I tried Small's Pizza at Springdale General this weekend and ended up having a really nice experience. They serve New Haven style pizza, which is extremely thin crust. Think almost cracker-like as opposed to crispy outside/chewy inside like a New York pizza. The tomato sauce had a slightly tangy flavor that worked well with the thin crust.
We ordered a half cheese, half vodka pie. The vodka side is the one with the pepper on it in the picture. Both were really good and kid approved, which is always the real test ;)
You order at the counter, and they take your phone number and text you when your food is ready. We ended up wandering around Springdale General and checking out a few of the little shops while we waited. It was about a 30 minute wait on a Saturday around 6 pm. When we came back to the shared seating area they actually brought the pizza and salad directly to our table even though we didn't have a table number or anything. I'm not sure if that's standard or if they just recognized us from ordering, but it was a really thoughtful touch.
You're eating off paper plates with plastic utensils, so very casual experience. It feels like the kind of place where you could grab takeout or bring kids.
We also ordered the Little Gem salad. It was a good size and easily split between two adults and two kids. I was also impressed with the beer and wine selection. I didn't notice any NA beer in the display case, although the menu mentioned Athletic Lite.
The dining setup at Springdale General is shared with a few other places including a sushi place, The Front Page bar, and Medici Coffee. The space was pretty packed when we went. Both trash stations were completely overflowing. It was honestly a balancing act to get our plates in there. Since it's a shared dining area I don't think that falls directly on Smalls, but whoever manages the space probably needs to keep a closer eye on it.
Also, for a casual place, they didn't offer self-serve soda. They give you plastic cups and you can refill water at a water fountain down the hall by the bathrooms.
I'm giving it 4 out of 5 stars. New Haven style pizza is extremely thin and crisp, and the crust almost eats like a cracker. Personally I still lean toward a New York or New Jersey style with more chew, but I tried to rate this based on the experience and the quality of what they're aiming to do, not my personal preference of New York over New Haven.
Austin already has a lot of great pizza, so I'm not sure how often I'd go back, but I'm glad a place is bringing New Haven style into the mix. read more