Lovely's Fifty-Fifty

Wood-fired pizza and homemade ice cream? I think I died and went to Heaven! Just to add some credibility to my review, my love affair with pizza started as a child and has only grown with time. When I was little I ate so much of it that my mom warned me that I was going to turn into a piece of pizza. Not to be discouraged, I pressed on throughout adulthood to patron as many wonderful pizza establishments as I could, and here I am, reviewing the latest on the Portland scene. Admittedly, I never made it to the beloved Lovely Hula Hands (RIP), but when I heard the business was trying their hand at a new pizza place, I was more than thrilled!

Atmosphere:
The Mississippi Area is one of the coolest neighborhoods in Portland, and Lovely’s is located here, directly next store to the old Lovely Hula Hands building (which I heard they still own and will be leasing to a new restaurant…what will it be?). The interior of Lovely’s has clean lines and all wooden furniture, with a very relaxed, “zen” vibe. It felt warm and cozy. Diner style seating, with booths on one side and smaller tables on the other. They had a good crowd for a rainy Sunday evening, but we were able to grab a table back by the “kitchen,” an open area where you can watch your order be prepared (pizza is hand-tossed). Bathrooms are located next door, so you have to get a key and walk outside to get there, which is kind of a pain.

Food/Wine:
The salad options are sprawling and have some great combinations. We started with the “Gene’s beets with grapefruit, avocado, cilantro & calabrian chilies.” While the dish was light and refreshing, the portion size was lacking for $8. There was probably one beet cut into ten pieces and ½ an avocado in thin slices…disappointing.

The pizza options are also well crafted, and we splurged and tried two different pies. First was the red chard, rapini & fennel sausage, and second was the wild nettles with salumi pancetta. Neither stuck out as better than the other, so I will speak in more general terms. The greens were a bit too charred for my taste, but the meat on both pizzas was delicious. Perfectly juicy sausage and salty, thinly sliced salumi pancetta. The crust was nicely browned and had great consistency, but lacked any sort of flavor.

I enjoyed the smaller size of the pizzas (perfect for a light meal for two people), but at $15, they should be larger.

Nice selection of wines, however we could not find anything under $25. Our bottle of Chianti was the perfect accompaniment to this meal, but I do wish they had at least a couple of $20 options.

Ice Cream:
From what I can tell, the flavors change pretty frequently because they are homemade. We split the two-scoop bowl for $5, and we chose the Malted Milk Ball and Mint Stracciatella. Both were creamy and flavorful, with perfect texture. My only complaint was that the portions were small, tiny ½ cup servings of each.

Pricing/Service:
As you can tell, I thought Lovely’s Fifty-Fifty was overpriced. When you compare it to the outstanding pizza establishments in Portland (namely Ken’s, Apizza Scholls, Dove Vivi) it definitely doesn’t give the most bang for the buck. Prices are higher and portions are noticeably smaller.

Service was friendly and attentive. In chatting with the waitress they seem happy to be in their new space, and business sounded like it was going well.

Overall, this is a place any pizza lover would enjoy, to be sure. But for these prices, I wasn’t moved to add this to the “return” list.

*Jayne