Tale of the Pie Aruba Edition: Tomato Charlie's

If you've been concerned about the lack of new posts during the past week, don't despair. We have not abandoned the blog; it's just that several of us have been in Aruba celebrating Emmental's wedding. Now that we're back, we've got two pizza reviews and any number of random posts (how to survive air travel with a rambunctious nearly-two-year-old, slightly aimless rant about the Marriott beach bar waiter who tried to overcharge us for the $8.50 drink special of the day because they "forgot" to update the specials board from the previous day, Balashi beer in 50 words or less, etc.) coming your way.

Naturally, we had to give Aruba's pizza a try. Our first stop was Tomato Charlie's, located along the Blvd/Prominade at the Brickell Bay Beach Club (Palm/Eagle beach area). Saucy and I started with the Bruschetta while our friend had a Tomato Charlie's Italian Salad. We then shared a medium pie, half pepperoni and half plain. The bruschetta was pretty good, nothing that would knock your socks off, but a tasty little nibble. It was topped with shredded mozzarella, which was definitely a bruschetta first for me. The salad seemed to be lacking in toppings, a bit of a disappointment when considering the over $10 price tag.


When the waitress first brought the pizza to our table, we were a bit shocked to see only four slices of pepperoni on top. However, at first bite, we discovered that most of the pepperoni was under the cheese. The unique thin crust had a dusting of cornmeal on the bottom. Sauce was ample (but not overwhelming on the thin crust) and flavorful. Just the right amount of gooey cheese. Overall, a good - but slightly overpriced (even for a resort area) - pie.

Like many of the restaurants we visited there, we found that service was a bit slow. Perhaps it's just the laid back attitude, but we would probably prefer to get our drinks within 10 minutes of ordering them. We were there for a late lunch, so I would hate to see how slow it might be during peak mealtimes. I was also a bit disappointed by the inaccurate advertisement on their entrance sign of Thin-Crust Pizza/Chicago Style. One would assume that means they have both Chicago-style and thin crust-style pizza, but when we tried to order a Chicago-style, our waitress informed us that they only make thin crust pizzas.

Overall, Tomato Charlie's is a good option for a kid-friendly spot with pretty good pizza in walking distance of the Palm Beach hotels.

Pros: Flavorful sauce, gooey cheese, unique thin crust
Cons: Slow service, false advertising, overpriced salad

Tomato Charlie's
370, Palm/Eagle Beach, Aruba
(297) 58

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The Pizza Project
Just a nibble: http://twitter.com/ThePizzaProject
Single slice: http://www.facebook.com/ThePizzaProject
The full pie: http://thepizzaproject.blogspot.com/