For the past month or so, I’ve gotten e-mail reminders from Ronnie Grisanti about the restaurant’s “Half Off Mondays,” so Tony and I decided to stop by. Let me say this up front in case you can’t keep reading: Go to Ronnie Grisanti tonight.
We were more than pleased to find that on Mondays any bottle of wine also sold by the glass is half-off, along with the restaurant’s six different pizzas. Typically, I head right for Ronnie’s pasta, but half-off is a great incentive, so I asked our server to explain the pizza choices.
When she got to the vendura pizza (that’s vegetable in Italian), she also said, “And Ronnie grows all the vegetables in his garden in Collierville.” Really? Who knew that Grisanti’s skill set includes urban gardener and that his home-grown seasonal vegetables are part of the restaurant’s menu mix.
While the vegetable pizza is appealing, we opt for a half and half: Pisana and Lobster. The lobster half is particularly delicious. In addition to the lovely protein, the pie is topped with tomatoes, mozzarella, chopped arugula, and a spicy aioli sauce.
If lobster isn't appealing to you, there are are many other choices ranging on Mondays from $9 to $11. Each pizza is more than enough for two.
In addition to our pie, we ordered a bottle of Baddia Coltibunono, a fresh and fragrant Chianti that our server called “Ronnie’s Red” and the online review of Wine Advocates said has a “feminine style.” I’m not sure about the online description as my husband liked the Chianti just fine.
The total bill for our dinner was $50, but we had a bottle of wine, two salads, garlic bread, house-made gelato, and plenty of pizza to take home. A pizza on Monday plus a bottle of wine can easily come in under $30, a nice figure especially if weekend spending blew your weekday budget.
Ronnie Grisanti, 2855 Poplar (552-3050)
