It's A Beautiful Pizza
3341 SE Belmont St
Portland, OR 97214 (503) 233-5444
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: Yes
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: No
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
13 Reviews for It's A Beautiful Pizza
Strolled in here the other night with my troop & we were all well served! What I like about the place is that it's an easy walk from our house, the people are very friendly & accommodating, you can't beat the live music, & the beer selection is exceptional! We listened to some great Irish music & had a whole pie, which was more than enough for the 4 of us.
Is this the best pizza going? No it is not, but it is solid, sauce is fine & crust is acceptable. Would I take out of town guests here? No, but I'd meet a buddy here for a slice & some beer. It's not fancy & doesn't pretend to be. It's a good venue to hear local music & my kids had a great time. For the 4 of us to go out, it set me back $22.00 which includes a frosty pint for mom. This seems A-Okay by me. Don't come here if you expect gourmet pizza. Do stop by for good music, fine pie & fun.
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From my experience people either really like this pizza or really don't like it at all. If you only like thin crust with a light sprinkling of toppings, you should probably keep walking past this place. However, if your craving a hearty slice of pie, this will do more than suffice.
There is a large selection of toppings and a bunch of different and original house specialties you can choose from. The pizza is thick and filling and the quality of the ingredients seems to be good. I have only ordered whole pies from here but they do have pizza by the slice as well.
I enjoy the pie from this place, if it were not due to its hit and miss success with my friends, i would have ranked it higher.
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I admit I am biased, since my bellydancing teacher dances here. But whatever. I have something important to say.
This place is NOT about the pizza! No! Definitely not!
I mean, I liked the pizza lots. But great pizza is so easy to come by anyway. Try getting great bellydancing for five bucks!! On Wednesday nights, I believe starting around 8, a succession of three or four bellydancers, accompanied by an awesome live band, will hip thrust their way into your heart.
Best of all, after the performances are over, the band will play just for the audience to get up and have a try--and in my experience, practically every lady gets up and shakes her booty, regardless of whether they ever danced in their life.
The staff is wonderful, very laid-back, cool, and pleasant. This is one of those businesses that deserves your support, and during a performance makes for an awesome casual date.
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I've been eating here off and on for years, mostly because I have a friend who likes it. We've been going there since before they moved across the street, when they were still in the space where the Blue Monk is now.
Here's the thing: the owner is a great guy. The place is cool, and I always love the stained glass, and they get great live music. But the food--no. I mean, it's mostly edible. The crust is thick and doughy, and usually well-cooked--though occasionally the upper layer is still partly raw--hard to cook all the way through when they load so much onto it, in such huge chunks. Eating it is a messy non-pleasure. I usually need a knife and fork so I don't get the toppings falling all over the place. They still do, but this way I can confine it to the plate. And *do* *not* get delivery--when all that heavy topping sits on top of that doughy crust for any length of time, everything just goes limp and soggy, especially when it's been put right into a box, and the mounds of veggies are still steaming from the oven. Like a sauna for the dough. In order to get any kind of flavor hit, against all that bland crust and cheese, I end up ordering garlic on the pizza--just to be able to taste *something*. The sauce does not do it on its own.
The salad--also skip it. Uninspiring not so fresh icebergy lettuce with grocery store dressing. Unappetizing in the extreme.
I really want to like this place. It's been a neighborhood fixture for years. And like I said, the owner is great. I just wish he'd change up the pizza style. He did a great job revamping the new* space--revamp the pizza too!
Best bet: get a pint of good beer and listen to some fun live music. This is Portland!
Amended: OK, if you are a 19 year old bike messenger who rides upwards of 50 miles a day and has metabolism to spare, this may well be the pizza for you. Carbo-load!
* New to those of us who've been here a while!
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Date Visited: Saturday 5/31/08 (Dinner)
I kinda want to give this place 5 stars because it was the first pizza I've had all year that I truly wanted more of. Since I was with a vegan and I wanted to test-drive a vegan pizza for my group, we got the Diana Ross with soy cheese. Though I really dislike mushrooms and don't care for green peppers much, I LOVED this pizza!
Did ya know soy cheese really doesn't melt at all? The pizza's "cheese" was pretty much grated looking cheese with slightly burnt edges but no actual melt factor. I kept thinking how the pizza couldn't possibly be all that great. I was so pleasantly surprised. The "cheese" didn't actually taste good. It just didn't taste bad (and that's saying a lot for soy cheese).
The crust and sauce must be what makes the pizza right. I like thicker crusts that can't possibly be healthy. It was crunchy when my fork cut through it, so it was perfect.
Judging by the other reviews, I wonder if this was just a fluke or if my taste in pizza has drastically changed in the last 6 months. I don't know what it is, but this place is now my top pizza joint.
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When I first moved to Portland, this was my pizza place. Then I started seeing other pizza places. It's been months and months since I've been back, even though it's not far from home (but Hot Lips is a lot closer). The pizza's ok. It's floppy and usually has too much cheese. They have beer. It does seem a bit empty at times.
This review is making me sad. I want to say something good about this place. I want my writing this review to stir up an "I'm gonna go back to It's a Beautiful Pizza soon. Why'd I stay away so long? I miss it. Yeah" type feeling. But it's not. I guess I plan on never going back. I mean, I wouldn't be too opposed if someone asked me to go there with them, or some day I might be walking by and just decide to pop in. Barring that, this might really be it.
You should try it though. I mean that.
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I really don't like the pizza here. It's also an awkwardly set up place and sort of uncomfortable with the live music- walking in front of someone playing their guitar to get a slice. It's also pretty expensive, especially for what it is. It's cool that they are so vegan friendly, which is why i gave it a second star, but I'd rather go anywhere else.
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Awww, the people here are so nice, the food and beer is so cheap, but the pizza is an absolute gut bomb. Each slice had like a pound of cheese on it and the crust all is thick and cardboard-y. Small child wisely refused to eat any of it. If you just want to go somewhere to eat and be left alone...very, very alone...this big empty pizza place may be just the spot for you.
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I'll try to say something nice about the place first. It tries to be a happening place, with music some nights. It's got a few nice beers on tap. Oh, and the guy said thanks when we bussed our table.
That's about it. If I could say anything about the pizza, it wouldn't be positive. My two cents would be to scrap everything about the pizza, and start over. The cheese was horrible, the sauce very can-like and the crust was that wet, greasy cardboard--you know, like the pizza- that' s-leftover-in-the-fridge-for-the-past-wee k-and-now-it's-Tuesday-at-2am-and-there's-nothing-else-to-eat-crust. Now, I don't profess to know how to make a good pizza, (and I've tried), but, after eating here, I guess I could open a pizza joint too.
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I'm sad that this place doesn't get the love it deserves on Yelp. I love this place. They experiment with toppings like nowhere else, and I don't know what people are complaining about with the cheese - yeah, they load it on, but they load on all sorts of different types (I had no idea feta was so great on pizza) for just the best blend ever. Two slices will fill you up for hours, and the beer selection is better than what you can get at a lot of the bars nearby on Belmont.
Props also to this businesses determination to be part of the neighborhood and offer all sorts of groups a place to do their thing. They have folk-dancing on Tuesdays, belly dance on Wednesdays, and live acoustic performances many other nights. The outdoor seating in the back is great, too! I make all my friends go here with me. Seriously the best pizza in the Hawthorne/Belmont area, I would say on par with Hot Lips, and definitely kicks Oasis's sorry butt.
ETA: I think the reviewers on here might have gotten pizza by the slice, which is definitely less fabulous. It's A Beautiful Pizza is really about the pies.
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It's a beautiful thing to have pizza on Belmont, and even better, vegan options too! If only It's a Beautiful Pizza weren't SO huge, it wouldn't always look empty and unloved. Their pizza is fine and tasty enough but everytime I walk by it looks desolate and depressing. Even worse is when they have live music in the evenings and there are some happy toddlers jamming out to the band, but no one else is watching.
I'd love to tuck It's a Beautiful Pizza into a hole in the wall. I think I'd be a lot more attracted to it. The bottom line, though, is that it's fine pizza in a nearby neighborhood, and it's good for vegans, too. Also, the patio is a good bet for outdoor pizza.
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seems like an alright place. its pretty open with good seating. they have a lot of random shows with no cover. their prices are pretty good but ive only had it by the slice, so im not sure how much a whole pie would be. it has never seemed all that full and the counter line, if there is one, is usually short and fast. wish i could say the pizza was better, however its really diabolical on your intestines and the ratio of toppings were clearly developed by a brazen maniac. its close enough to my apartment that i wont mind stopping in there with a friend or something. i havent really made it a regular thing.
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Pizza joint right out of the 60s
The pizza here is honestly average, so I wouldn't recommend it on that reason alone. But the vibe is awesomely chilled out and relaxing. There's a definite retro feel here with its posters from the 60s decorating the walls and a relaxed, if not too much, approach to service. If you're out for just a slice of pizza and think that you should have been born 40 years ago, then it's worth checking out.
Tip: Sometimes the slices can be a bit warm, so don't be shy and ask them to heat it up.
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