By Gary Nager
If you’re looking for truly authentic thin-crust New York or deep-dish Chicago-style pizza, Cappy’s Pizzeria, located in the City Plaza at Tampa Palms shopping center, may not necessarily be the best place for you. But, that doesn’t mean owner Harold Hasselback’s Cappy’s Pizzeria location (there are five total, including in Seminole Heights, Riverview, St. Petersburg and the original Cappy’s in South Tampa, which moved once; but this is the only location Hasselback owns) doesn’t have delicious pizza and awesome “big salads” (see below), it just means you have to have an open mind about crispy crusts (in both Cappy’s NY and Chicago-style ‘za), delicious red sauce, quality cheese and fresh, delicious meat and veggie toppings that can’t be pigeon-holed into being “just like anything other than Cappy’s style,” Hasselback told me on our office’s recent visit. “Some say our New York style is more Jersey style, but our customers really seem to love it.”
But first, let’s start with the place itself. The Tampa Palms location is a somewhat more upscale-looking, but still funky replica of the Seminole Heights location, where I first sampled Cappy’s Pizza myself about three years ago. Hasselback, who also worked at the original Cappy’s in Iowa more than 20 years ago, told me he was opening in Tampa Palms during one of those visits. The City Plaza location will be open two years next month, in the small (about 2,000 square feet) space which was, at one time, occupied by the original Tampa Palms Ciccio & Tony’s location.
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‘The BIG Salads’
Let’s start with starters, shall we? If you’re like Elaine on the classic “Seinfeld” NBC-TV series, you’ll definitely want to try Cappy’s truly oversized salads.
Whether you choose the Caesar, tossed or Greek salad at Cappy’s, I assure you that the “small” could feed two people for dinner if they ate nothing else, or at least four people as a normal side dish. The large salads are really family-sized, feeding at least 4-6 (or even 8) people each, depending upon how much other “stuff” each person also plans to eat.
Our office favorite is definitely the Greek salad shown at the top of this page. It’s got the usual iceberg lettuce, pepperoncinis, onions and black olives, all topped with a zesty, authentic-tasting Greek dressing, feta cheese and enough potato salad for two or more people to enjoy as its own side dish, in addition to your salad course. I did say they were big, right?
I also really love the “small” tossed salad (also shown above), which is served with a mild Italian (not balsamic) vinaigrette dressing over a variety of mixed greens, including plenty of tasty red cabbage that gives the salad a unique flavor.
Although almost anyone could eat either of the next two items as an entire meal at Cappy’s, our office also highly recommends Cappy’s crispy calzones and especially, the cheesebread appetizer. If you like cheesy breads with a savory marinara sauce to dip it in at the “chain” pizza places, our office was unanimous that Cappy’s cheesebread is about as good as it gets.
Assistant editor Matt Wiley is our resident calzone lover and he says he became somewhat addicted to Cappy’s calzones at the Seminole Heights locale.
Matt highly recommends ordering the calzone with Cappy’s delicious pepperoni and yellow banana peppers. And, with his family hailing from Chicago, the guy who took these great photos for me says he finds the huge (the one in the photo on the previous page is just a “small!”) calzones similar to those he’s had when he’s visited the Windy City.
On To The ‘Za!
While it may not be what I remember from when I lived on Long Island or New York City, I do enjoy Cappy’s thin-crust NY-style pizza, too.
On our most recent visit, we ordered a large pie with just cheese on half and added those awesome pepperoni slices and noticeably fresh mushrooms on the other half. I need to taste sauce in every bite of pizza (except when I get down to the crust itself) and Cappy’s doesn’t disappoint. On previous visits, I definitely have enjoyed “The Cappy,” with ham, pepperoni, green peppers, onions, mushrooms and some extremely tasty sweet Italian sausage (other meat {and fish} pizza toppings include anchovies, meatballs {which I haven’t yet tried but plan to soon}, as well as grilled chicken).
But, speaking of sausage, I will admit that my favorite deep dish pizza at Cappy’s is a large with pepperoni and sausage only. Even though most authentic Chicago deep dish pizza is somewhat thicker than it is at Cappy’s, there’s no doubt that the noticeably thinner Cappy’s version makes it easier to have a second and maybe even the occasional third slice. You still have to eat it with a knife and fork and it still is covered in an outstandingly chunky tomato sauce that I genuinely love, so really, who’s complaining?
I also have friends who highly recommend the “The Veggie” at Cappy’s, which is topped with green peppers, onions, mushrooms, black olives and fresh tomatoes, although I’m not the biggest veggie pizza fan. Vegetarians also can add artichoke hearts, green olives, basil, broccoli, feta cheese, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and of course, pineapple.
In other words, if you’re craving unique pizza in a comfortable setting, sit back, relax and enjoy an ice cold Peroni or Jai-Alai beer or even a glass of house wine with your meal. Cappy’s has won several “Best of the Bay” honors from Creative Loafing readers, so I’m sure you’re going to enjoy the food and the ambiance.
And, speaking of atmosphere, Cappy’s has very fair beer and wine prices and it’s such a laid-back atmosphere that the small bar area is often filled, especially on weekend evenings but also during after-work hours.
Don’t Miss These Specials!
If you check out the Cappy’s ad on page 49, you’ll find coupons worth $3 off any purchase (dine in or carry out) of $20 or more and $5 off any purchase of $30 or more. The coupons can not be combined with any other offers, but they save you a little bit of money on what I am confident will be a tasty meal at Cappy’s, which is perfect for everyone from families with kids to older adults (like me, lol).
Cappy’s Pizzeria (16019 Tampa Palms Blvd.) is open seven days a week for lunch & dinner, as follows: Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. on Friday; noon-10 p.m. on Saturday; and noon-9 p.m. on Sunday.
For more information, visit CappysPizzaOnline.com, Facebook.com/Cappy’sPizzeriaTampaPalms or see the ad on page 49.
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