Gracie's Apizza

OBSESSED. 3x in five weeks. If you are reading this drive out of your way now.First the date deal is excellent. Olives, salad, two pies, a bottle of wine, appetrtif and homemade ice cream under $100 in Portland... UNBELIEVABLY AFFORDABLE it is a walk up, open kitchen with the fire visible. The owner is working the line, making pies and the team is cohesive, attentive and friendly. Great servicesThe food though is stand a part. The dough is the best in the US, slightly more rye than sour, perfect chew. Have tried everything now, literally and not been disappointed

This place is a MUST try. The wood fired pizza is delicious, from the crust to the sauce. The Tomato Pie only has Parmesan, no mozz, so it's very light and flavorful. We ordered ahead for takeout because we weren't sure if there was any seating (read that somewhere). But sure enough, it has a charming interior, plenty of tables and even a few out front. The one salad on the menu was fabulous - dressing a little mustardy, so you'll either love it or not. And then a few ice cream flavors to choose from for dessert, including a non-dairy option. So good!

What a lovely little pizza shop! It's full of light and music. Order at the counter and find a seat while you wait. We ordered two pies and a salad for 2, the crust is SO GOOD. We are excited to return to try more of the unique and fresh toppings.

Simple yet nice space. Limited outdoor seating. Inside seating has 3-4 tables that accommodate 4 or more, while the remaining are for two people. Bar seating available.Good pies. Solid ingredients. They only make @ 70 pies a day so maybe give a call before you go if you need a lot of pies. Pies are 4 slices each.

After a 45 minute wait we watched the couple that ordered in line behind us get the exact same order before us. They unsuccessfully attempted to make an excuse. I am a forgiving customer but don't try to make excuses for poor service.Pizza is okay but there others just as good with better service. We won't be back.

Arrived at 630 Friday night. First impression: very noisy. No decor on walls, nothing that said "charming" as other reviews have insisted. Just noisy. This would continue for the next two hours. Be prepared to yell to be heard. Owners, consider some decorative noise-dampening panels to add color and reduce the cacophony.The staff -- very friendly. This is where I give you a star. Everything else downhill from here.Ordered the green salad. Crisp greens, but there's so much going on in the dressing. It had an aftertaste of licking stamps. Even my erstwhile companion who has never met a salad she did not like was not impressed. She commented how the seeds were all stuck to the bottom of the plate in pool of oil. The pizza -- underwhelming. The "daily pie" had a meager amount of white sauce and topping. The dominant topping was greens. Hardly the amazing pizza mentioned in the reviews. So much crust, but so few toppings. Again, my partner lamented and wished for more toppings to balance the crust and greens.The bill, with tip -- $60 for the 10" pizza, salad, and two drinks. This is the most underwhelming meal I've had in years. But, if you bring earplugs and your own charcuterie toppings to salvage the pizza, you might just have a nice time. ‍

Outstanding pizza! The tomato pie seems simple, but is bursting with flavor - that's the beauty of it. The service is friendly and warm, and the ambience is inviting. 10/10 recommend.

The elephant in the room for any pizza place in Portland is Ken's Artisan Pizza, anointed as one of the best pizzas in the world. Ken's is incredible, but it's also an hour + wait most of the time, is always packed to the rafters, and they play Boomer music. Gracie's, on the other hand, is a beautiful little space that I guess others have experienced long wait times for, but I went at 5:30pm on a Saturday and got my order in and a table easily. It was a slight wait for food but super easy going. The room is lovely and unassuming, and I really like that you order at the counter and sit with your number rather than the whole wait service thing. But you're hear for a pizza review. Gracie's pizza is on the smaller side, so you'll probably want to think of it as a personal pizza. The Margherita was really a special pie - the sauce was just how I like it, very tomato-forward, and the dough was incredible, chewy and sour and perfectly salted. A little wheatier than Ken's, which I liked. Really excellent. We also tried the daily which had a grainy, oily sausage on it and it was a little too soggy but still tasty. We also had an incredible summer appetizer of nectarines, tomatoes, some sort of stringy cheese, and basil. The vinaigrette melded it all together (maybe sherry vinegar?) and it was a perfect taste of summer.

Hoooo boy. This place is special. Maybe the best place I've been to in Portland. Maybe the best in my life.Walking in, it's got a great vibe. Empty cans of tomato sauce on the tables. Modern, but not pretentious. Nice bathroom. Window pane showing the kitchen in the back. Not one of those chaotic kitchens. Very clean, spacious and professional looking.My favorite part was probably that, behind the cash register, you can see the big pizza oven and the guy making the pizzas. So cool. They've also got a lady making salads and stuff in the open.The menu is small. Only a handful of items. Which I think is awesome. It points towards a focus on quality.Oh, and tips are included in the prices. When was the last time you saw that? I thought it was great. It's how things work in most of the world outside of America. More importantly in my opinion, is that it demonstrates a deep care for the customers experience, and a prioritization of it over (short term) profit. That sort of thing really gives off good vibes to me, which contributes to the whole experience.Anyway, let's get to the food.My girlfriend and I got a margherita pie, the daily special pie, and special ice cream sundae. It was all incredible.My favorite was the margherita pie. It was so good that I had to get a second one after we finished desert.- The dough was great. Pretty good crispy on the outside and softness on the inside. I would have preferred the crust to have been a little puffier though.- Nice amount of charring. It added a little pop, but only a hint. The right amount.- A little dusting of flour left on it, if that makes sense. I really liked it. Kinda gives a bit of a raw, organic vibe to it.- The non-crust dough had a nice bend to it. It's not one of those pies where you can hold a slice by the crust and it stays straight. Which is usually what you want, I think.- I really, really liked the sourdough flavor it had. Very fun and pleasant. Somehow it comes through mostly as an aftertaste, which is perfect. Like when you take a bite it doesn't distract from the sauce and cheese, but then as you're finishing chewing, those sourdough notes come through.- Moving on to the sauce. It was excellent. Very fresh tasting. Not one of those cooked-all-sunday, sweet, deep, red sauces. No. There's a lot of pizza places with sweeter sauces that I've really liked, but this was not one of them. I've also had spicier red sauces that I've loved, but this wasn't one of them either. It was just a very simple, fresh, high quality, tomato sauce. I don't know what a "fresh" taste actually means, but it doesn't matter: this still tasted fresh. Something with a little acidic pop to it, but not too much. It was good. It cuts through the dough, oil and cheese.- It was very slightly chunky. Tomatoes were probably hand crushed. Personally I prefer sauce to be completely smooth, but this was also fine. Probably added to the experience of freshness.- The cheese was nice. Not your traditional fresh mozzarella. It felt like it had a little bit of tang to it. Maybe mixed in some sort of cheddar? I dunno.- It also had some saltiness. Which was good. The pizza in general had enough salt to bring out all of the flavors, but not really to the point where it tastes salty, which is perfect. I feel like other pizzas tend to be undersalted.- The basil on top was perfectly crisped. Not burnt, not uncooked.The daily special pie was also insanely good. I forget exactly what it had. Something like: pesto, garlic, zucchini, red onions, hot honey, some sort of cheese. I dunno. What I do know is that it was a huge flavor bomb. It smacks you in the face with all of those flavors.The pesto, the roasted garlic comes through. Red onions are cooked but also have a little bit of bite and crunch left in them. The sweetness and heat from that hot honey. Mmm. The sourdough from the dough comes through at the end. I did think that it was a little too sweet overall, but still incredible.The ice cream sundae was awesome.- That burnt honey ice cream was awesome. Creamy, salty, a little sweet, maybe a little savoriness.- The whipped cream or whatever that was on the side was clearly high quality and freshly made. Delicious.- The bread crumbs felt like they were toasted with butter and a bit of salt. Very good. I think they were a little too broken down though. I would have preferred bigger chunks so that you get a little more crunch in the dish for that textural contrast.- The blueberries were pretty good. The warmth was a great contrast to the cold ice cream. However, they weren't excellent. A little mild in flavor. I would have preferred more tartness and sweetness.Prices were incredibly reasonable. I forget exactly, but pies are something like $15-20 including tip and feed one person. For this quality of food, it's 100% a total steal. I'd pay like $50-100 for one of these pies, no joke.Like I said, this place is special and possibly the best place I've ever been to.

From standard cheese and pepperoni to creative hazelnut balsamic reduction. The pizza can please all crowds.If you're a local to St Johns come here before or after you see a movie at twin cinemas.Makes for a cute date night dinner. The atmosphere is very cozy and hip. Great place to get dinner in half an hour. Or you can get a bottle of wine and take you time.