(Re)Discover Chattanooga - Community Pie

I love new restaurants.  I love the energy and the passion for food that comes with opening a new restaurant.

One of Chattanooga's newest restaurants is Communnity Pie.  It is owned by the same people who have Taco Mamacita and Urban Stack, two of Chattanooga's best casual dining experiences.

Much has been said about how the owners traveled to Italy to learn the traditional way to prepare Neopolaton style pizza.  Many people have been impressed with the beautiful oven the pizza's are cooked in.  The kid in me was excited about the homemade gelato...even in the middle of winter!

Beautiful Oven Picture courtesy of Community Pie

Before I get to the food, I want to take a minute to talk about my first impression of Community Pie as you walk in the door and to your table.

The space is open & classy without being stuffy.  It's decorated in Navy Blue, warm tones, and white trim.  In no way does it look like a little sailor boy's bedroom.  There are big u-shaped leather booths perfect for gathering around a pizza, tufted bar stools, painted advertizement style murals on the brick walls, funky lighting, and beautiful ceilings.

Community Pie has paid attention to the details in the menu too.  Both the food and drink menu are simple, well thought out, and interesting.  I love a good drink menu, and this one is pretty awesome.  They did a great job identifying with a broad range of potential customers. You've got everything from PBR to Italian beers, a hard cider selection (!!!), Chattanooga Whiskey, and wine by the bottle & by the glass.

Beautiful Bar picture courtesy of Community Pie

But what about the food??

It was good!  Our waiter was fantastic, (I could write a whole post about him, and how he came to Chattanooga) and he educated us about the fact that Neopolaton pizza is supposed to have a warm gooey center that is best eaten with a fork.  Who knew? (I'll give you a hint, not me.)

We had caprese toasts as an appetizer, and our table had the Sweet Fig & Pork Confit pizzas.  The caprese toasts were great, plenty of diced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, a great balsamic, and fresh basil. Not surprisingly our conversation quickly turned to summer.

Beautiful Toast Picture courtesy of Community Pie

Our pizzas accidentally paired well together, the Sweet Fig a nice balance to the no joke peppers on the Pork Confit pie.  The pizzas are are good size (12" I think) and can be shared or ordered individually.

Sweet Fig

Pork Confit

After the meal came the gelato....and after seeing this picture on facebook, it was something I was very much looking forward too!

Beautiful menu picture courtesy of Community Pie

We tried the Milk & Honey, and the Salted Caramel.  Both flavors were great, and I've got my eye open for when the Hot Chocolate rotates back onto the menu.

The gelato is made by Milk & Honey, a local sister company to Community Pie.  The owners were trained in Italy on making gelato, just like they were trained on the pizza.  The gelato is not quite perfect yet, but it's really good, and I love that they're experimenting with flavors.  It's one of those things that's good now, and you know that it's only going to get better.

I really enjoyed Community Pie, and I have a feeling it is going to find its way into my regular rotation of dinner spots!

UPDATE:  I went back to Community Pie 2/15/13 and the mint chocolate gelato is fantastic.  They're always changing out the gelato flavors, so keep an eye out on their Facebook page for the next time mint chocolate comes around.  We also had the specialty pizza, the Superhero, and it was great too. 

Community Pie
850 Market Street, Chattanooga TN 37405
423.486.1743

Hours: Sunday-Thursday 11am-10pm
Friday and Saturday 11am-11pm
Website | Facebook | @CommunityPie 


Thanks to Community Pie for letting me use their logo and some of their pictures.  As you know, my iPhone can only do so much.