Coming in just ahead of, “Good God, how much weight have you gained?” and well behind, “Can I get a free meal some time?” the second-most frequently asked question of a casual dining writer is: “How do you pick where to go and eat?”
Certainly there is a bias toward new and/or quirky places, non-chains and spots with big-honking portions, like pillow-sized pierogi, pizzas with the radius of an old satellite dish or jumbo wings that burn hotter than the great Liberty Bridge Fire of 2016.
But sometimes it’s simply a matter of a place having good food and a nice little back story.
That’s the case at Yoli’s Pizza in Jefferson Hills, which is a modest little shop in as odd a location as one could conjure: on a windy road deep in a wooded suburban hollow, between a creek and railroad tracks, downwind of a sewage treatment plant, tucked onto the side of a storage unit facility, with zero foot traffic and an address that Google Maps can’t properly locate because there is a similar street name that’s one letter off a few miles away (learned from experience).
It’s an unlikely spot, but it’s where Ben Bartilson made a bet on himself to follow a dream. With a background in restaurants but a career in industrial sales that by his admission he “hated,” Mr. Bartilson bought an old pizza shop, which despite a seemingly terrible location, is near to a few large employers and some new subdivisions that are otherwise lacking for decent takeout options.
So Yoli's Pizza, named for his grandmother (“Yoli” is a short for Yolanda,) opened in January, and though the family matriarch passed eight years ago, her spirit lives on in the place, along with some of her recipes.
Their motto is “We feed you like family” and after a glance at the wall in the small dining room, it’s hard not to hope that’s true. A photo collage of Mr. Bartilson’s extended family, and Yoli, that despite being in black and white, exudes such warmth it makes one wish for an invite to one of their family reunions. Mr. Bartilson is a natural host with an elephant’s memory (I’d made one brief visit, over six months ago to scout the place and he instantly recalled my otherwise unremarkable mug and exactly what I ordered).
The signature sauce on pizzas, pastas and numerous sandwiches and sides is from his gram’s “Sunday” sauce recipe. Mr. Bartilson tells the story of how Yoli would start the sauce early Sunday morning before the entire family headed to Mass. They'd come home and practically fight each other off to devour it with bread long before the pasta was made.
A cute story. But that’s all it is if the taste isn’t there. Fortunately, Mr. Bartilson does Yoli proud. The Sunday sauce is a hearty, rich and chunky tomato sauce, with ample garlic, peppers, and cheese and was excellent with a plate of the house meatballs ($6) — Mr. Bartilson’s mother’s recipe this time.
An order of bucatini with the Sunday sauce and hot sausage was immense, enough to feed several people alone ($9). A dozen baked sandwiches and hoagies are also on the menu ($6-10).
There are 15 varieties of specialty red and white pizzas from the pork laden Notorious PIG — paprika bacon, capicola, sweet sausage and hot soppressata — to one dedicated to the Pirates’ pierogi racers. Topped with mashed potatoes (for Potato Pete), cheddar (Cheese Chester), caramelized onion (Oliver Onion), paprika bacon (Bacon Bert) and fresh jalapenos (Jalapeno Hannah), the Great Pittsburgh Pierogie Pie is worthy of a column itself someday.
Instead our choice was the “The Heater.” Topped with a spicy arrabiata sauce, hot and andouille sausages, hot soppressata, capicola, fresh banana peppers and jalapenos, and a habanero ranch drizzle ($22 for a 12-cut large), this was a very good pie. Flavorful, spicy but not face melting, crisp peppers, quality meats and a nice crust.
It’s a BYOB spot, and here’s a tip: Bring a corkscrew with your wine. We forgot one and the staff couldn’t find one either, so they improvised with a cordless drill, a screw and a pair of pliers (really).
That kind of extra effort truly is feeding you like family.
Yoli’s Pizza: 1216 Cochrans Mill Road, Jefferson Hills; 412-655-9654; facebook.com/YolisPizzaLLC.
Dan Gigler: dgigler@post-gazette.com; Twitter @gigs412.
First Published: September 15, 2016, 4:00 a.m.