Elegant space kicks up ambience of eating pizza

LITTLE ROCK — This is a pizza place?

We imagine that would be the reaction of first-time diners at 5524 John F. Kennedy Blvd., the proud restored North Little Rock home that was the former site of Aydelotte's fine dining restaurant and now accommodates another restaurant owned by Judy Waller - U.S. Pizza Co.

Gone are the cloth tablecloths (replaced by vinyl), the fancier food and the upscale prices. But Aydelotte's interior elegance - oil paintings, fireplaces and French doors, fake plants, iron wall decorations and wooden pillars - remains. All this lends a stylish counterpoint to a restaurant that now serves pies, salads, sandwiches and appetizers with names like Stuffy Stix (breadsticks with cheese and choice of topping). An inviting patio features a fountain for atmosphere, umbrellas for summer shade and a fireplace for fall nights.

Another Aydelotte's holdover is private club status that allows the restaurant, with a substantial bar, to serve alcohol in a dry section of North Little Rock. Membership, which is free and just a matter of paperwork, is required of diners. (Although when we dined, no one mentioned membership; we were signed up after we inquired about it whileeating during a second visit.)

Anyone who figured perhaps there were already enough pizza places in the neighborhood - with Pizza Hut, American Pie, Papa John's, Larry's Pizza, and Cici's, not to mention two other North Little Rock U.S. Pizza locations nearby - figured wrong, judging by filled tables of casually dressed diners, some with children, on weekend nights and Sunday afternoons.

U.S. Pizza specializes in creative and conventional pizzas, divided into Traditional, Waller Family, Veggie Style and Meat Style. One can stick with simple, ordering a basic cheese pizza ($8.29 10-inch, $10.29 13-inch) and add a safe topping ($1.15) or two.

Or one can order something more adventurous like Trey's Chloroplast Blast (featuring sausage, Anaheim peppers, broccoli, zucchini, bell peppers, jalapenos, spicy tomatoes, crushed red pepper, chili powder, tomato sauce and cheese; ($13.49 10-inch, $16.49 13-inch) and add extras as diverse as sun-dried tomatoes and corned beef.

Expect pies, baked in stonehearth ovens ("please allow 30 minutes from time of order"), to come thick with toppings and thin in crackery crust. A Meatza Pizza ($12.99 10-inch, $15.99 13-inch), featuring beef, sausage, Canadian bacon, pepperoni and cheese, was macho in heft and flavor. It could have used more tomato sauce; in fairness, though, where would they have put it?

A lighter selection was the Queen Margarita ($12.69 10-inch, $15.69 13-inch), topped with sliced tomatoes, olive oil,Alfredo sauce, feta, mozzarella and parmesan; we're not sure we detected the taste of basil or salsa verde listed on the menu. The flavor was a bit too bitey and the surface a bit too slick for our liking.

The best pizza we tried was Gracie's Creamy Italian Chicken ($12.49 10-inch, $15.49 13-inch), heaped with a harmonious blend of grilled fajita chicken, chopped onions, mushrooms, creamy Italian dressing, mozzarella and parmesan.

The menu also features a dozen sandwiches in half and whole sizes ($4.39-$8.99) that come with a choice of breads and dressings and are served with a pickle spear and bag of Lay's potato chips. One significant quarter of our decent but temporarily dry Turkey, Swiss, Bacon and Guacamole - the guac - was left off a sandwich that also had lettuce and sliced tomato. Our friendly server returned with a generous separate scoop of the chunky avocado spread.

We've always been a fan of U.S. Pizza's salads. That's probably because they're less about salad and more about meat, cheese, black olives and bacon bits - at least in the case of the Salad Supreme ($5.29 small, $7.29) that comes with turkey, ham or chicken and also has onions, green peppers, canned mushrooms, oh, and lettuce.

And salads are about the signature creamy Italian dressing, which is popular enough to be served as an appetizer with Lay's potato chips ($5.99). Other starters include a bowl of smooth, slightly spicy Judy's White Cheese Dip ($7.29), served with salty round tortilla chips, and the Bread Sticks ($2.79 two, $5.29 four), brushed with garlic butter, baked with mozzarella cheese and served with tomato sauce.

Dessert choices (70 cents-$3.79) include cookies, cinnamon bread sticks, root beer floats and Cookies & Cream (cookies filled with ice cream, glazed with vanilla icing).

U.S. Pizza Co.

Address: 5524 John F. Kennedy Blvd., North Little Rock (other locations in North Little Rock, Little Rock, Maumelle and Fayetteville) Hours: 10:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 10:30-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday Cuisine: Pizza, salads, sandwiches Credit cards: V, MC, AE, D Alcoholic beverages: Full bar Wheelchair accessible: Yes Carryout: Yes (501) 975-5524, uspizzaco.net

Weekend, Pages 33, 40 on 06/11/2009