Joe Momma's: Pizza joint draws crowds with delicious speciality pies
BY SCOTT CHERRY World Restaurant Critic
Thursday, November 08, 2012
3/28/13 at 7:59 AM
We settled in behind our table on a church pew that sat beneath old warehouse doors and brick walls at Joe Momma's pizza restaurant in the Blue Dome District.
It had been four years since we made a "working" visit to Joe Momma's and four years since Blake Ewing moved his pizzeria from a plain Jane south Tulsa location to the super-cool remodeled old building downtown.
Even though we had about a 30-minute wait for a table, on this particular night it felt good to be in a loud, happy atmosphere among families and couples of all ages, with the brick oven firing up pizza after pizza and servers flying about every which way. Chaos can be comforting.
Joe Momma's was releasing a menu with a few new items, but we stuck to three of the signature pizzas - the Oklahoman ($11.95), Golden Driller ($12.95) and Betty White ($11.95) - and a chicken bacon ranch sandwich ($9.50) with potato wedges.
We ordered small pizzas. They were plentiful and about as different as they could be.
The Oklahoman was topped with a spicy barbecue sauce, marinated pulled pork, pieces of hot link that added a spiciness to the flavor, red onion and a sprinkle of cheddar cheese. The Golden Driller had garlic Alfredo sauce, diced Roma tomatoes, mushrooms, grilled chicken, pine nuts, roasted garlic and cheddar cheese sprinkles, and the Betty White was covered in Alfredo sauce, Roma tomatoes, feta cheese, mozzarella cheese and crushed black pepper. Each was delicious.
"The specialty pizzas drive the business," Ewing, who also serves as a city councilor, told us during an interview a few days later.
He is particularly fond of the Nathan's Unlikely Marriage, a wild affair with Buffalo ranch sauce, Buffalo chicken, bacon, Roma tomatoes, jalapeno peppers and cheddar sprinkles topped with a ranch swirl. Ewing said it's a long story, but the name has to do with a former employee who fell in love over the phone with a young lady in the Philippines and their subsequent marriage.
Pizzas range from $9.95 to $20.95 depending on style and size.
New items on the just-released menu include a Thai chicken pizza and a Route 66 spicy barbecue pizza.
Before our pizzas arrived, we also shared an order of Marshall mushrooms ($8.95), tasty button mushrooms that had been lightly breaded in batter made with locally brewed Marshall beer and fried to a golden brown. They came with a ranch dipping sauce.
Joe Momma's also has a variety of salads, calzones, sandwiches and brick-oven pasta dishes to go with the pizzas.
A good variety of beers highlight the beverage list.
Joe Momma's specials include 50-cent wings, Monday; $5 single-topping pizzas, Tuesday; Trivia Night, Thursday, the latter benefiting mostly nonprofit groups; and 10 percent off with church bulletin, Sunday.
The dining room has a mish-mash of tables and chairs, and tables are covered with white cloths under white butcher paper.
Among Ewing's other businesses is Back Alley Blues & BBQ downtown. He said he expects to open Phoenix Coffee House on Sixth Street and Archer Market, a downtown grocery with chef-prepared takeout, before the first of the year.
Tiffany Oliver is general manager for Blue Ox Dining Group, the umbrella company for Ewing's enterprises. Joe Dufresne is kitchen manager at Joe Momma's.
JOE MOMMA’S PIZZA
112 S. Elgin Ave.
918-794-6563
Food: 
Atmosphere: 
Service:
(on a scale of 0 to
4 stars)
11 a.m. to midnight
Monday-Thursday,
11 a.m. to 3 a.m.
Friday-Saturday,
11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Sunday; accepts
all major credit
cards.
Original Print Headline: Esteemed pizza
Scott Cherry 918-581-8463
scott.cherry@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Kitchen manager Joe Dufresne tosses pizza dough. STEPHEN PINGRY / Tulsa World
A pizza goes into the brick oven at Joe Momma's. STEPHEN PINGRY / Tulsa World
The well-stocked bar offers a good variety of beers and a few wines. STEPHEN PINGRY / Tulsa World
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