Famous Joe's Pizzeria

It was the week between Christmas and New Year’s and we were getting tired of holiday food—turkey, turkey curry, turkey and ham fried rice. So… pizza!
Beardy, Smalls, and I decided on Famous Joe’s Pizzeria on County Line Road in Madison. Apparently, Joe is famous. The restaurant’s Web site lists Joe’s awards and accolades, including being the Guinness world record holder for the highest pizza toss. We arrived at about 6 PM on a Tuesday night, and we didn’t have to wait for a table. Most of the tables were full, but school was out that week, so I don’t know how crowded it would be on a normal weekday night. We got a booth with a booster seat. This was actually Smalls’ first real booster seat experience (instead of a highchair), and it went well. I only jumped to save her once, when I thought she was going to slide under the table. Turns out, she was perfectly secure and not going to slide under the table.
There’s no kid’s menu, and no crayons or anything, so bring your own entertainment. Joe and his staff did provide some entertainment, in the form of pizza dough tossing. Smalls tried to reenact it, throwing her arms up and saying, “Daddy [referring to the male pizza chef], GUP [the sound of something being thrown].” She’s big on reenactments right now, her favorite being a scene that is a combination of her own recent throwing-up experience and a three-year-old cousin starting to choke on something, and his mother making him spit it out. It goes something like this, “Mouth? MOUTH! Chew! Blup, blup, blup. Oh, poor baby.”
We ordered an appetizer of garlic cheese bread (thinking Smalls might like it) and the Emerson pizza. Smalls didn’t eat much of the bread, and none of the pizza. She ate the applesauce and other goodies I brought from home instead. But the Emerson pizza was really good. I’m not up on all the hip pizza trends around the country, so drizzling balsamic glaze on a pizza might be passé, but it’s so good. The pizza was thin crust, but with all the cheese of a thicker pizza. It was just dense with cheese (that might not sound like a good thing, but it is). While I was eating it, I declared it the second best pizza I’ve ever had. The best was at a pizza restaurant in the Borough area of London, and I can’t remember the name of the restaurant, so I may never have it again. But that pizza was so thin, it was almost two-dimensional and it had prosciutto on it.
We also tried two beers from Huntsville breweries: Straight to Ale’s Monkeynaut IPA and Blue Pants Brewery’s Corduroy Rye. The Straight to Ale one was better.
The pizza is not exactly cheap. They range from about $14 to the low $20s. Although the pizza was great, I didn’t leave there with the “Wow, I just got a good deal” feeling I get from Big Ed’s.
Famous Joe’s has a good Web site: http://www.famousjoepizzeria.com/.
Important notes: The restaurant is closed on Sunday. On Mondays, from 5-9 PM, kids eat free! They serve local beer. Toddler friendliness ratings:
Atmosphere: 4.5 out of 5 booster seats. No complaints—the staff was really nice and patient, and the noise level was loud enough that Smalls’ one small tantrum was not too embarrassing.
Food: 3 out of 5 booster seats. There’s no kids’ menu, but pizza and pasta are pretty kid-friendly.