The pizzas are coming! The pizzas are coming!

“It’s the small bars that have taken the hit,” says Tavern owner Jim Driscoll.  

So Paul Revere’s went big — Big Applebig. Through a fellow barkeep, Driscoll got his hands on an authenticrecipe for New York-style pizza.  

“I’d thought about doing pizza for a long time,” Driscollsays. With business falling after the ban, Driscoll bought a pizza oven(for the price of a small mortgage) and set his sights on makingsomething unique.

Last year he started giving out samples to regulars. The pizza was a hit, but Driscoll says he knew he was reallyon to something when a native New Yorker, in town on business, told himit was the best pie he’d had outside of the big city.

A good New York-style pizza should be built to be heldwith three fingers: forefinger on top, pinching down with thumb andmiddle underneath, folding up the sides of large slices into a U-shape,toppings sliding down off the point as steam curls upward. 

That’s what you get at Paul Revere’s, and what really makes the pizza great is the homemade crust.

Thin and crisp on the bottom without being crackery, softas a bed just a few millimeters above where the slightly sweet sauceresides, it’s a crust as good as you’ll find in the area. A healthysprinkling of corn meal underneath adds both a rustic texture and atouch of flavor.

Driscoll is understandably proud of his pizza. “Anyone who’s had one comes back for more,” he says.    

Call (517) 332-6960, or visit paulreverestavern.com.

Pii Lani finds a new home

Hungry for half the world?  PiiLani, the mononymous caterer and restaurateur with a Hawaiian heritage,is serving up fried chicken, a Mexican menu and plenty of south Pacificfavorites at her new location adjacent to the Marathon gas station atSaginaw and Pine streets.

Pii Lani saw her Aloha Piilani cateringbusiness also take a hiatus when her buffet-oriented restaurant inOkemos folded earlier this year. But all gears are spinning once again.

Two months into her new gig,  PiiLani is relying on fried chicken, breakfast burritos and potato wedgesto pay the bills, but still gets the occasional request for Hawaiianfavorites like musabe, a special-order sandwich that consists ofJapanese rice, Spam and seaweed.

Kalua pulled pork is still on the menu, too, in the form of a one-pound Hawaiian rice bowl ($4.50).  Other island-inspired options include pulled pork and cabbage, pineapple chicken and curry coconut chicken.

Pii Lani says she hopes to draw morecatering business with a location closer to downtown Lansing. She saysher pizza logs are perfect for informal corporate lunches, and shehopes to be putting together boxed lunches for similar crowds in thenear future, too.

“Everything we make is homemade,” says Pii Lani.  “I love doing what I do.

Call (517) 485-8808.

Southern Grill heats up in REO Town

REO Town is cooking in the morning.  TheSouthern Grill opened last month at 1107 S. Washington Ave., inLansing’s resilient neighborhood just south of the downtown businessdistrict, and owner Tyson Guillen says his new enterprise has been aneducation.

You see, Guillen works full time as apress operator for a local manufacturer, so the restaurant business isall a bit new to him. Undeterred, he’s leapt right into an opportunitythat he says he hopes could turn into a full-time gig in and of itself.

Like his blue-collar night job,Guillen’s Southern Grill is anything but pretentious: grits, eggs,sausage gravy and pigs in a blanket all have spots on the menu.  

Burgers are perhaps his biggest seller, and the Southern Grill makes each patty by hand and cooks them to order.  Olive burgers ($6.49 with fries) have been a surprise hit.

“I don’t even like olives, so I wasn’teven going to put it on the menu,” Guillen says. But demand is apersuasive argument in the world of business, so on the menu the oliveburgers went.

Breakfast is served open to close, andburgers, chicken wings, pork chops, meatloaf, Coney dogs and catfishare among the options for lunch. While the menu is still beingadjusted, Guillen says almost everything is homemade, including soupsand chili.

The Southern Grill is laid back, the kind of place a regular hears a hearty “there he is!” when stepping through the door.  

Like any diner with a small-town feel, chatting with the staff is fun, if not veritably mandatory.  

Ask Guillen’s cook (and brother-in-law), WayneHutchinson, why someone should visit the Southern Grill, and, alongwith a robust laugh, he’ll tell you what he told me: “I’m the baddestcook in Michigan.”  

Call (517) 574-5853.