By Gary Nager
It won’t be open a full year for a couple of months yet, but whether you’re originally from Chicago or not, I hope you’ll check out owner Ron Chase’s Full Circle Pizza & Grill, located less than two miles south of County Line Rd. on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., in the Pebble Creek Collection.
In the less than ten months he’s been open at our press time, Chase already has expanded his menu quite a bit, including adding true Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, as well as more salads and sandwiches, based on requests from his already-very-loyal throng of regular customers who helped vote Full Circle as our readers’ 2012 favorite pizza place in New Tampa/Wesley Chapel and second favorite restaurant in New Tampa.
Although non-Chicagoans like yours truly may think that deep-dish is the only “true” Chicago pizza, Chase, a long-time former resident of the Windy City, says his thin-crust pizza is actually what more Chicago natives enjoy.
“Most of our requests for deep-dish pizza were coming from people who weren’t from Chicago,” he says. “But, because so many other people asked for it, I decided to go ahead and add it.” And, while the deep-dish pizza currently is only available Monday-Thursday at Full Circle (Chase says it takes too long to bake them during his always-busy weekend dinner hours), they already are very popular — as well as very filling and very yummy. I especially appreciate the thick layer of sausage and equally thick tomato sauce on top, as well as the quality cheese and still-crisp crust of the new deep-dish sausage and tomato pie.
Check out Full Circle’s complete slate of specialty and white pizzas, as well as tasty calzones and strombolis, too, and I’m quite certain you won’t be disappointed.
Chase says that his goal is to be your family’s favorite place to go for a reasonably priced meal. For about $30, your family can share a large thin-crust pizza, an order of delicious garlic knots, one of Chase’s popular large salad ( including everything from Caesar to antipasto to my favorite, the Full Circle wedge, which comes with both a creamy garlic parmesan dressing and a tasty balsamic glaze) and an order of Italian donut holes (zeppoles) for dessert.
If you’re looking for something other than (or in addition to) pizza, I’m partial to Full Circle’s jumbo chicken wings and mozzarella sticks, as well as the Philly cheesesteak sandwich. Chase also has a variety of Chicago sandwich favorites — everything from delicious Chicago-style Italian beef, Italian sausage and beef combo, a Chicago-style Vienna beef hot dog, grilled, fried, blackened or Buffalo-style chicken sandwich, as well as chicken, eggplant and meatball parmesan subs and hamburgers with your choice of toppings (including a pizza burger with grilled mushrooms and onions, marinara and mozzarella).
Chase also takes a lot of pride in his spaghetti and homemade meatballs and he also offers jumbo cheese raviolis and my favorite Full Circle pasta — the fettuccine Alfredo with grilled (or blackened) chicken. There’s also full chicken and eggplant parmesan dinners, each served with a side of pasta and two garlic knots.
And, Full Circle’s casual atmosphere also offers several flat-screen TVs, beer on draft (I love the Peroni and Yuengling drafts) and domestic, import and premium beer in bottles, as well as equally reasonable prices on a variety of red and white wines. In addition to the zeppoles, there’s also creamy NY-style cheesecake available for dessert.
Full Circle Pizza & Grill (19651 BBD Blvd.) is open every day for lunch and dinner. Call 994-3700 or visit FullCirclePizzaandGrill.com.
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