Hoopty's Pizza and Pasta: Stop in For a Slice, Stay for the Eggplant Parmesan

One of the pitfalls of working all the time is that sometimes I forget to eat. In fact, my mom yells at me all the time for allowing myself to get to the brink of starvation on a regular basis. I can't help it I tell her, sometimes I get consumed by all the things that I have to get done and food becomes an afterthought.

When I arrived at Hoopty's I was so hungry that my blood sugar had plummeted to dangerously low levels and I literally had the shakes. I ordered a slice of plain pizza and an eggplant parmesan grinder. Fortune smiled down on me as a "slice pie" was being taken out of the oven right then.

The slice was quite large and I could hear the crisp crust as I took each bite. The tomato sauce was tasty and there was just the right amount of cheese. The only flourish that I added was some crushed red pepper and a tiny sprinkling of salt. It was a great piece of pizza.

The 12-inch eggplant grinder arrived in a bright plastic container and featured thick and golden fried slices of eggplant and a good amount of marinara sauce. The whole grinder had been expertly prepared so that the bread was crunchy and well toasted on the outside, pillowy soft on the inside and the eggplant tender. Each bite was a perfect combination of textures and flavors. I enjoyed this eggplant grinder immensely.

I washed it all down with Teak lemon iced tea but could have chosen from any other member of the Coke beverage family or bottled water. The service is extremely friendly and the place is frequented almost exclusively by regulars. I imagine that Hoopty's is quite the fixture in the neighborhood for family pizza night.  

Be sure to grab a menu as there are numerous coupons as well as advertisements for lunch and weekly specials, e.g. on Mondays a large cheese pizza is only $7.99 plus tax.

The decor is typical of your neighborhood pizza place with bright lights and limited seating. The space is quite clean and there are large windows looking out onto Darby Road. The prep and cooking area is completely open so you can see exactly how your food is prepared which might be a treat for your little ones.

Hoopty is also a slang term for a junky car but there is nothing junky about this place. The food is first rate and the service is top notch to boot.