Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza Reading

Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza in Reading opened recently in the plaza were Home Depot, and Jordans reside. It's an East Coast chain restaurant that is rapidly expanding in Mass with two locations now and two more opening soon.

The exterior looks much the same as when their predecessor, Macaroni Grill, was here. Not surprised that they didn't make it, terrible food.

Anthony's is way smaller inside but they had a nice big bar and sturdy furniture.

I had to try their lunch special Side Chick ($6.99). "Coal Oven Roasted Chicken Wings (5 pieces). Served with Caramelized Onions & Focaccia Bread". The wings were really good with a bit of a crust on the outside and really tender and moist on the inside. They could have used a bit of seasoning. The Focaccia was nice and fresh. The Caramelized Onions wasn't, it was more like sauteed onions but piling the onions on the bread made a nice bite with the wings.

You have a couple of lunch choices for pizza. One was a Traditional Pizza (cheese pizza) with an add your own toppings (79 cents each) or any Specialty Pizza ($10.49), and I picked the Paul & Young Ron. "Meatballs, Sausage, Hot or Sweet Peppers & Ricotta Cheese." I opted for the hot peppers, and I must admit what arrived was a seriously loaded (11") pie. When the manager stopped by and asked how the pizza was, I mentioned that the hot peppers weren't very hot. He looked at my pizza and said: "I'm not surprised, these are the sweet peppers, let me get you some hot ones." He did, and I think I should be happy that I got the sweet peppers, the hot ones were fiercely hot even for me. They were edible in very small slices and in that way they were a nice addition to the pizza. I must admit that this was seriously good pizza, especially for the price. It says all over the place "Pizza Well Done" and I had to ask, as opposed to what? My server nicely explained that since the pizza is cooked in such a hot oven, it will come out a bit black, but it's just well done as opposed to charred and burnt.

They a nice section on the other side of the bar with some nice window seating. Next time I'll try to get seated here. My server was very good, and he was from Portugal, so that may explain it. Two managers were greeting and seating the customers, and there was a ton of staff around.