An Umbria Gourmet Pizzeria ^[1] just opened last week, two blocks from my house ^[2]. There’s already a Domino’s about a half mile away. I figured, “What’s another chain in the ‘burbs?” but since it is walking distance away, we gave it a try.

Woo, boy, was it good.

Umbria has Gourmet Pizzeria locations in Eagan, Eden Prairie, and Blaine, and a Cucina Italiana in Plymouth. I can’t speak for the quality of the Cucina (nor can I recommend a trip to Blaine), but I really liked the Thai Shrimp pizza. The toppings were good but the crust is what I really loved. Not too thick, not too thin. Crispy around the edges and still soft in the middle.

Seriously, really good pizza. It’s not Domino’s cheap — $20 for a 10″ pizza and a caesar salad — but it was worth the price. That’s about what you’d pay at Pizza Luce. So when I can’t get into the city for my Luce fix (Luce is easily my favorite pizza place in town), I’ll walk down the block to Umbria.

P.S. You can order online for delivery or takeout. I haven’t actually tried that yet, but it can’t be worse than every time I’ve tried to order Domino’s online (I ended up calling every time).

P.P.S. I was browsing their website and found this…