Dining and drinking review: Abella Pizzeria

Abella Pizzeria is located at 1946 Pacific Ave.

Review and photos by Kurt Kwon

The growing number of restaurants within walking distance of the Esplanade has made dining out fun and easy. However, there are some days when you don't even want to venture out a few blocks because of a tough day at work, poor weather, or just pure laziness. What has been lacking in Tacoma are restaurants that deliver. What has been lacking even more is pizza delivery. I've seen many of you order Domino's and Pizza Hut...but come on folks you can hardly call that pizza! 

Abella is a local, established pizza joint on Pacific that caters to the student crowd during the day, offering pizza by the slice. Abella has quite an assortment of items for your pleasure. From pizza to calzones and pasta to salads, there's sure to be a choice for you. My favorite by far is the Abella Special, which has pepperoni, sausage, onions, mushrooms, black olives, and fresh garlic. The fresh garlic really finished off the pizza nicely. The sauce is just right, not overbearing and not underwhelming. At first I didn't care for the crust as it tasted a bit cardboard-like. But I kept giving them more opportunities and the crust became "not bad." I've only ordered the hand tossed crust, but you can order a thin crust. Gluten free crust is also available for an additional charge. 

My favorites have been the Abella Special, BBQ Chicken, and Margherita. The calzone was pretty good too - very similar to a pizza but rolled into a calzone. Certainly not the best calzone I've had, but it did the trick when I wasn't in the mood for a pizza. Surprisingly, the unsung hero of their food is the salad, specifically the Antipasta Salad, which includes tomatoes, black olives, ham, salami, pepperoni, bacon bits, mozzarella, pepperoncini and a house made dressing. The house made dressing makes the salad, and is well worth the extra order.

Abella is very inexpensive overall. They fit the bill if you're looking for something better than Domino's but don't want to pay the price of Elemental Pizza. So next time you're feeling lazy like me, give Abella a try - they deliver! And remember...don't put your pizza boxes down the garbage chute!

Abella's phone number is (253) 779-0769, and their menu can be viewed HERE.