A lot of you clamored about Vita Nova having some of the best pizza in Charlottesville when I brought up the question about who has the best pizza in town. Your praise did not fall on deaf ears. I had lunch at Vita Nova pizza yesterday. How shall I sum up my experience? It was basically this:
Christian’s + better
I walked in and thought I was at another Christian’s outpost, except a little more seductive and prettier.
I was even more confused when I looked at the pizzas and saw what appeared to be Christian’s replicas. Or is it the other way around? According to fellow cVillain, Danpri:
The owner of Christians sold the biz to the guys at Vita Nova then walked away with his cash and 3 year no complete contract. At about 3 years and 1 day he opened Christians just down the mall.
I cannot verify the accuracy of this anecdote, but I have heard it from a lot of people in town, so it could be true. Lets assume it is. Vita Nova’s pizza is basically the same in every way to Christian’s, except their crust is crispier and they had a vegetarian offering (pictured above) which I have never seen at Christian’s. I would say this makes the owner of Christian’s look pretty lame. Starts pizza joint, sells it, starts a rival to the one he sold that sells basically the same thing. Three years and you couldn’t come up with anything better/different? Shame on you. Even that piece of barbecue chicken pizza I had above tastes the same as the one at Christian’s, if not slightly better.
Yes this is a ridiculously short review, only because we have reviewed Christian’s and talked about it in posts hundreds of times before. Why do people talk about Christian’s so much? Well, it is right next to the main “entrance” of the downtown mall as well as right next to the movie theater. High school kids out on hot Friday night date’s can grab a slice before catching Zack Efron’s latest attempt at acting. All of you must have noticed by now that the further east you walk on the downtown mall, the less people there are. So as far as Friday night hot spot goes, I can see why Vita Nova wouldn’t be that popular. Lunch is another issue. The place had a huge line and pizzas flying out of the door like a supermodel that just ate an entire chocolate cake.
Conclusion
If you like Christian’s pizza you will like Vita Novas. If you do like Christians, and you try Vita Nova and decide you don’t like it (or vice versa), something is seriously wrong with you. I suggest you break the townie/hipster complacency thing and walk a couple of hundred feet east and give it a try. As far as the best pizza in Charlottesville? Are you kidding me? Definitely not. Since so many of you haters think Dr. Ho’s is no longer cool and great tasting, it is my mission to find as good tasting, or better (gasp!) pie. One down, many more to go.
[pics from spicy bear on flickr]
Related posts:
- Christian’s Pizza Restaurant Review
- Christian’s on the Corner: A godsend, but needs improvement
- Tastes Like Burning
“Vita Nova’s pizza is basically the same in every way to Christian’s, except their crust is crispier and they had a vegetarian offering (pictured above) which I have never seen at Christian’s.”
Having had way more Christian’s and Vita Nova than I really needed over the last year or two, I don’t really agree with this statement. Whether they are the same or not… that’ll be debated. But the crust thing… the one thing that annoys me about Vita Nova is that about one in every four slices I get from there, the crust seems mostly uncooked and tastes almost like I’m eating the dough. Christian’s has, in my experience, been consistently cooked.
Also, I know the story you said about Christian and the non-compete and all of that… the first link on “Christian’s Pizza non-compete” on Bing gives you another Cvillain article… but I haven’t heard for sure – is Vita Nova a reincarnation of Sylvias? Or is it just a similar pizza place in the same location?
VIta Nova bought Sylvias and changed the name. Same location.
cocoNUT, what is your favorite pizza in Charlottesville? Dr. Ho’s is good, but not in Charlottesville. If you’re going to get pizza without driving 15 minutes down 29, where would you go?
i believe you’ve seen a couple of people say that dr. ho’s wasn’t great.
um, i don’t know wtf kate gosselin is, & i’m saying that people have said dr. ho’s isn’t great because i say it at every possible opportunity.
we drove all the way out to Dr. Ho’s and had mediocre pizza about two years ago and never went back. don’t see what all the shouting was about. The late Il Cano Pazzo had the best pizza in town. RIP
oh man we are entering GPS enabled debates now. when we say the best in cville, does that have to mean what the postal service defines as cville or can it include areas that locals consider part of the city? at any rate, i have much more pie to try, so i will hold off on my final decision
I don’t think locals consider North Garden to be a part of Charlottesville. That’s like calling Crozet a part of Charlottesville. Actually, Crozet is a mile closer.
wasn’t crozet pizza added to the list of best pizza’s in the previous post?
SMSA, yo.
The basic history: Christian Tamm opens Sylvia’s (early-90’s?), operates it for a number of years. He then sells Sylivia’s (late-90’s?), with a no-compete clause in the contract. As soon as that clause expires, he opens Christian’s. Sylvia’s later revamps their menu, adding things other than pizza (pasta, etc), redecorates, and in the process changes their name to Vita Nova (2005-ish?).
I’m pretty sure that the present owners of VN are the same same ones who bought it from Christian.
The crust is better than Christian’s, and that’s the long and short of it. Is it miles better? No, but it’s certainly enough to choose it over the other.
The story/history is most certainly true as I have been a Christian’s junkie from way back (when Christian originally opened in what is now Vita Nova.) It goes…a little sumptin’…like this…
He opened it, it was wildly successful, blah, blah. He then sold it to a guy named Sylvio (not Sylvia, though that was the name of the place) and left the area, and indeed there was the no-compete clause as he envisioned returning. Sylvio remained committed to the same menu/recipies that had made Christian’s so successful, and when he (Sylvio) sold it to the current owners of VN they maintained that as well. In the meantime, however, Christian had indeed returned and opened his place on the west end of the mall…and blew away his old place (the long lines of addicts had always remained a constant at Sylvia’s/VN, until Christian opened up his latest incarnation….Sylvia’s/VN than became a ghost town by comparison.) Christian even hired some of his old staff away from Sylvia’s. I felt bad for Sylvia’s then, as they really had remained true to the model and menu, but loyalty to Christian and better slices reigned supreme and they’ve always been bested in terms of volume/#’s. For a period I don’t know how they made it- it was always chirping in there. It was, no doubt, a cold and shrewd move on Christian’s part…no one would debate that.
Like him or not Christian clearly makes the better of the two. Two reasons for that.. One, his slices are always more fresh as he simply moves so many people and pies that they’re gonna be more fresh (as opposed to VN, where pies sit for longer periods of time.) His crust is also more flavorful- he adds that little extra that makes it so, whereas VN is “white bread.” You gotta hand it to Christian- the guys got some stones on the pizza/restaurant front in that he opened up 3 additional locations virtually simultaneously- as opposed to slowly reaching across the market opening one more location at a time to test the waters…and it worked.
In the end it’s all about preferences. Some prefer traditional NY style, some are oddly fascinated by chain/assembly line style (Domino’s, etc.), etc.
Did you guys all just move here? If so, why are you all so convinced you’re the heart and soul of Charlottesville?
When Christian owned Sylvia’s, the place was packed all the time. That despite it’s less than charmed location. He sold it and it almost immediately began to suck. He waited out his no-compete time and since there was an obvious niche, which he was perfectly suited to fill, he opened a new restaurant.
The fools that did the build out for the doomed-from-the-beginning bagel place that was there gave him the perfect place to do it. They failed despite their location (and needless to say Bodo’s is still going strong mainly because they like Christian know how to deliver a superior product with less hassle to the customer).
If Sylvia’s had been doing well at the time, Christian’s would have had a tough time getting established. That’s the way things have worked around here for years. As it was, he would have been a fool to not step in and start raking the money in.
It is good to know that there is finally decent pizza to be had mid-mall, but sorry, I like to watch the perty gurls from Christian’s window, so it’s a little too late.
I thought the quality of Chistian’s went down when he opened up his additional locations. That’s about when I went to Vita Nova and thought they were better (mainly because of the crust).
I would say they’re both good, but because their pizzas sit out, they don’t kick ass.
“The fools” who had the bagel shop before Christian’s were a very nice family. The wife was diagnosed with cancer and that was a major factor in their decision to sell.
That piece of pizza in the photo has too much shit on it. When you put too many vegetables on a slice it makes it too water/olive oil logged. Nasty…
When you put too many vegetables on a slice it makes it too water/olive oil logged/healthy. Nasty…
FTFY
Actually, I prefer two vegetables (mushroom olives) on my pizza since they are not as greasy as meat. but that photo has way too much shit on it.
Next time you go, get the pizza with spinach, feta and tomatoes. It’s fantastic.
agreed… but their pasta is pretty bangin’… Especially when you score some of the vodka sauce pastas on special.
you would think so, and i would say the same thing looking at that photo, but somehow, they figured out how to keep everything crispy. the greens were super rich tasting, and had that raw crispy finish.
agreed. Their calzones are better, and I’ve had the lasagna a couple times, not bad.. just gotta wait ~10 minutes, and I usually just hit Vita Nova if I’m in a hurry.
I think they both have pizza that tastes like cardboard. Meh.
Dude…Zac (no “k”) Efron is a triple threat and you know it!
Right now, the best lunch choice on the Mall is Fellini’s, for the pasta specials. Don’t tell anyone, but for about the cost of two pizza slices of erratic quality, you get fresh Mona Lisa pasta (with great fillings and smooth, rich sauces), homemade bread, and a decent little salad. Try the cannelloni or the lasagna.
i told everyone months ago. supergood!
This is excellent. Thanks!
Christian’s vs. Vita Nova. Battle of the mediocre pies.
One day someone will open a place in charlottesville with thin crusts, top quality ingredients and a ridiculously hot oven, and it will be massively popular.
ACtually — best pizza in C’ville proper until recently was at Il Cane Pazzo.
But that ended on graduation weekend.
Now: you’re on your own.
Have you tried the pizza @ mas? you’ll forget you were ever in ICP.
free mas pizza on inauguration night was one of the highlights of my life.
I had Mas pizza. Already forgot how it tasted. ICP pizza will haunt me forever. But seriously, are we arguing about best pizza in town AGAIN????
You know — I had been thinking as much myself?!
Umm — not likely… my forgetting that!
Here’s an opinion that’s unpopular with the hipster crowd, CHRISTIAN’S PIZZA SUCKS!
Fresh? Huh? Yeah, maybe at lunch when the line is out the door, but man oh man, try to get a fresh slice after that. By the evening, some of those pizzas have been sitting so long you can see how old they are – especially if a fresh pizza is anywhere nearby. And it’s even worse at the Pantops and Hollymead locations, not to mention that the last time I was at Hollymead, the pizzas were smaller and scrumpier than ever and the prices had gone up.
And even assuming you can get a fresh slice, the people at the downtown location couldn’t be anymore rude or make it anymore clear that they’d rather spit in your pizza than smile. And really, since they rarely seem to wash their hands as they go about touching money and every dirty surface in that place before sticking their hands in a container of cheese to throw on your slice, they almost are spitting in your food via their dirty hands.
amen, SUCK. I feel like I’m being served in a prison lunchroom every time I (foolishly) eat at Christian’s downtown. I have never witnessed such an unwaveringly miserable staff.
Change of topic: who has the pleasantest staff in town?
Ariana Kabob, Korean House, Timberlakes. Five Guys, Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar, Mona Lisa Pasta. Come on it’s the south, this is easy. Spudnuts. Amoco deli on Fontaine. Bel Air Exxon deli. Everyday on Pantops (requires flirting). Bodos.
I heard that the Pantops location was going to be bought by the manager. I am assuming that they originally connected in that he used to work at Hamiltons and Christian is a regular there and was/is dating the chef? Hope he gets a longer non-compete clause!!!
Rather intriguing presentation of how they’re going about it right now in New York — the interactive part is pretty appetizing!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/dining/08pizza.html?ref=dining
THIRTY-FOUR DOLLAR PIZZA?!
that top photo looked goooood.
The best pizza ever was ricotta cheese, sausage, and a little olive oil. Whatever pizza shop in town starts serving that will get rich.