Angie’s Italian Restaurant in Barberton offers plentiful pizza toppings | Local Flavor

Angie's Italian Restaurant was a nice, casual spot for a weeknight pizza night with the guys in my house — my husband, Steve, and 15-year-old son, Conor.

The place was pretty hopping on a Wednesday night for our first visit to the Barberton mainstay, which opened in 1955 and is best known for its pizza. In fact, its pizza boxes proudly proclaim: "Pizza made us famous!"

As we entered the beige stucco-walled dining room, an etched glass sign above the doorway with grapes on a vine said: "Mangiamo," or "Let's eat." And eat we did.

We sat in a comfy booth with a checkered, green-and-beige tabletop. The booth's dark wood paneling gave a homey feel.

We were all in the mood for pizza, so the boys and I ordered a medium sausage and pepperoni pizza with banana peppers also on one half for Steve and me ($14.59).

At this reasonably priced restaurant, our medium pizza cost $10.99 plus $1.20 for each or our three toppings. We built our own pizza, but Angie's also offers six specialty pizzas, including BBQ chicken, alfredo with grilled chicken and low-carb pizza, which is made with a low-carb tortilla.

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The restaurant's mini pizza special ($11.99) includes the mini pizza with choice of two toppings and a choice of nine sides that range from a salad to jojos.

The pasta also comes with a side, and we ordered breadsticks. I wish we'd gotten a salad, because I've since learned that diners go gaga over the restaurant's homemade pink Italian salad dressing.

The restaurant actually makes 70 gallons of the pink Italian dressing each week for dine-in and takeout, sold in 16-ounce takeout containers for $7.99.

"It is famous. We make a lot of it," said general manager Tracey McKinney Storm.

Some folks even dip their pizza into the pink dressing, which is also sold as a side cup for 75 cents. Angie's other house-made dressings — sweet and sour and blue cheese — are available for carryout, too, as is the whole menu.

For our weeknight venture, the service was quick and friendly and the toppings were literally loaded onto this soft-crust pizza, whose dough is fresh made. The cheese was oozing, the sauce was plentiful, and there was so much sausage on our pizza, it was falling off.

I enjoyed the zingy taste of multiple banana peppers in each bite. At this joint, you could never say Angie's isn't generous with its toppings.

We spent a pleasant hour sharing our pizza as well as the Italian sampler ($15.99), which included a serving of lasagna, a stuffed shell, meatball and rigatoni, with the whole thing smothered in meat sauce, which cost an extra $2.25. We got a taste of each and polished the dish off.

Our appetites were satisfied and we also had a couple of pieces of pizza left over, enough for one lucky person's lunch the next day.

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Where did Angie’s get its name?

So why is the place called Angie's? It was originally owned by Les and Angie Hilner. Since late 1972, it's been owned by Dennis McKinney and is managed by his daughter, McKinney Storm.

It was fun to check out the dining room's artwork of Barberton founder O.C. Barber's Anna Dean Farm property, including his iconic 1910 mansion and the beautiful Barn 2, which originally housed cattle and later horses. Around us, diners included families with a number of kids, which wasn't surprising given the eatery's reasonable prices.

What’s on the menu at Angie's Italian Restaurant?

Kid's meals cost $7.99 at Angie's. The sizable list of adult entrees includes a fish and shrimp dinner for $15.99, a stuffed green pepper for $8.99, stromboli for $10.59 and wraps or sandwiches from $9.99 to $13.99.

Not everything's Italian here: At Angie's, you can order anything from a classic burger for $10.99 to grilled salmon ($15.99), liver and onions ($10.99) or roast beef and noodles ($12.99).

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Angie's appetizers have a bar food flair, including sauerkraut balls, mozzarella sticks, fried green beans, fried zucchini and breaded wings. This establishment markets its bar on the left side of the building as a sports bar. It features photos of the sights of Venice and Florence.

Angie’s could use more wine

What this restaurant was missing was a more sizable wine selection. Angie's offers just three reds (merlot, cabernet and Redemption) and three whites (chardonnay, Moscato and White Lies), without descriptions of each on its menu. I asked for information about the red wines, but neither our waitress nor the staff person she asked was able to offer more details.

What Steve and I did know was that Redemption and White Lies, both $6 a glass, are sweet wines from the Winery at Wolf Creek in nearby Norton. A nice list of well-priced Italian wines with descriptions on the menu would go a long way in complementing the Italian fare at this restaurant.

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Our bill came to $45.42 before tax and tip. We Clawsons agreed that it was the yummy pizza that made our night. And next time we'll get that salad with the pink Italian dressing.

Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

Details

Place: Angie's Italian Restaurant

Address: 343 Fourth St. NW, Barberton

Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday

Phone:  330-745-6056

Information: angiesbarberton.com, @angiesbarberton on Facebook and Instagram

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Angie's in Barberton makes pizzas with plentiful toppings