Fear and Loathing in Old Town East: Yellow Brick Pizza, 892 Oak St, Columbus, OH

Hype: Everybody's talking about this place. We think it's just because there's nothing else going on in Old Town East. Lots of cool people with nowhere to hang out. Let's see if it lives up to the legend.

Scene: Kitschy 8x10s of Charles Bronson, Charles Barkley, and a Young Charlie Sheen line the walls with at least two Beatles posters and an ad for the Ohio Roller Girls. I guess the management admires Liz Lessner's ability to make CCAD grads feel right at home while they wait tables. It looked like the apartment of three 22 year old girls who had way too much money to spend on e-bay.

Right when we walked in we noticed that they are selling slices for $3.50 each. With beer at $4.50 a draft and hot chicks with straight-out-of-the-brewery-district dudes at every table we didn't feel welcomed. Everything seemed so forced. First an overpriced and ironic hot-dog shop and now they try to take away pizza?
The Pie:
Crust- The only truly weak link in the pie. It was pretty thin for a hand tossed pie, but lacked the crisp needed to either stand up to the toppings, or the texture for a really great NYC fold-up. We could tell they had something in mind with it, but it just didn't work.
Sauce- Fresh and zesty. Tart and tomato-y. Good.
Cheese- Abundant and real. I think this was the highlight of the pizza.
Peps- Pretty good. Some folded, most not. Good spice, but not overbearing.
Overall: The pie was decent, but the environment was custom made for young junior executives to feel perfectly safe, yet artsy in their new cool neighborhood. To make matters worse, we just kept thinking about how we cold be at Hounddog's drinking a pitcher of Bud and eating better pizza for only 10 bucks. Sure we would have to listen to Fugazi again, but the music here wasn't much better. Hounddogs has half the irony for a quarter of the price. Throw in a few pool tables and a dart board and it seems like a no-brainer. If we lived in this hood we'd be creaming our skinny jeans over this place because Old Town East sucks, but we don't so I have no intentions of ever returning to this place again. Josie's is just as far, and Yellow Brick Pizza is no Josie's. 3/5. Should have listened to my old man...

Josie's Pizza (952 w broad st, Columbus, (614) 224-9637)

Hype: We've been talkin bout visiting this joint for like two years I guess. It just seems so far away and we didn't know if would be good. People said it was, but people say all kinds of things you know.

Scene: It's across the streetish from the Florintine Restaurant. They only have one pizza on the menu. The neighborhood is decently run down. Inside you will find some booths and a lunch counter in the back. Some ladies working looked related.

The Pie:
Crust- Perfect. Thin, buttery, crispy from edge to center. Held up lots of cheese and absorbed abundant sauce effortlessly.
Sauce- Sweet. The ladies were not shy in applying it, but I've had much better.
Cheese- As you can see from the photo they hooked it up. It was nicely brown and flavorful. One problem: they put it over the peps.
Hidden Peps!- They were under the cheese, so naturally, they were not toasty, which made the saltiness less acute than on a NW Columbus pie. They did mix well with the sweet sauce though.

Overall: Nice pie. It was a welcome departure from the north end while still having a thin crust. It's worth a visit. 4 of 5 pies.