Review - Black Sheep Coal Fired Pizza

Black Sheep - Minneapolis
600 Washington Ave N.
Minneapolis, MN 55401
612.342.COAL (2625)

Black Sheep - St Paul
512 N. Robert St.
St. Paul, MN 55102
651.22.SHEEP (74337)



I've eaten at Black Sheep about five times now. It's quickly becoming my favorite pizza in the Twin Cities. The crust is thin with a slight chard taste - a nice chard taste, like good BBQ. Unlike Punch and Pizza Nea the crust at Black Sheep has never been soggy. It's always light and very crispy, probably from the coal burning oven and maybe a little love.

The menu is't huge, but it's ample. They have four or five salads but I've only had one, the Harvest Market Salad. It's details change from time to time but arugula, roasted seasonal veggies and a tasty homemade dressing seem to be a constant. It's so good, I have to get it every time that I'm at Black Sheep.



The pizzas are available in two sizes, large and small. A perfect size meal for Tony and myself at Black Sheep is a small pizza, one salad, and two beers. We've tried the large, but it's too much for us. I'd say the small is good for two people, or one with a big appetite and a large will feed four. They're priced between seven and twenty dollars each.



I don't have a favorite pizza at Black Sheep, yet. I like to try a new combination each time. I think it might be the only place that I've had capers on a pizza. I'm going to try the #8, Chicken and Pickled Peppers on my next visit. The last pizza we ate was the #1 (cheese and sauce) with garlic added. Sounds simple, I know. It's the simplicity that allows you to taste the freshness of the ingredients. The sauce is a little sweet and tangy, the cheese light and stringy, the garlic was super thinly sliced and spread all over the pizza, just the way I like it.



Other than the salads and pizzas, there is also a ricotta and mozzarella calzone on the menu at Black Sheep. We had it one night, it was good but not our favorite. There was just too much cheese. I know that it's silly for me to say that a cheese calzone is too cheesy, but it just needed something else. The sauce was great on it, but the cheese was still overwhelming. We could only eat one piece each.



What's a good pizza without something tasty to wash it down with. Black Sheep has a great drink menu. It includes a variety of bottled cane sugar sodas in fun flavors and 1919 Draft Root Beer. There's also a great selection of local beers on tap. Surly Darkness was on tap this winter, I felt like I found a hidden Easter egg when I saw it on the menu. They also feature a nice selection of wines, including a five dollar glass of house red and white.



Black Sheep Coal Fired Pizza is located in the warehouse district of Minneapolis which is not an area that I'm in a lot, but I'll find my way there for a delicious pizza any day and you should too!