Review: 40 North - Austin, TX

When I arrived in Austin's Hill Country suburbs in 2019, I quickly discovered the surprisingly great pizzerias near me like Pizzeria Sorellina, Pieous, Casa Nostra, 'Zza, and Toss. I had already experienced many of the top-line Austin pizza joints, like Via 313, Home Slice, and Salvation. Then, right before the pandemic, my barber alerted me to a place in Austin that makes great versions of both pizza and hamburgers.

He told me that the pizza was wonderful, but the burger might have been the best he'd ever eaten. That was all I needed to hear, and I found the time to make a trip to 40 North to find out. It was very difficult for a pizza guy like me to order the burger instead of the pizza, but I felt that I can easily get a solid Neapolitan pizza any time, so let's go for the burger.

It was almost three years ago, but I have a distinct memory of just how luscious that burger was. Naturally, it had a lovely high-quality seeded soft roll, but the meat was especially tasty and the texture was other worldly. I typically prefer a well-charred hamburger that has a serious al dente chewiness, but this was lush. 

My burger at 40 North

It was, at that moment, perhaps the best hamburger I'd ever had. More recently, we traveled further out in the Hill Country to Luckenbach Texas to see why Willie and Waylon were so keen on this tiny speck of a town. (I recommend an afternoon there if you're in the region). We met a colorful drunk/high local there who counseled us to visit Alamo Springs Cafe just outside Fredericksburg. 

The Burger at Alamo Springs, egg-topped

We took his advice (and saw him there later). At this lovely place in the middle of nowhere, the burger was indeed a revelation. I'd love to do a side-by-side comparison of the 40 North burger and the Alamo Springs burger, because they are not just the best burgers I've had in Texas, but the best anywhere since Rossi's Cafe moved from Trenton's Chambersburg section out to the Jersey suburbs.

The kale salad

Anyhow, let's talk about pizza! On another triple digit day in a relentlessly hot Texas summer, we made a trek to 40 North and arrived between the lunch and dinner crowds. Conveniently for suburbanites, 40 North has its own small parking lot behind the restaurant, and we even found a shady spot under an old oak tree.

The Margherita

The interior space was cozy and comfortable, and it looks like it was built as a home, not a restaurant. We were greeted at the counter, where you order first and then find a seat. We chose to split a kale salad (massaged kale, shallot, hazelnut, pecorino romano, dried cherry, apple, gorgonzola piccante, hazelnut vinaigrette - $12.40), and then ordered a straight-up Margherita (the best way to evaluate a Neapolitan pizzaiolo) and the "Barbe" (tomato sauce, mozzarella, grana padano, calabrian chili, red onion, basil, salumeria biellese coppa, house sausage - $19.40).

The Barbe

The salad was beautiful to look at and generously sized for sharing. All of it was delicious, and the toasted hazelnuts really popped. Because Neapolitan pizzas generally cook in 2 minutes or less, at some pizzerias the pies arrive quickly, even too quickly if you're having a salad or appetizer. But here, they were thoughtfully timed to come out (simultaneously) after the salad plates were cleared.

Both pizzas were beautiful, showing a deep red sauce and a classic leopard spotted puffy cornicione. These 12" pizzas seemed generously sized, perhaps too much for one person to eat a whole pie as you might expect with a traditional Neapolitan pizza.

Perfect char underneath

I began with a slice of the Barbe pizza. It was wet at the center, which happily didn't extend beyond the first bite of each slice. It was deeply flavored, with layers of umami and different textures. The coppa was applied in thin but boldly large slices, each of which had cooked like bacon to a chewy crisp while releasing flavor into the pizza. Each bite was quite spicy, and overall this was a genuine flavor bomb. Its "sum is greater than the parts" character was borne out by the fact that you wouldn't want to add anything to it, not red pepper flakes, garlic powder, or other toppings that folks rely on to give spark to ordinary pizza.

Puffy cornicione

The Margherita, beautiful in its simplicity, seemed like it would taste tame after that robust slice of the Barbe pizza. But in fact, it was better, and it reinforced a feature of Neapolitan pizza, that the "plain" Margherita is often the best choice; it's a perfect marriage of dough, sauce, and fresh mozzarella, garnished with fresh basil. Other than the damp center, this was a nearly perfect pizza.

Our server and the dining room

We had a little bit left over from each pizza, and a few days later I reheated the slices (in a frying pan, following the helpful directions on the takeout box). I was delighted that the pizza was as good, perhaps even better than right out of the oven. By heating the individual slices, the dry heat was able to cook off the excess moisture, and add a bit of crispy crunch to the bottom of that delectably chewy crust.

Bottom line - 40 North has served me one of the best burgers in my life, and also some expertly crafted Neapolitan Pizza. That's the good news. The bad news is that this version of 40 North - at 900 West 10th Street - announced that the last day of business there would be on October 9, 2022, at the close of its lease. 

Pizzaiolo Clint Elmore has indicated that the 40 North brand may continue, but in the form of pop-ups or special events for a while as he figures out the next best opportunity. His business partner Taslim Jamal added that "It’s not goodbye, it’s see you later." If you're reading this before the closing date, get there soon!