted to go back and try their pizza, but like most Nashvillians, downtown is not the first place I think to go when it comes to getting dinner or anything else. So we chose 4th of July weekend. Go figure.
We walked in, seated ourselves in a booth towards the back and were quickly greeted by our server whom I noticed while placing our order was actually Italian! Imagine that. This place might live up to it's name.
When the pizza came to the table I noticed that the pepperonis were buried but not completely invisible like they were at Sicily in Antioch. There was a little less cheese on this one which came in handy when serving the slices. They actually separated fairly easily which isn't very common around here I've noticed. The sauce was thinly spread as well which prevents the scalding of the mouth like I suffered at Obie's. The sauce had a nice actual tomato taste to it. It wasn't sweet. The pepperoni complemented it well. A Taste of Italy had the spiciest pepperoni I think I've had all summer (yup, beat out Pizza Perfect). That's the flavor really stood out the most. Pizzas weren't meant to be sweet, so the spicier you can get your pepperoni, the better for me. The crust was thick around the edges, but was actually rather thin throughout the pizza. It wasn't super floppy/messy thin, but more standard thin like Picnic Pizza. The crust was also really soft with a few crunchy spots which I love because I like to take the crust and use it to soak up grease left on my plate and eat it. While eating it cold the next day, the crust seemed to have more of a normal bread like texture, like an Italian loaf or something. It made for some good cold pizza.
Over all I'd say it was a great experience. The service was fast and friendly (and Italian!). The food was excellent, and it's not all the way out in Antioch. I'm glad I've discovered good pizza relatively close to home. The pizza's still not quite Picnic Pizza, but it's close. I'd put it above Sicily for the moment. It is so far the best thin pizza in Nashville proper.
Taste of Italy is located in the heart of downtown, just a few blocks north of Broadway on 4th Avenue. They're open til 10 most days and I think 11 or midnight on the weekends. They also have a lunch buffet during the week.
