2045 SE Division St. 503-764-9786
www.pizzicatopizza.com
Range: Salads, $4 - $12 Panini, $6 - $7 12” Pizza, $13 - $20
Hours: 11:00 am – 9:00 pm daily
Seven Corners is home to an array of eco-conscious businesses, and popular pizzeria Pizzicato is the newest face on the block. With “recycle, repurpose, and reuse” as their mantra, Pizzicato has created a sleek and charming restaurant in this busy neighborhood.
Pizzicato, born as a “hole in the wall” 20 years ago, has become one of Portland’s most well-known pizzeria chains. In the last two decades, they’ve grown to 14 locations Portland-wide, plus franchise locations up and down the West Coast.
The Seven Corners location marks a new trend for this family-owned business: building a new restaurant from reclaimed materials. Almost everything at Pizzicato – the equipment, the décor, the furniture – comes from used or found resources.
The first thing to catch your eye might be the pennies – more than 10,000 of them! – that “tile” the front counter. Other high-style decorations include the tomato-can light fixtures and the wine-bottle bottoms used as vases. Counter stools were cut from discarded Douglas Fir beams, and the chairs were rescued from another restaurant’s scrap heap.
Pizza-wise, Seven Corners Pizzicato offers gourmet pizzas they’ve been serving in Portland since 1989. They cover the basics (pepperoni, Canadian bacon) early in the menu, and then get down to the more nouveau combinations they’re famous for, such as roasted-potato-and-prosciutto pizza, and a wild mushroom pie with chevré and roasted peppers. They also serve a selection of gourmet salads, and panini on homemade bread.
Vegetarians will feel at home here, with veggie (and vegan) pizza, panini and salad options. Omnivores, too, find plenty to choose from; find pizzas with chicken, shrimp or sausage; an albacore tuna panini; or a traditional meatball sandwich.
Noontime diners appreciate the “slice, salad and soda” lunch special for $6. Whole pizzas come in three sizes, as do salads, so you can pick a meal of any scale. Pizzicato also serves beer, wine, and a selection of sodas and juices.
In addition to being dedicated to green principles, Pizzicato’s owners wanted to be sensitive to the values of this Southeast neighborhood when designing their pizzeria. This stylish restaurant is sign of the times – and another big change since the days when this corner was dominated by the Ladd Wholesale Meat Co.
