Tucked off of Hwy 190 deep in Covington is a little pizzeria that has been around nearly fifty years, serving families on the north shore. The Pizza Man of Covington is Paul Schrems, who started making pizza in a little strip mall in Covington in 1976. It’s not much on looks, kind of small and dark with boring furniture and an old jukebox with an eclectic mix of yesteryear’s songs. The feature of the place is a glass-enclosed room with a step that allows kids to watch the pizzas being made. Paul back in the day and now his son Dustin enhances the show with an occasional burst of flour on the glass. The kids love it. Our kids loved it, and the original kids in 1976 loved it, I’m sure.
Teams go there for pizza after a game, or families meet each other after a school event. The place is always filled with people. The pizza is hardly brilliant. Cooked in the old-fashioned pizza ovens common in the middle of the last century, the big flaw in the pizza at The Pizza Man is that the crust can sometimes be soggy, or maybe it’s just the kind of pizza Tom likes. The Board Special is not special each night. It’s been the same since Tom first ordered it in the early Nineties. It’s spinach and capacolla ham with mushrooms, garlic, onions, and feta cheese. The water in the spinach makes the crust a little soggy, and the sauce occasionally does that for the other pizzas. We like the pepperoni pizza here, and Tom also likes plain cheese. They don’t call it Margherita here. It’s just cheese pizza. There are meatballs and Italian sausage and peppers and olives. There is andouille and crabmeat and shrimp. All the pizzas are topped with the old-fashioned mozzarella. No buffalo milk slices here.
The house salad is Italian with a great light vinaigrette dressing and ample artichoke heart slices and olives. This is always part of our order. There is also a Honeymoon salad and an artichoke salad on the menu, but these are new since the Nineties when it was a hangout for us.
This is a pizza place in the style of its origins - circa 1976. Another time warp in both food style and environment. Very quirky, the decor is comprised of gigantic puzzles Paul and his wife have put together over the years, and pizza boxes that are decorated with such artistry that these boxes have become a signature of the place.
The Pizza Man of Covington is a place that gets into the heart of everyone who sets foot into it. Save some quarters for the jukebox, but please don't play "Puff The Magic Dragon" if I am there.
The Pizza Man of Covington
1248 Collins Blvd Covington
504-892-9874
4-9 seven days
the-pizza-man.com
