Tommy’s Famous, an Ozark tradition
Right off Main Street a few blocks west of the square.
Busy day, that’ all I can say. A wedding, a long drive and pizza at Tommy’s Famous. I stumbled on Tommy’s more than fifteen years ago and have been an avid fan ever since. I’ve sent many people in that direction. I haven’t eaten there as often as I would have liked because its a 32 mile drive. One way.
After the wedding, which is not what this story is about, my brother Henry, my son Adrian and his girlfriend Holly, and Will my friend headed toward Mountain View Arkansas. It is a long scenic winding trip on Highway 5 through Calico Rock and Sylamore, past the Blanchard Springs turnoff that leads to Blanchard, one of the Ozarks best kept secrets, and the town of Fifty-six. The young people who had never been to Tommy’s and not recently even to Mountain View were getting skeptical and hungry as the trip seemed to take too long. Traffic was slow and the day rainy.
We arrived just after 5 p.m. and the place was close to vacant. Adrian and Holly looked skeptical at the empty parking lot and the less than stellar “street appeal” they were used to as long time residents of Fayetteville. They sarcastically asked if they were under dressed…. kids! By the time we left the place had filled to capacity!
Tommy’s is dark and parts of the interior make you wonder how much they pay the health inspector, BUT the crew is friendly in well, a friendly gregarious way that welcomes you right in. And the aroma! Heavenly! Pizza scents, sauces, roasting garlic, and the southern BBQ and baby back ribs which Tommy’s is famous for.
We were directed to seating that suited our parties size and Tommy himself took our order. There is a very nice large print menu which I could almost read without my glasses! They have 4 sizes of pizza, 8-12-14 and 16 inch. Specialty pizzas include but are no limited to, roasted garlic, spinach, shiitake mushroom, and stone ground pesto. And that BBQ pizza. There were five us and we ordered 4 pizzas. An eight inch house special, the BBQ, a half and half with spinach and roasted garlic. The other side was Italian sausage and mushroom. And a 14 inch pepperoni and jalapeno.
The crust was fresh, well formed and crisp on the bottom without being greasy. The sauce was thick but light, it tasted really fresh and saucy. The ingredients were amply applied without being overpowering. The spinach was PRESENT! The cheese was really really cheesy and stringy from being melted at that just right temperature and just barely starting to brown on top. We helped ourselves to the self serve cold drinks then real plates and sturdy silverware was brought to the table. The napkins were large enough to handle any pizza sauce drips. There’s a pretty good list of non-alcoholic beer to order.
We ate until we were ready to pop. Each pizza was a unique individual, delicious and bubbly hot. Tommy’s sponsors special events like the poetry reading by Red Hawk and the Mid Summers Eve Street Bash which was a March of Dimes fundraiser. I especially enjoyed the vintage music tonight… Pink Floyd and old Stones.
There wasn't much leftover.
Check out their website at tommysfamouse.com, stop by for a brew a pizza and tell em you read about the great pizza in the blog!
