The Roma Pizza Upsell

Tonight I wanted to get some pizza to eat while I watched Envy, one of my Blockbuster movie queue selections (by the way, I am totally loving the $15 Blockbuster monthly movie deal -- it's great not needing to go to the rental store since the movies come in the mail and you can mail them back whenever you want to). I never do take-away pizza by myself and have never gotten pizza here in Nashville, so I wasn't sure where to order it from. Obviously, we have Pizza Hut and Dominoes and Papa John's down here, but I thought it would be more interesting to try something local, even if it was a risk that I might not have a very good pizza.

The only pizza place I could remember seeing in this area was ROMA'S, a place with a big sign on their building (which was why I had noticed it; short name, which is why I remembered it). I am always nervous about ordering over the phone because I feel like I do better if I can see a menu, so I decided to go down there and check it out. The restaurant has a small seating area and looks like it's in a converted pole barn -- pretty low-key. When I drove up, some of the employees were outside on their smoking break, popping skateboard tricks, and listening to music on their car radios. It appeared to be a slow night.

Being a picky eater and "single," I was going basic. I wanted a small pizza with just cheese. The guy at the counter seemed to think this was very unusual, and looked at their large menu board, as if to make me aware of all the options I had before me. I nodded encouragingly and it appeared that things were going to go forward without a hitch. Until another guy came around the corner.

"Did I hear you order a small cheese? No way! You can have a large with two toppings for $2.00 less." To the first guy he said, "Give her a large!" I protested, stating that I was only one person and I couldn't eat a large. "Eat it for breakfast tomorrow, or share it with some friends," he demanded. I explained that I just wanted pizza for tonight, just for me. But it became clear that THAT was not going to happen. Convinced that he had already won the argument about small vs. large (he had?), he warmed up to the toppings dispute, stating how boring it was to have just a cheese pizza, emphatically pointing at all the options on the board. "C'mon! What toppings do you like? You must like something other than cheese!" I conceded that I did like black olives. This seemed to encourage him, and he yelled at his co-worker, pointing at the order pad, "Okay, black olives! That's one! Give me another one!" I asked if they had jalapeno peppers. He raised his eyebrows and nodded, obviously impressed by such a choice. "Yes, we have jalapenos. Do you want a lot or just a few?" So, he's suddenly cautious all of a sudden? I assured him that I could handle whatever he put on there. He beamed, told me it would be 15 minutes, and had his co-worker settle the bill.

When I took the pizza home, the crust was perfect, the sauce was great, but it was the toppings that really brought it home. Thank goodness for the Roma upsell.