Restaurant Review: Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza

I kept hearing chatter about Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza, it seemed everyone I ran into was raving about the place and it's pizza. Finally, last night hubby and I decided to try this place out. We looked it up so we could find a location near us. They seem to be scattered all around us, Plantation, Aventura, Weston and closer to us Coral Springs, Ft Lauderdale and Pompano Beach. They will be opening new restaurants in Boca Raton and Delray soon.

We drove down Federal Highway and in 10 minutes were there. Luckily we pulled in at 6.00 p.m. The parking lot already looked full and there were a few people outside. Since we were only a party of two we got right in.

The restaurant is more like a sports bar with flat screens all around, a center bar that looked like it sat about 10 and tables really packed in tight. We were almost elbow to elbow with a nice pair of elderly ladies who had relocated from New Jersey. Sitting so close we couldn't help but over hear them even though place is extremely noisy. Now, this is considered in season so it might not be as jammed in the sumer, when the Snowbirds leave.

Their main item is that coal fired pizza so of course we ordered that, mushroom and onion. We also ordered coal fired chicken wings as starters.

The service was perfect. Extremely fast, the waiters were very congenial, my water glass was always full and the manager actually delivered our pizza. He said, "Here's your double anchovy, bacon raw pizza" What? He was joking, which was very charming actually. In all the hustle and bustle the manager manages to deliver your food and crack jokes.

The wings were okay. I'm used to wings in sauce. The waiter did explain that Anthony's wings are marinated over night and then coal fired. No hot, spicey sauce. They were good. The portion was large and was served with caramelized onions mixed in. You're given tongs to help serve yourself to the wings. This is all set on a metal high server. The waiter made sure to bring lots of napkins even though these weren't messy the way most wings are. The meat was tender and the coal flavor was very nice. We could have ordered the huge house salad that I saw coming to other tables but neither one of us had lunch that day. The salad looked very fresh and very big. It had huge chunks of tomato in it. They also offer Sliced Tomato and Basil with fresh Mozzarella or Arugula salad. The wings were $13.50 for 20 pieces and more than half of this order came home with us. The salads run $18.75 large or $15.75 small. That's' a definitely a bit pricey but they looked like they could feed four. If you add Gorgonzola Cheese that's an additional $2.00

Our pizza was delivered once the wings were removed. A large pizza (16") is $13.75 and it's $2.50 for each additional topping. Also a bit high. They have specialty pies like, Meatball Ricotta, or Philly Cheesesteak, Broccoli Rabe & Sausage, Frittata (Pepper and Egg). These are $18.75 for a large. A side order of Broccoli Rabe & Sausage will run you $9.95. A basic Anthony's pizza has the finest mozzerella, Italian plum tomato, Romano cheese , Basil and Olive oil.

Coal Oven Roast Beef is $7.50 or Italian Tuna Salad Focaccia Sandwiches are $7.50

Anthony's also does take out with a special pull up parking area for pick up.

Our pizza was a good size. The crust was nice and thin , the way I prefer my crust and it had a tasty coal charred edge. The onions on the pizza were the same as the onions on the wings and the mushrooms were a nice size. The pizza had large chunks of tomato and quite a bit of cheese. We should have asked them to keep it light on the cheese. I felt the cheese overwhelmed everything.. I was only able to eat ½ a slice. Hubby managed to eat several slices but he's a big guy. This came home with us along with the wings so although this was a pricey pizza place if you can call it that if you're a moderate eater you can dollar cost average. If you're a big eater you won't go away hungry.

Judging by the enormous crowd waiting outside when we left this place is a real popular eatery. They're open until 10 p.m. every night.