It was a satisfying Friday night, and I was feeling pretty good. Spring break had just started. I was half a semester away from graduating, and it appeared that the winter wonderland spell had finally broken. What an awful winter (can I get an Amen!). If I had wanted a snowy winter I would have stayed in Chicago. I was over all the snow back in January.

But this night was a beautiful Tennessee winter evening. I was sitting out on my porch basking in the twilight air in all its mild gloriousness. So much to celebrate. I was running down the list of new places to try (for research purposes of course) but didn’t want to travel too far. Jeff was up for whatever. He was tired and hungry and not feeling nearly as celebratory as I was. I waxed poetical about the lovely March breeze and the promise of new and exciting adventures come Spring. He agreed to go to Main Street Pizza Company if we could continue the philosophical prose in the car. That seemed like a fair compromise.

“Johnson City is drowning in pizza places,” said Jeff a little grumpily on the way over. But I say, if it’s drowning don’t bother throwing me a life preserver because I’ll just float down the lazy river and catch up with you later. For a dish as ubiquitous as pizza it’s amazing the variety in styles. I find it fascinating. Do you get the same variety with Moo Shoo Pork? No!

Main Street Pizza Company is in the King building where Russo’s used to be. I loved Russo’s and was sad to see it go.

Walking in the place looks inviting and casual. The guy behind the bar tried to guide us to a table, but I was being indecisive and eventually he just handed us the menus and told us to sit wherever we liked. The indecisiveness came from the fact that there are giant TV’s in the bar and in the dining room. I know people like their TV, but usually what’s on is sports, of which I am not a fan (see last week’s column).

That’s my only beef with Main Street Pizza Company. However, they are redeemed by the fact that there is a jukebox – no pizza place is complete without one. And, mercifully, the TV’s were turned down so the music was audible.

Jeff was starting to enjoy himself. He perked up when he noticed they had his favorite beer, Fat Tire, on tap. Also, it appeared to be Happy Hour bringing with it a reduction in the price of said favorite beer. “Happy Hour,” I reminded Jeff.

We ordered a Caesar salad and asked for anchovies (the true test of a good restaurant). Our waitress was only too happy to oblige and didn’t blink at the question. In fact, she raved about the homemade dressings made by the owner’s girlfriend. The pizza topping options were extensive. Octopus is on the menu as a topping. As is smoked salmon, meatballs and broccoli. I wanted to order the octopus just because we could, or the meatballs because I was so curious as to how one would go about eating a meatball on a pizza, but we went a more traditional route: onions, mushrooms, basil, spinach and capicola.

While we waited for our pizza I checked out the jukebox. They had the usual standards: Van Halen, Pink Floyd, Britney Spears, with a little Conway Twitty and Dusty Springfield thrown in. In the W’s I found Weezer. Remember “The Sweater Song”? Any pizza place with Weezer on the jukebox is OK with me.

The pizza and salad were both delicious. The homemade dressing was great. The pizza was thin and crispy but still with some dough to chew on. I can’t be certain but, I’m pretty sure I tasted garlic olive oil on the crust. I tried to save the last piece for lunch the next day, and I made it all the way out of the restaurant with my leftover slice, but it was gone before we got out of the car. There were other things on the menu but if you’re eating at a place called Main Street Pizza Company, get the pizza.

I sang “The Sweater Song” all the way home and offered Jeff bites of my leftover slice. As we pulled in to our driveway and stepped out into the cool night air I thought I saw a slight smirk come across Jeff’s face. Ah, it’s the little things.

Main Street Pizza Company is located at 300 E. Main St. For more info, call 423-631-0180 or visit www.themainstreetpizzacompany.com

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