UPDATED Eat Out Reno Review: PFPCo.’s Noble Pie Parlor

What do you do when you’re on a trip and looking for a good place to eat?  I usually turn to blog review or to Urbanspoon (check out Rate the Plate Utah’s Urbanspoon profile) to see what other people are saying about some places nearby.  And that’s exactly what I did when we stayed a night in Reno, Nevada a couple weeks ago.  We turned to my Urbanspoon app on my phone and searched for some “Bargain Gems” that were nearby.  There was a pizza place that was getting rave reviews about a quarter mile from our hotel, so we decided to walk there to check it out.

The listed name of the place was Pie-Face Pizza Co. (PFPCo., for short).  We set out for our walk from our downtown Reno hotel.  And kept walking…the neighborhood got a little shadier as we got farther from our hotel and we started to wonder if we were going in the right direction and if we should turn back.  But just when we were about to head back, we saw the sign, but it also said “Noble Pie” on the window, too.  We learned that because of a dispute over the name, they recently changed their name to Noble Pie Parlor. 

Noble Pie Parlor is located in the historic El Cortez Hotel, which has a fabulous history, and uses Nevada’s oldest continuously-operating kitchen.  The place has a quaint, local feel to it.  We took our little diners in to eat there and they were welcome, but it has more of a pub or sports bar feeling to it and there’s no kids menu.  It’s a small joint, too, and features local art on the walls.

They sell pizzas by the pie or by the slice, in addition to salads, wings, fries, & stromboli.  The specialty pizzas and stromboli sounded fabulous with unique ingredients, which they say are of the highest quality and locally-sourced when possible.  They also make as much as possible from scratch right there all the way down to their dressings.  I’m a big fan of that!

Mr. Diner ordered pizza by the slice ($3.50 plus toppings, cheese already included) with their hand-crafted sausage, green onions, & pine nuts.  The pizza had a thin crust that was really good and a layer of sauce that wasn’t overwhelming to the thin sauce.  The green onions were thinly sliced, which I thought was excellent for a pizza.  The sausage was also really good. 

I wanted to order a slice of specialty pizza, but they only sell those by the whole pie.  So I turned to the stromboli menu and wanted to order their Fig Me?  Fig You! stromboli (peppered turkey, brie, pecorino, golden raisins, fig chutney, granny smith apples, spring mix, red onion, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, & mayonnaise…sounds unique, right?), but they were sold out.  So I asked for the Brick House Classic stromboli (capicola, pepperoni, sopressata, prosciutto, ham, goat cheese, provolone, marinated artichoke hearts, basil, grape tomatoes, onion, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mayonnaise, & sun-dried tomato spread), but that was not available, either.  Finally, I found one I could order: The Yonker.  To be fair, the stromboli menu does say “limited supply,” but still…

The Yonker  ($8.00) has rotisserie chicken, pepperoni, havarti,  & red onion “melted together,” then “topped with” spring mix, grape tomato, pesto mayonnaise, & BBQ sauce.  Sounded good, but when my stromboli had been delivered (well after everyone’s pizza had been delivered and almost completely devoured), I was a bit disappointed.  The stromboli is served with a side salad or chips (I chose the salad) and a pickle.  The side salad was excellent with grape tomatoes, red onion, & olives over fresh, dark greens with an excellent balsamic dressing…loved it!  The pickle was pretty typical.  But the main event, the stromboli, was weak.  It had all the ingredients that were supposed to be “melted together”, but I didn’t see any of the “topped with” ingredients…no spring mix or grape tomatoes (except in my salad) and no trace of the pesto mayonnaise or BBQ sauce.  Those were what I think would have made this stromboli good, but they were non-existent.  The outside bread-like layer was more like a thin wrap.  I would have asked about it, but since everyone else was done with their food, I didn’t want to make them wait any longer. 

The little diners ordered slices of pizza topped with pepperoni.  These slices are nice and big…easy to share if you so desire.  Seriously, the pictures don’t do the slices justice…they were literally wider than Sweet Diner’s entire head!  They enjoyed them.  Little Diner ate almost a whole piece, himself…and that’s saying something!  I snuck a bite and found the pepperoni to be excellent and the pleasant flavor of the sauce really came through on the pepperoni slices. 

If you decide to go to Noble Pie Parlor, I’d recommend sticking to the pizza.  The ingredients are good, but the place wasn’t the best for families, so we probably wouldn’t go back.  We weren’t as impressed as most of the reviewers.  You can also get take-out or have pizza to delivered within a limited area.  Noble Pie features daily, weekly, & monthly specials, too.

Updated 5/3/2013:  Noble Pie Parlor does have small kids-size sodas with lids available upon request.  They will also cut a slice of pizza in half to make it easier to handle.  The spring mix has been removed from The Yonker stromboli and all other toppings are included inside the stromboli.

Entrée Price:  $
Average Fork Rating:  3.2
Mr. Diner:  3
Mrs. Diner:  4
Amazing Diner:  3
Sweet Diner:  2
Little Diner:  4