The last slot of Borders’ old downtown store opened for business in June. Pieology, practically a homonym with “biology” and subtitled “the study of custom pizza” on its outside sign, sounds like it was invented for a college town, though manager Mike Morgan says that isn’t particularly the case. A number of the growing chain’s sixty-plus stores are in malls. Morgan gently clarifies that Pieology is “fast casual” as opposed to “quick service,” the difference being that in fast casual if it can’t be prepared in the time it takes for you to travel the cafeteria-like line, your food will be brought to your table. (“Quick service” is like Subway–apparently no one wants to claim the descriptor “fast food.”)
At any rate, it is fast. It takes a pizza about three minutes to cook over the flames–and you can watch yours cook, in the open ceramic oven behind the counter. It’s also speedy because while “there are over forty toppings, all pizzas are eleven-and-a-half inches,” Morgan says. “As many toppings as you want, no upsizes, no upcharges.” The only other thing on the menu–besides drinks–is salad, which works the same way, except chosen toppings are thrown on a bowl of lettuce instead of a round of dough.
Pieology is one of the smaller spots carved out of the old Borders, but there is still plenty of room for eating in. Pizzas are served on round, aluminum pizza pans, salads in square ceramic bowls.
Pieology, 620 E. Liberty, 222-0034. Sun.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m.-11 p.m. pieology.com
