Vagabond Pizza--Wood-Fired Delight

Vagabond Pizza now has a brick and mortar location in downtown Abilene. No more tracking down their food truck for some pizza pies coming from the mobile wood-fired oven. My husband and I were lured in by a Facebook post featuring one of their pizzas with Hatch green chili.  It is chili season!

Caprese salad

The new location has a lot of history according to one of the the owners, Jessica Adams. Most recently it was a jewelry store, before that it was a movie theatre and in the late 1800s, it was Abilene's livery stable. The restaurant opened two months ago and has been doing a booming business. Hence why this write-up didn't occur earlier.

Bar area with features for the week on the board

The decor is exposed brick and wood with open ceilings and industrial style lighting. The oven is at the end of the bar. I imagine it will be quite a draw for people to sit on that side of the room when the winter months arrive. Plus, kids like to watch the fire. It is a medium-sized space for a restaurant and I surmise that there will be a wait during peak times but at 7:30pm on a Wednesday night we were seated at one of the two empty tables. Our server was attentive and very knowledgeable about the menu and the beverage options.

Wood-fired oven

The menu had four items for starters/salads. There was also a very extensive bottled wine list. There was a smaller selections of wines by the glass. My husband was happy that they had a local craft brewery's beer on draft, Pappy Slokum's Local Yella that week. The server said they have a tap dedicated to Pappy Slokum brews. There is also an eclectic selection of bottled soft drinks (no soda fountain) such as Hank's Root Beer ($3), Pellegrino bottled water, and Key City Coffee. The menu does change with the availability of seasonal ingredients and owner/chef's inspiration so there will always be new things to try.

We started with caprese salads ($7) of creamy fresh mozzarella, roasted grape tomatoes, fresh basil and a black garlic balsamic. I enjoyed it very much. The other options were bread and butter, a wedge salad and a green salad.

There were eight pizzas on the menu, including the traditional Margherita ($12), and one weekly special option up on the board above the bar. My husband ordered the Hatch chili pork pizza ($14) that also had pickled onions and a green chili salsa verde as the sauce. I had the "Rosalie" ($14) which was Italian sausage, roasted mushrooms, mozzarella and tomato sauce.

Pork, Hatch green chili, and pickled onions

The crust was tender but had a chew to it. I enjoyed the bit of char from the oven. If you are a person that prefers a crisp crust or a deep dish style crust this is neither. It is hand-made and a bit soft in the middle. I loved the flavor profile of the Italian sausage (fennel is my friend) and the mushrooms on my pizza. If I closed my eyes, Tuscany appeared. There were no "pizza bones" left on my plate.

Italian, sausage and roasted mushrooms

My husband enjoyed his Hatch Chili Pork but his palate likes very strong flavors so he added red pepper flakes, salt, and Parmesan to his pizza for an extra kick. He felt the pork did not have enough seasoning. I had a bite and thought the green chili and pickled onions were perfect together. I didn't get a piece of pork in my bite so I can't speak to the flavor but I certainly enjoyed the chili. The pizzas are about 13-14 inches and big enough to share for smaller appetites.

There were two options for dessert and the name "Saturday Morning Cartoons" ($4) for one of them just begged to be explored. The server described it as a panna cotta that tasted like the milk left over from a bowl of Fruity Pebbles or Fruit Loops. That description nailed it. My husband RAVED about about it. It was garnished with Fruity Pebbles. He devoured it. It may have been his favorite dessert ever.  The server also recommended their honey pie.

Saturday Morning Cartoons dessert

We enjoyed our evening but be forewarned that this is gourmet pizza and priced accordingly. The ingredients are exemplary and the menu is creative. As the saying goes, "you get what you pay for" and Vagabond is worth it. I'm going to follow them on Facebook so I can keep up with new offerings. Oven baked pasta someday, maybe?

I also love how downtown Abilene just keeps getting better and better!

1056 N 2nd St.
Abilene, TX
325-268-4321
 http://vagabondpizza.com/
 https://www.facebook.com/vagabondpizza/
Open Tues-Sat for lunch and dinner service

Rancho Pizzeria in Coleman--So worth a road trip!!!

The owners of the celebrated Rancho Loma in Valera have opened a contemporary pizzeria in downtown Coleman called Rancho Pizzeria. As Rancho Loma is one of my all time favorite dining experiences, you know I had to make the 100 mile round trip to try some of their pizza.

Exterior--no outside signage at the moment

The decor is industrial chic with some West Texas nostalgia mixed in. Inside there are about 8 high backed booths, 3-4 tables for two, a large group seating area at the front and a private dining room in the back. All this to say, it isn't all that large of a restaurant. Peak times may mean a wait, especially as word spreads about them. A bar with some additional seating runs along one sided adjacent to the chef station and brick oven. Service was friendly, prompt and professional.

Art above the bar

We ordered the olive tapenade with goat cheese ($7) as an appetizer. It was served with toasted bread. Loved it!!! My favorite item of the night. I believe that Chef Trueblood, that owned the now shuttered Bonterra Blu in Clyde, where I adored the olive tapenade on his salads is part of the Rancho Pizzeria team...pretty sure it was him making the pizza when we were there. Yes, you can see them preparing the food which is fun. One of the owners was also around chatting with customers.

Olive tapenade with goat cheese

I also got a small Cesare salad and my husband ordered a small house salad. Both were very good made with super fresh, high quality ingredients.  The Gorgonzola cheese on the house salad was gorgeous and plentiful. The dressing on my salad was super flavorful, if a bit heavy on the capers. The romaine was crisp. Both a bargain at $5 and $4 each. Larger entree sized salads are also available.

Caesar salad

The 12" pizzas are wood fired in a brick oven and are big enough for two to share, particularly if you have an entree and a salad as we did but we tried two of them anyway.  My husband got the carne pizza with  crushed tomatoes, prosciutto, Italian sausage, pepperoni, fontina cheese, and Calabrian chiles ($18).  It was the highest priced on the menu. It also had fresh shaved Parmesan on top.  I had the fungi ($14) pizza that was topped with roasted shiitake mushrooms, bechamel sauce, fontina cheese, roasted garlic, and white truffle oil.

Carne pizza

The crust on my husband's pizza was crisp yet tender and the taste of the meats really popped with the addition of the peppers. It was simply delicious. The mushroom pizza had an expected earthy flavor, with the shiitake and tuffle oil, and the unexpected arugula. The garlic was subtle. However, the crust was just a little underdone. You need to really, really like mushrooms if you order this pizza. I like mushrooms but shiitakes are not my favorite. The surprise arugula topping was too bitter for me and, admittedly, I missed the tomato sauce. Maybe if the roasted garlic had been more pronounced I wouldn't have missed it as much. The menu also includes a classic Margherita (tomato sauce, mozzarella, fresh basil) on the menu as well as the pepperoni, sausage, and arugula with prosciutto. Next time, I'm getting the Greek salad, a pepperoni pizza and my husband is hankering for the meatball appetizer.  There will DEFINITELY be a return trip!

Fungi pizza

The meal was certainly worth the drive from Abilene and if you are passing through Coleman on a Wednesday-Sunday during their open hours, you should eat there. You won't regret it. We had leftovers for the next day.

Please note that substitutions are not allowed on the pizzas and there is no "create your own" option. However, at times there are specials for the lunch or dinner service such as lasagna or steak if pizza is not your favorite. Check their Facebook page for current offerings. Reservations are not accepted, unless booking the private dining room.

There is a small but thoughtful beer and wine selection available and occasional live music. The do takeout if not slammed with dine-in patrons.

 Hours--

• Monday: Closed
• Tuesday: Closed
• Wednesday: 11am–2pm, 5pm–9pm
• Thursday: 11am–2pm, 5pm–9pm
• Friday: 11am–2pm, 5pm–10pm
• Saturday: 11am–10pm
• Sunday: 11am–3pm

If you are traveling on 84 between Abilene and Brownwood, you will need to make a detour to get to Commercial which is right off 153 and 206.

414 S. Commercial
Coleman, TX 76834
(325) 726-9307
ranchopizzeria.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/rancho.pizzeria/timeline