Trattoria E Pizzeria de Enrico in Columbia

I'm still looking for pizza, so I went for a new look at an old favorite around Columbia, the pizza joint in King's Contrivance.

Trattoria E Pizzeria de Enrico is a casual institution around here.  It's part of a small group of Italian spots, and it was one of the first places that people recommended when they started to comment on HowChow.

Last week, we ordered a whole pizza because fresh always seems better than the slices that they sell individually.  Way too much for two -- especially because we split a calzone beforehand.  This is pizza with the basics -- cheese, sausage, and thin-sliced mushrooms.  We dug in.

No grease spots.  That's how you can tell Trattoria kicks out pizzas with more ambition than the chains.  Even cooling, the cheese stays delicious.  The crust stays crisp, but still chewy with a thick sauce and the right balance of all the ingredients.  With the calzone, you get an extra cup of sauce for dunking.  Trattoria doesn't sell new jack pies like Coal Fire or Facci, but I plowed through at least one slice too many because that made a great dinner.

Oddly, it made a totally different leftover.  After a day in the fridge, the dough flattens.  Reheated, it crisped into something thin and more like Coal Fire.  Delicious in round two as well.

What is your pizza place?  I can't enough pies to tour the entire county.  Amazing to think that I ate pizza five days a week through college.  I am shocked that I survived two in a week now.  I'm convinced that Facci and Coal Fire sell the gourmet pizza around here.  Trattoria does the best standard pies that I know.  Where else?

Trattoria E Pizzeria Da Enrico 
8630 Guilford Rd 
Columbia, MD 21046 
410-381-1255 

NEAR: This is in the King's Contrivance Village Center. This is south of Rte 32 and east of Rte 29. King's Contrivance has the new Harris Teeter, a Bagel Bin, and a CVS. Take the Eden Brook Drive / Shaker Drive exit from Rte 32. Follow the signs south to Eden Brook Drive, which goes right past King's Contrivance.

Trolling: Trattoria de Enrico's Pizza, A Trifecta of Frozen Yogurt, And Homemade Potato Chips

Sherri and her fiance have just moved deeper into Columbia from King's Contrivance into Hickory Ridge.   She submitted the first "trolling and pimping" post, and she started it off simply with her favorite pizza, her favorite dessert, and a spot for homemade potato chips and her favorite beer.  These "trolling" posts are meant to give you opinions other than my own, although I am linking to my prior posts if you want more.

The pizza at Trattoria de Enrico in Columbia: As a couple from a little farther north, it's tough to find pizza that reminds us of home, but the pizza at Trattoria de Enrico really makes us happy. The crust is crisp and chewy in all the right places, the way my mom always said they can only make in New York City because of the city's public water.  (She may be making that up, but it's my mom, I have to believe her . . .)  The sauce isn't too sweet, and the amount of cheese is juuuust right. The trip is more than a 30-second drive now, but it's more than worth the seven minutes to King's Contrivance.  I haven't had pizza this good since I was a kid!

Dessert at Tutti Frutti: I cannot get enough of this stuff, not the yogurt, not the mochi. I mix a trifecta of green tea, original tart and death by chocolate. I don't really like when my flavors interact, but I manage to eat the stuff so fast that they don't really have the opportunity to mingle too much. I top the chocolate with almonds, I top the tart and the green tea with mochi and more mochi. It's a good thing this place is "all the way" in Ellicott City because I've been there three times in 10 days. If it was closer, I'd have to buy new pants.

LeeLynn's in Columbia: When my book club meets at LeeLynn's near Dorsey's Search, my first order is the homemade potato chips. They're crunchy kettle style chips tossed with herbs and served with a chipotle ranch sauce. I follow that up with the chicken satay, an inexpensive yet filling five skewers of chicken doused in the best peanut sauce I've ever had. LeeLynn's is also one of the few places that has Rising Moon, Blue Moon's spring seasonal, and my favorite beer, on tap in the spring.

Trolling on Tuesday is my attempt at a series where readers would share three things with other HowChow readers -- favorite restaurant dishes, food to buy, food experiences, etc.  Click here for all the Trolling posts.  Click here for the explanation and the rules.  Anyone can submit.  

Trattoria E Pizzeria Da Enrico in Columbia

I'm looking for the best pizza, and the tour passed through King's Contrivance where I liked Trattoria e Pizzeria Da Enrico.

Where do you go for pizza? I'm a fan of Luna Bella Ristorante, a real Italian restaurant that does gourmet pies. They're heavy with toppings, sometimes too heavy for the thin crust, and they're always worth the drive.

But that can't be the only pizza in Howard County. I first tried Pastino's Upper Crust off Rte 108 near Rte 100. It opened just before we moved from up there, and we stopped for sandwiches, which I remember fondly. The pizza by the slice didn't create such memories. The teenager who helped me barely warmed the slice, and it needed to at least be crispy considering that there wasn't much special in a thin layer of sauce, a layer of some cheese, and three pieces of pepperoni.

Trattoria E Pizzeria crisps up the slices. Mrs. HowChow and I split two slices of vegetable specials and a calzone. When I asked, they heated the slices until the crust was crisp, and those slices were good -- although more expensive than the Pastino's slices -- with ricotta, broccoli, and tomatoes. This is a real restaurant that offers Italian dinners like pastas and even seafood

with shrimp, clams, and calamari. I wasn't giving this place the best chances by ordering the already-baked items from the counter. But the calzone was good. Warmed through. A little doughy for my taste, but filled with flavorful pepperoni, thick sauce and enough cheese to be good, but not overwhelming. Mostly, I was impressed that it all held together. Far too often, calzones are overstuffed and collapse into a mess. The Trattoria E Pizzeria calzone cut cleanly in half, and we picked up our pieces to dip in extra sauce.

This is a casual place. You order from the counter, and you sit at molded booths or tables. Not as classy as Luna Bella, but a friendly place for a weeknight break. Next time, I'll actually pass by the calzone for the Sicilian pizza, which they only sell by the entire pie. The family next to us was chomping happily on a square pizza that looked delicious.

Again, where do you go for pizza??

If you go to Trattoria E Pizzeria in the warm weather, you can top it off with dessert from Rita's. The King's Contrivance shopping center has a quiet central courtyard where you can enjoy your sweets.

If you like pizza, definitely try Pazani's in Elkridge -- which I learned about in the comments below. It was a key to my post about the Best Pizza in Howard County.  Next, I'm going to try Vennari's and Bella Mia as suggested in the comments.

Trattoria E Pizzeria Da Enrico

8630 Guilford Rd
Columbia, MD 21046

410-381-1255

NEAR: This is in the King's Contrivance Village Center. This is south of Rte 32 and east of Rte 29. King's Contrivance has the new Harris Teeter, a Bagel Bin, and a CVS. Take the Eden Brook Drive / Shaker Drive exit from Rte 32. Follow the signs south to Eden Brook Drive, which goes right past King's Contrivance.

Pastino's Upper Crust
8835 Centre Park Dr
Columbia, MD 21045
410-740-9009

NEAR: This is just off Rte 108 near the Giant just west of Howard High School and east of Rte 29. It is just up Centre Park Drive from Bangkok Delight.