Via Via IV Brick Oven Pizza205 Meeting St., Providence (click for map)(401) 831-8668Open 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily, opens at 3 p.m. Fri.
Look no further than College Hill's own Via Via IV to find Rhode Island's top slice. The Meeting Street brick-oven pizzeria and restaurant may not receive as much attention as its Thayer rivals, but it's Via Via's low-key appeal that makes it so intriguing.
Earning "top pizza" status requires more than just good cheese, tomatoes and dough, but it can't hurt to have these, too. The pizza itself is made in the Neapolitan style: moderately thin crust on the bottom, thicker and fluffier on the sides. The tomato sauce is sweet enough to provide contrast to the cheese and crust, but salty enough to pique the taste buds. The cheese is firm and doesn't slip off the crust, but never feels hard or rubbery. Pizzas are made upon the customer's order and cooked in a wood-fired brick oven. The crust - the make-or-break aspect of any pie - makes the Via Via pie distinctive. Some crusts are too fluffy. Others are too hard and flakey. Via Via's crust is firm to the touch, but stays chewy. This is pizza at its most primitive - and its best.
The pizzas come in four sizes, from small to family-size. A large cheese costs $12, with specialty pie closer to $15. Customers, whether eating in or taking out, pick up the pizza at the counter and eat on paper plates. Via Via offers a few unique Ocean State dishes, including the house favorite shrimp and pesto pizza.
The restaurant itself has a bare-bones style. There is no wall decoration save some stale Christmas lights hanging by the windows. When there are few or no customers, employees often sit by a door near the kitchen, with nobody manning the oven or register. Via Via's two rooms could hold over 50, but the restaurant rarely seems to get more than five customers at any time.
So why is Rhode Island's top pizza so neglected? Other College Hill pizzas receive far more attention - especially from Brown students. Via Via is fairly cheap, it offers delivery service, and perhaps most importantly, it stays open later than any other pizzeria. On any given night, make a venture to Via Via long after every other nearby pizza joint is closed, and a mysterious box of pizza will be waiting for you. No, the main entrance won't be open, and the pie of your choice will probably not be available. But if you don't mind giving an employee a ten-dollar bill through a side door for an assortment of left-over slices, you have found late-night pizza heaven.
Thayer Street bikers and local teenagers will argue for Antonio's. Hipsters swear by Nice Slice. The vegetarian crowd doesn't waver from the pricey Pizza Pie-er. Al Forno will still be a choice first-date locale. But don't let your clique stop you from eating good pizza. For a taste of Italy - and Rhode Island - go to Via Via IV.
