One of the basics in improv is the “YES, and…” response. I can’t tell you how powerful agreement is when follow it with building on the matter at hand. Consider the alternatives “YES, but…” or just plain “No”. These will cut a story short and stall any conversation. Try using “YES, and…” in all your interactions today and see what happens!

As for the pizza? “Yes, and let us never speak of it again.” haha, i’m not a fan the second time around. To each his own…

Today I had another slight change in plans with pizza. I took a break off work solo, headed downtown. A friend told me about about The Onion Pizza on 5th. Then I discovered The Onion…closed on Mondays. Well, I may have another chance Tuesday evening before Improv class…it’s just around the corner from State Theatre. I head a little further up on Congress and find Cozzoli’s Pizza.

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Here’s what I ordered: a Pepperoni Pizza and an “All the Way” pizza with pepperoni, green and black olives, red and green bell peppers, red onions.

I’ll be frank: these pizzas tasted like a slightly better Papa John’s. Slightly. And Papa John’s has the signature Special Garlic Dipping Sauce.Larger slices, sure, but I was unimpressed with the pizzas. These slices were oily, and the glistening at least gave the appearance of a nice greasy pizza. The cheese was actually decent, embedded with dashes of oregano. Dough was charred on the backside more than I like, and gave an overly stiff feel when handling/folding my pizza. Crust was somewhat tough to chew, and lacked flavor. Still, it’s not horrible pizza, but Cozzoli’s cannot get any high marks from me after today’s visit. 

There must be some likeable qualities to Cozzoli’s, since there were several people here eating a casual lunch today. Cozzoli’s offers several italian dishes and subs other than their flagship pizza. I looked at their online menu, and I discovered they have a Chicken Parmesean Sub…just like at the old Aljohn’s Pizza on Oltorf! (sadly closed in 2008). I mention this because Aljohn’s had less-than-spectacular pizza, but a ridiculously delicious Chicken Parmasean sandwich. Could it be the case at Cozzoli’s?…I’ll have to make another visit. I must also mention the two folks who were working the pizzeria today were friendly. The restaurant interior lacks “Austin” character, but that could be a good thing. Feels like a place you stumble upon in NYC.

Long live pizza, friends.