Panjo's Pizza

Panjo’s Pizza Parlor in Corpus Christi Is the Place That Time Forgot | Bon Appétit

"A family-run pizzeria established in 1964 in Corpus Christi, Texas, that feels like a lovingly preserved relic: low-lit, with long lacquered picnic benches, red-and-white cinderblock walls and a mustard-yellow wall spray-painted with a fan’s declaration. The mom-and-pop owners and their eight daughters keep a festive, noisy atmosphere—birthday parties, graduations, weekend sports fans, beachgoers in sandals, ranchers in Stetsons and bankers alike—where everyone eats off paper plates and orders by habit rather than menu. Staff in tie-dyed T-shirts call numbers through a fuzzy, decades-old speaker while a gumball machine by the restrooms dispenses trinkets and shockingly young celebrity decals for a quarter. The menu has changed little in nearly 60 years: pizzas, burgers, sandwiches, a few salads, beer and soda on tap and sweet tea made that morning. Each pie is made to order with a thick sauce and a generous hand with toppings; while a deep-dish is available, the legendary thin-crust—cornmeal-dusted, extra crunchy, crisp and buttery—owes its texture to the restaurant’s original Bakers Pride gas ovens with heavy ceramic slate. Loyal multigenerational customers come back for the food but stay for the memories and the comforting, unchanged sense of place." - ByBret Anthony Johnston