Quick, what’s the food most-loved by college students, broke 20-somethings, and those with a propensity for setting the kitchen on fire? A good pizza, but sometimes it seems like we get limited to the big chain, 30 minutes or less, pizza delivery places that have all their ads and marketing schemes targeted at college students. 

A ten dollar pizza is great! In theory...until it tastes like cardboard. But for those of us here at CofC we lucked out, (as we have with food in general) and have a few really good places to get a slice (or a whole pie) pretty much whenever we want. My two favorites have been Sabatino’s and Mellow Mushroom since I came here as a freshman, and I don’t see that changing.

Okay, before anyone jumps down my throat on this one, yes, I know Mellow Mushroom is a chain, and normally I wouldn’t put a chain restaurant on my list of favorites but y’all, that crust! Come on. 

I know there are some hard-core Andolini’s fans that are still mourning over the closing of the downtown location. I get it, but unlike dear old Sab’s, there’s always their Sam Rittenberg location. If that’s the only pizza you like then feel free to disregard the rest of this article. If you’re disinclined to drive off the peninsula to get pizza then please, by all means, continue.

Now that that’s settled, why two places? Why wouldn’t I pick my absolute favorite pizza place and just tell y’all about that? Because it’s not that easy. I find myself in the mood for one place or another in different circumstances. But the good thing with these two is that you’re almost always guaranteed a great slice of pizza. 

Mellow Mushroom is a sit-down place for dinner with your friends or family. There are great booths downstairs, and an awesome bar and deck upstairs with plenty of space to relax and catch up. The pizza’s also range from about $13 for a small specialty pizza to $25 for a large. There’s also a make your own pizza option, which, done carefully, can definitely save you some money. But all in all, it’s definitely the place you go if you want something other than the standard slice of pepperoni. 

Now, as for Sabatinos. Take Mellow Mushrooms booths, bar and deck, plastic plates, and metal cutlery, and forget about it. Sabatino’s is a small place on Calhoun St with seating for oh, maybe twelve people at a time. Trust me, I’ve gone in there planning to eat-in, only to realize that I needed to get my food to go if I wanted to sit down somewhere to eat. 

Slices are served in paper plates, fountain drinks are in styrofoam cups, and oh yeah, you get to watch every step of the pizza-making process. Get ready to see some dough spinning in the air. And the prices? You can get two slices of pepperoni pizza and a fountain drink for about $10...and trust me that ends up being about the same amount of food as one of Mellow’s small pizzas by itself. 

Both Mellow Mushroom and Sabatinos have great pizza at some pretty good prices, and they’re both so close to campus that it’s hard to pass up either one of these in favor of cardboard delivery. 

In case y’all needed more convincing, or just don’t trust a girl from South Carolina to know good pizza, I asked a friend from New York and she even said that while it was a tough call, those were the two best places on the peninsula, so don’t just take my word for it!