Half Time Pizza is not Myles Pizza.
But it is not not Myles Pizza.
Bold, savory, carbon-rich spicy sauce; not a deep-dish pan-pizza but a well-done heavy crust with a cartoonish weight; it is high praise to say Half Time is the new Myles.
For anyone who walked into Myles at anytime during its 39 years anchoring Bowling Green State University’s campus, the smell will be instantaneously recognizable.
★★★★
Address: 7702 W Bancroft St.
Phone: (419) 517-2190
Category: Carryout, Online Third Party Delivery
Menu: Pizza, Subs
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10:30 a.m. - 10 p.m., Sunday 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., closed Monday
Wheelchair access: Yes
Average Price: $$-$$$
Credit cards: AE, MC, V, D
Website: facebook.com/HalfTimePizza419
And so will the dense pie with its mountain range of cheese burying the “toppings” (16-inch pepperoni $19.50). And the crunchy Cheesy Garlic Bread (large $9) with a river of mozzarella defying all sensibility by running through its center. And the meatball sub (small $7, large $10) with its crackled edges pressed flat. And all well-done by default.
Half Time’s flavor is like a little time machine to Myles in each bite.
The old Myles Pizza was an extra cheese-stuffed college legend that closed in 2016. And there is a new place in its location at 516 E. Wooster Street called Pizza Pub 516 with a very similar, fine pizza. Owner Chip Myles loved the place, but was simply ready to live elsewhere and moved, with his original name and product, to Greenville, S.C., where you can get it today if you wish to make the 10-hour drive.
But a manager for decades at Myles named Abe Valley opened Half Time Pizza in a converted house next to Ventura’s on far West Bancroft St. in January of this year — a tough time on the calendar to open any business, but this hearty pie already has a hearty following because its legend is built into the fabric of existence in northwest Ohio.
On several trips, there were lines for picking up and the late high school/early college-aged staff hustled to barely keep up. And it is a newish place, and those employees only have the experience level they have in the world, so ... sometimes there is an air of confusion.
Just like college!
But they are working hard, and seem to be having fun. Also just like college!
Half Time’s Facebook page winks at this phenomenon with a line saying, “We welcome all compliments and suggestions, just don't cuss at us ;)”
In this vein, we found out quite by accident there are gluten-free crust options available. The buttery toppings and salty caramelized cheese render it practically non-existent, but it is there. And it was pretty good on a 9-inch Chicken and Pesto ($14.50).
A taco-style pizza called only “Mexico” (9-inch, $14.50) also delighted if you are looking to wander off the traditional path.
The “Big-Timer” is your classic supreme-style pizza and the 16-inch at $32 felt like it was enough to feed, conservatively, 100 people. It was easily the heaviest pizza any of the diners had ever picked up in a box, and one had long experience in Chicago.
Right on cue, a Chicago Style Shaved Beef Sub and the Italian Sub each would hold their own in the Second City. And again, the large of each at $10 will overfeed two people. So will a small Tomato Cheese Bread with bacon and feta added ($6). Half Time makes its bacon in house and it made this appetizer a decadent kind of open faced BLT with no “L.”
Just like Half Time Pizza, because it is a “W.”
First Published June 24, 2020, 11:32 p.m.