South Oakland is known for many things, but fine dining is certainly not on the list that includes wandering the streets in groups, parties, and houses that upon closer inspection are probably not up to code. There are no “nice” eateries among the thousands of buildings off-campus students and Oakland old-timers call home. Do not let that fool you into thinking there is not any delicious food off the main streets of Oakland, though South Oakland is the home of several tasty dives, and Larry & Carol’s Pizza is certainl ynear the top of that list.
Larry & Carol’s Pizza has been serving up New York style pizza, wedgies, calzones, subs, and more since 1970. Located at 410 Semple Street, Larry & Carol’s is a quintessential South Oakland dive. One of its signature items is the thirty-inch King Kong Pizza ($32.99), which the shop claims is the biggest pizza in Pittsburgh.Customers interested in earning some extra dough can try the King Kong Overload Challenge. Costing a whopping $70, this “even BIGGER than the Original” pizza includes up to four toppings of your choice, and if two people finish the entire pizza in thirty minutes or less, they win $200.
Larry & Carol’s is not only a place for coronary-inducing food challenges like the King Kong Overload. The menu has something for any fan of pizza-shop style eats.Their dough and sauce are made fresh daily and used in their traditional New York style pizza, house specialty Sicilian deep dish pizza, calzones, and wedgies. A variety of salads, starters, wings, subs, sandwiches, pasta, wings,and chili round out the large menu that every pizza place (or at least the college dive kind) seems to have.
My latest order at Larry & Carol’s consisted of a medium fourteen-inch, eight cut traditional New York style plain pizza. At $9.99, (a six-cut small is $7.99,twelve cut large $12.49, and sixteen cut extra large $15.99), the pizza is a few dollars more than at some of the other local pizza joints. However, Larry& Carol’s Semple Street location, just around the corner from my apartment building,makes it an ideal spot to pick up some late-night grub. The short walk over was filled with anticipation and excitement.
The interior of Larry & Carol’s has probably been the same for decades. The carpeted floor mat at the entrance saying “Larry & Carol’s Pizza” against an Italian flag backdrop sets the ambiance for the entire shop. The wooden floors are scuffed. A few plastic tables that look like they are straight out of the 1980s sit against the large windows. The tall counter with a paper taped to it saying“Follow us on Instagram” divides the room between the large Pepsi cooler and open kitchen. The atmosphere does not scream gourmet, but it does not matter.The food speaks for itself.
Larry & Carol’s does not have the best pizza in the world, but I think it is quite tasty. The crust is chewy but firm enough to prevent the pizza from falling apart. They put enough sauce on the pizza and create an ideal sauce-cheese-crust ratio. The bubbly melty cheese does not automatically fall off the pizza, an all too common occurrence at other pizza places in my humble opinion. The pizza does not disappoint.
There is a charm to Larry & Carol’s that keeps bringing me back. The pizza tastes good. The ambiance is what one would expect at a pizza shop in South Oakland open until 2:30 in the morning on weekends and 1:30 am Sunday-Wednesday. Disregard the fact that Larry & Carol’s then owner was arrested in August 2013 on twenty-three felony and fourteen misdemeanor drug charges, after which the Allegheny County District Attorney attempted to have the restaurant declared a nuisance property with the goal of shutting it down. Thankfully new owners took over the shop. South Oakland would be an even worse place without it.
