You pick up a piping hot pizza and start to drive home. But en route it cools down and the cheese starts to coagulate.
"The time it gets from being nice and hot to being leftover pizza is just a few minutes," John Johnson says.
That's why people are drawn to take-and-bake pizza. People want hot pizza, and it won't be that way unless you pull it out of your own oven and sit on your couch to eat it, he says.
Last month Johnson opened a North Spokane location of Noble Roman's Take-n-Bake Pizza, a franchise based in Indianapolis. It's located at the Safeway shopping center, in the small building facing Hawthorne Road that used to house Keva Juice, then long stood empty.
Being a take-and-bake place means you get to eat your pizza hot. And at Noble Roman's, it also means you get to direct what goes on your pizza. It's the Subway concept of seeing it and getting what you want, Johnson says.
At other pizza places you usually can't see what's happening to your pizza before it's baked. But at Noble Roman's, you watch them assemble it; you can, for example, ask for a few more olives.
"It's easier for people to speak up and say how they really want their food," Johnson says.
Here's the kicker: None of the toppings cost extra.
If you get a plain cheese pizza or a 12-topping pizza, it doesn't matter, they're the same price, he says.
Both a large traditional-crust and thin-crust pizza cost $10.99, and a large deep-dish is $12.99. You can also get a medium traditional-crust for $8.99.
Build your pizza by choosing one of three sauces — traditional red sauce, barbecue or Alfredo — and picking toppings that range from spinach, jalapenos and pineapple to ham, grilled chicken, pepperoni and sausage. Or pick a recommended option off the menu, like the Big Daddy BBQ made with barbeque sauce and cheddar cheese, topped with sausage, bacon and ham.
Noble Roman's also has other pizza accompaniers like salad kits, breadsticks and 7-inch cinnamon pizzas. ♦
Noble Roman's • 10220 N. Newport Hwy. • Open Mon-Sun, 11 am-9 pm • 464-4862 • freshpza.com
