re: TulaneLSU's Top 10 pizzas of Auburn, Alabama

quote:

---

I mentioned elsewhere - There is an older Pasquale's in Laurel, MS

---

I could've sworn I read awhile back the Greenville one was the only one in this region, but on TripAdvisor somebody says they were at the Laurel one in Feb.

quote:

---

(I understand from the wife's friends) a brand new one (opened in the last 4-6 months) in Meridian.

---

Same chain? There are a bunch of Pasquale's around the country that are unconnected to the "real" one.

quote:

---

I really loved their food, back in the day.

---

For my family Pasquale's was a big night out.

People talk about their pizza but I really liked their spaghetti. A great deal if the place had a buffet-type table.

Did Mother cut the pizza into manageable bites for her little baby?

Most of those look disgusting.

quote:

---

For some reason my Italian-culture-loving Mom would not let Dad take us to Shakey's. If it was Pasquale's or that little place on Old Canton Rd just above Montgomery Hardware, she was all about those spots, though. I'm not sure she understood it was all the same food, hah.

---

What was the name of that place? Was it Pizza Inn?

I recall when I was around 7 or 8 being at the state fair and buying some pizza supplied by that place -- by the slice! That struck me as an UnAmerican, price-gouging concept.

Kafka, we would be probably be talking mid 1960's here. A few feeble synapses are suggesting that maybe that was the first place where I showed any interest in food types beyond Pop Tarts and PB&J sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I'm not sure the building is there any more. Maybe it was this one at 2747 Old Canton? Jackson sure has changed

quote:

---

we would be probably be talking mid 1960's

---

I only go back to the mid to late '70s

There was an Italian -- or more precisely, pizza -- place around there, though I don't think I ever actually went in it.

That block is where the Morrison's was -- my family's idea of an elegant dinner. Loved their fried shrimp -- they were huge.

quote:

---

Auburn is a better college town than Baton Rouge

---

Oh now you've done it riling up the locals.

Great review but one correction- Baumhowers has wood fired pizzas. Johnny Brusco's is my favorite though.

quote:

---

I have now received better information - The Pizza place on Old Canton road was Gibbs Pizza.

---

Yes!!

Haven't thought about that place in AGES

quote:

---

That one I remember, although it took considerable effort to get me there.

Yes, they had good pizza.

---

Don't think I ever went there. Pasquale's was our pizza go-to.



Found that pic at this site, run by the guy who posts here as prplhze2000. That link has a discussion about Jackson nostalgia (I wish someone would start a Jxn nostalgia thread on the OT). It mentions some places I never heard of -- have you or the good doctor ever heard of the Varia Drive-in?



It was apparently near the Alamo Plaza at the intersection of Hwy 80 at Terry Rd. It must have been before my time, but it was supposedly still there in 1975, and I can usually remember stuff from then or after.

A couple of other drive-ins I never heard of:

Sky-Vue -- near what is now the interchange in West Jackson (a place that makes NBR look like Palm Springs).

51 Drive In



Closed in the mid '60s so way before my time. At the corner of State and Meadowbrook. Later the Meadowbrook 6 theater (which I went to) was built on the property.

Memories:

Varia Drive In Theater - We went there many times. It was across Highway 80 from Battlefield park and just east of the Alamo Plaza Motel, sort of behind/to the west of the Armstrong Flooring plant.

When I was a little kid, they would show an advertisement for You-Hoo Chocolate Drink by Joe Dimaggio during intermission. Sometimes we (my brother and I) would talk dad into buying us one to share. He always left the car walking in the general direction of the Armstrong Plant on his way to the concession stand. Watching him headed in that direction, I was absolutely certain the big plant (tall, with an open steel structure, lights showing on multiple floors, and steam coming out of vents on the roof) was the Yoo-Hoo factory.

Sky Vue - Was the first place I worked - at 13 or 14 years old, I worked in the concession stand there on Friday and Saturday nights (Yes, I was a Professional Pop Corn Popper). Sky-Vue was located beside (north of) the Tall Man's Pool Hall. Today, the site is covered by the I-220 exit at Clinton Blvd and Capitol Street.

I can remember when Disney's movie "The Shaggy Dog" came to the Sky-Vue. The line of cars waiting for admission went back almost a mile - so many people that Channel 3 (NBC) and Channel 12 (CBS) both sent news crews out to cover the opening for their news broadcasts. I believe they had two showings a night during the run - almost unheard of for a drive in movie.

In those days, we lived in West Jackson, on Faircourt Street, A dead in street (they are now called cul-de-sacs), located just west of the old Jackson Country Club, which became Shady Oaks, when JCC moved to Old Canton Road. Occasionally I will commission a Bradly Armored Fighting Vehicle from the military for the afternoon and drive past our old house there.

My memories of going to the 51 drive in theater are vague. I know we went there when I was a kid, but our movie outings were mostly to the Varia or Sky-vue, until ShowTown-USA opened on Highway 80 in Van Winkle.

Those were the days when Mom and Dad would take us to the Royal (on the block below the old Capitol), or the Lamar, or Paramount Theater (all walk-in theaters) and then walk Capitol "window shopping" while we watched a movie (for $0.15 or $0.25). There were three Krystal burger places on Capitol in those days (white porcelain and chrome exteriors with seats at the bar, so you could watch them cooking the sliders). There was one a few buildings down from the Royal, and if was a special night, we would go there after the movie for $0.05 Krystal Burgers. Dad would usually buy us two and a coke for a nickel more.

Oh well, time to come back to the pandemic life of 2020.