Gourmet Pizza For Under $7 a slice? It exists near FIU.
Low prices + No Lines = Great pizza
At what point did we all decide $30 was a perfectly normal amount to pay for a pizza? I’m not sure when it happened. I remember sitting down at Lucali for the first time 13 years ago and doing a triple take when I saw a pizza was $24. Now, you’re lucky to get a 12-inch cheese for that price. Let’s not even get into the preposterous world of “gourmet slices,” where you wait in a long line for the right to pay $11 a slice.
This is why I was giddy when I found Golden Lizzard, hidden, as most great pizza places are, in a strip mall near a college. The FIU-adjacent spot serves up crispy crust, high-quality pizza for literally half what much-ballyhooed places in Downtown and Wynwood charge. And if you’re looking for the best pizza deal in the city, this may well be it.
Ok, what kind of deals are we talking?
Two slices and a soda for under $10, like god intended. And these aren’t the standard, window-aged slices you get for a few bucks in South Beach. These are high-quality NY-style slices on a crust that holds up with fresh, creative toppings. On Tuesday, you can get two slices and a soda for $5 during lunchtime, a price I haven’t seen since “One Tree Hill” was on TV. You can literally get lunch at Golden Lizard for less than a gallon of gas in South Beach.
The scene: The concrete and graffiti that cover the dining room would make a less-creative writer call this a “Wynwood vibe.’ But the prices wouldn’t fit in in Wynwood. It’s a large, echoey, industrial space where you can grab a slice and peruse the street art on the walls, as college kids dip in for lunch then head out. It’s not buzzy. It’s not busy. It’s just great pizza at a reasonable price.
What to eat and drink: The standard cheese slice was good, but Golden Lizard does better when it gets creative with the toppings. The vodka pesto pizza was the winner, with a vodka sauce base and pesto drizzle that taste like a $30 pizza elsewhere. The BBQ chicken also stood up nicely. The margherita stracciatella slice is the most impressive and instagrammable, and at $6.25 is literally half what they charge at the overhyped long-line place downtown.
To drink, they’ve got a nice little collection of craft and import beers, seltzers, canned cocktails, and craft sodas. But this is pizza, you want a fountain drink with big ice cubes and Golden Lizzard is happy to oblige.
Don’t miss: The Tuesday lunch special. Two cheese slices and a soda for $5.
Perfect for: Quick, casual, affordable meals.
Expect to pay: Under $10 per person.
How’s the parking: Strip-mall spectacular.
@goldenlizzardpizza // 296 SW 107th Ave., Sweetwater