Goosetown’s Sriracha pizza tastes like burning (in the best possible way)
What happens when two symbols of mankind’s greatness—pizza and Sriracha sauce—combine into one dish? With just a little finesse, it’s a mighty fine flavor achievement, as in the Sriracha pizza at Goosetown Tavern.
Goosetown isn’t the sort of place one might expect an off-kilter style of pizza-making. It’s a straight-up bar, complete with cheap brewskis, endless hours of ESPN’s Sportscenter, and a jukebox that’s known to blast fist-pumping party hits. It seems like a bar where you bro down with your bros and puke up buffalo sauce on the way home.
It’s pleasantly surprising, then, to find that Goosetown’s menu takes a more refined approach than the usual wings ’n’ things that dominate most sports-bar menus. Nay—Goosetown’s food lineup shows a tender fondness for items like jerk chicken and basil pesto, and, more shockingly, generosity and goodwill toward vegetarians. Goosetown is like the guy who initially comes off as a total meathead doofus, but really wants to talk about Depeche Mode and sustainable farming.
The Sriracha pizza is a fine example of this unexpectedly civilized attitude. Sriracha, as seasoned Thai and Vietnamese diners know, is a fiery red chili paste that livens up everything from pho to French fries. Its use as a pizza enhancement is nothing new, but what’s unusual about Goosetown’s Sriracha pie is that the pizza seems to have been built around the Sriracha.
The ingredients live in a harmonious balance: mozzarella, tomato slices, flecks of red onion, chopped basil, and whole cloves of roasted garlic. The final touches are a generous swirl of Sriracha and a healthy sprinkle of parmesan. With such a wide array of strong flavors, catastrophe seems imminent.
It never occurs. The onion, for example, is used sparingly enough that it adds spark and not stank. There are just a few garlic cloves on the pie, and they’re roasted well—nutty and mild. The kitchen holds the red sauce on this one, too, leaving less room for flavor clashes.
And then there’s the Sriracha, flaming hot and inescapable. Though it’s the star of the show, its tangy-chili flavor melts into the cheesiness thanks to that final sprinkle of parmesan. The heat’s still there, of course, and that’s what you really want.
It’s what Goosetown really wants, too. More spiciness equals more beer drinking! Tastes like burning? Slam a beer, homeboy—and let’s get back to discussing Depeche Mode.
