Uncle D’s charming, but pizza too charred for the price

Why: Uncle D’s Wood Fired Pizza opened two years ago in Battle Ground Village under Darrell and Lynnette Homola. Darrell, a mason by trade, specialized in pizza ovens and fireplaces. He used his own custom pizza ovens to cook for family and friends. The popularity of his pizzas lead the Homolas to open Uncle D’s Wood Fired Pizza.

June marked the grand opening of their new, larger restaurant on Parkway Avenue. The menu remains the same, but the move to a new location allows more room for diners and easier access for take-out orders. It is also more centrally located for Battle Ground residents and businesses to take advantage of Uncle D’s three-minute pizza.

What I tried: My dining companions and I tried the Porkface pizza, the Montana pizza and the chicken Mediterranean pizza.

Of the three, we liked the Montana the most. It is made with olive oil, sausage, goat cheese, caramelized onion and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. We found it had an appetizing balance of ingredients that complemented each other. The cheese wasn’t too rich, and the onions were a nice sweet touch to the sausage flavor.

The least impressive was the Porkface. This pizza combines tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, sausage, Canadian bacon and bacon. It was very greasy, and the pepperoni dominated the other meat flavors.

The chicken Mediterranean pizza seemed inappropriately named. Garlic sauce, mozzarella cheese, spinach, diced chicken, basil and sun dried tomatoes represent more of an Italian influence than Greek. Although Italy contributes to Mediterranean cuisine, Greece is the heavy, and most often associated with Mediterranean flavors.

Menu highlights beyond what I tried: The Texan pizza combines creamy garlic sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, sausage, bacon, a pepper mix, pepperoncinis, olives and basil all drizzled with a sweet chili pepper sauce. A vegetarian pizza is made with olive oil, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, spinach, a pepper mix, pepperoncinis, green olives, red onion and artichoke and is topped with fresh basil. Among the salad options is a fresh spinach salad topped with candied walnuts, sliced pears, feta cheese, dried cranberries and a raspberry vinaigrette. There is also a romaine salad, a creamy Caesar salad and a garden salad. Meat may be added to salads for an additional cost. Dessert pizzas are topped with butter, cinnamon and sugar and drizzled with frosting, and they come with or without blueberries.

Atmosphere: The 5,600-square-foot restaurant allows for spacious dining. It is outfitted with tables and chairs, a central, self-serve drink station under a gazebo, an attractive stone water feature and an indoor fireplace. Part of the space is dedicated to take-out orders, which has a separate entry. Several outdoor tables provide patio dining. As with Uncle D’s previous location, every element is artisan quality with no detail overlooked. It is a charming restaurant with a re-purposed barn vibe.

Other observations: After placing our order at the counter, getting our beverages and choosing a table, we waited 10 minutes before a pizza arrived. Twenty minutes later, our other two pizzas arrived in to-go boxes. When I asked the server why they were in boxes, she simply said, “I don’t know.” I looked at the receipt, and nothing on it indicated that any part of our order was to-go, nor should it have, because we said we were dining in.

Several times during the course of our visit, servers dropped silverware on the way to a table delivery.

Each of our three pizzas were very burned on the entire circumference of the crusts — not the top-of-a-crust-bubble burn, but the kind of burn you just don’t eat. Given the size of the pizza and the edible part of them, I did not find the $14 a reasonable price for what was served.

I asked one of the servers if the burned crust was a signature of Uncle D’s pizza, because all three of ours were uniformly burned, and he said the pizzas are burned around the edge because the oven is super hot to achieve the quick bake time. He added that if you don’t want it burned, you need to ask for “no burn,” and it takes a longer bake time. I learned this slower bake time produces a doughy-like center. I also noted that nowhere in the restaurant or on the menu is this practice of asking for “no burn” stated.

I concluded that the restaurant is charming, the service lacked training and the pizza is overpriced for what you get.

Cost: Specialty pizzas cost $14, and a personal size is $10. Classic pizzas are $12, and a personal size is $8. Dessert pizzas are $8. Salads come as a side for $4 and a meal for $8. Drinks cost $1.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Where: 11 N. Parkway Ave., Battle Ground.

Contact: 360-723-5415 or www.uncledspizza.com

Health score: Uncle D’s Wood Fired Pizza has received a preopening inspection and is scheduled for a routine inspection in the near future. Zero is a perfect score, and Clark County Public Health closes restaurants with a score of 100 or higher. For information, call 360-397-8428.