Café Venice, downtown Tuscaloosa

Wednesday Special at Café Venice

It’s the best kept secret in town that Café Venice holds the hottest Italian dining option every Wednesday. It’s their half-price pizza and wine. But visitors need to get there early in the evening since the place is quickly packed. I learned from past experiences that I should get to the restaurant around 5:30 PM to get a good table. No reservations policy during the Wednesday specials.

Let me tell you about the place first, then the food. Located on downtown Tuscaloosa just around the corner of University Blvd and Greensboro, Café Venice boasts a replica of Italian eatery. Brick building with high ceilings welcome you with lots of Italian nuances. Renaissance paintings, empty unique wine bottles used as decorations, fantastic chandelier in the middle of the restaurant, flowers, candles, and an old piano on the corner. When dining there I always feel like I’m in some Italian place; for, the décor made it clear that whoever is dining there gets to taste not only the excellent food but also the European feel, which only enhances the dining experience.

The Wednesday menu is actually varied, with the specialty placed on the half-price pizza and wine. I’ve dined there many times, and tonight I dined with a couple of girlfriends of mine who were new in town. They ordered the Deluxe pizza, which was filled with ham, Italian sausage, pepperoni, green pepper, onion, mozzarella, and black olive. I ordered the Duke pizza, which was a spicy barbecue grilled chicken pizza with mozzarella, red onion, and mushroom. Delicious! But first, the waiter would serve a warm, wheat round bread fresh out of the oven with a small bowl of olive oil dressing and Mediterranean spice.

We really had a good time there. I guess other people did, too, judging from the talk and laughs that were constantly complementing the background music. My favorite wines have been the South African Goats do Roam and the selection of Chilean and Tuscan wines, but tonight we settled for a Merlot (Helena & Ranch), which was equally delicious. For dessert, we opted for the mouth watering Tiramisu (just because our server said that they were out of crème brulee!) ☺