Along busy North Kolb Road lies an oasis of quality pizza, pasta and beer.
That oasis is Dry River Company, and Brendan O'Brien, 40, and K.C. Combs, 37, opened the 2,800-square-foot eatery on May 14.
The former location of Cottage Bakery has an airy feel, with a dozen tables downstairs and four upstairs, and two outdoor seating areas with three tables each.
The proprietors added an old-style wood-burning pizza oven to create their dozen varieties of Neapolitan-style pizza.
O'Brien and Combs met in restaurant circles and have known each other at least 10 years.
Since June, Dry River has had a full bar. Happy hour is from 2 to 6 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays. Specials include $1 off alcohol and beer and $5 glasses of wine (normally $6-$9).
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Happy hour also features three $5 pizzas (normally $10) - margherita, traditional and pepperoni.
Dry River has some competition: Guadalajara Grill's popular new location is one parking lot over.
The vibe
After we seated ourselves, a friendly employee passed out menus and instructed us to order at the counter.
We like the fast-casual concept, but when only a few tables of the dozen downstairs are full, we'd love it if the employees left the counter and walked around to offer refills or to answer questions.
The food
Dry River offers pastries, fancy coffees and breakfast sandwiches in the morning, and pizzas, salads and sandwiches at lunch.
During dinner, two house-made pastas ($8) are featured with ravioli and fettuccine. Diners choose their sauce - marinara, bolognese, garlic and oil, pesto or alfredo - and can add a meat ($3-$6).
The most expensive item on the menu is $11.
During one weekday lunch, we started with the bruschetta ($6). Five garlicky toast points were piled with diced Willcox tomatoes, basil and a dollop of house-made mozzarella.
The basil pesto, garlic, parmesan and Queen Creek olive oil smacked of summer. We wished for more mozzarella, but the overall combination of crunchy, garlicky and juicy suited us just fine.
The Southwest turkey ($8) was a hot sandwich on crusty French bread. Melted jack cheese and slices of roasted Hatch chiles enveloped the piles of house-roasted turkey breast in the sandwich.
We liked the comfortable tastes of the meat and cheese, but we wanted more spice on the fairly bland sandwich.
All sandwiches come with a choice of hummus, cannellini bean salad, pasta salad or chips.
We chose the traditional hummus, where a generous scoop came with a handful of celery sticks. We became more hooked with each bite of the smooth garlicky spread that was kissed with a hint of lemon.
A visit to Dry River wouldn't be complete, however, without trying a pizza.
The Shrooms pizza ($10, $7.50 on Tuesdays), was six slices covered with thin slices of portobello mushrooms. Sometimes creminis are used instead.
All pizzas are served Neapolitan-style, which have a thin crust, about one-eighth of an inch thick.
The fresh flavors of the tomato sauce made us sit back and sigh. The thin sauce isn't reduced, so it retains its bold taste.
Coupled with the fontina and portobellos, each bite was a taste of heaven.
It's best to polish off your pizza in one sitting or eat it cold the next day. Its thin consistency didn't reheat well.
We were too full for dessert, but an ever-changing array includes cakes, biscotti and perhaps tiramisu.
Dessert or not, the sweet deals and the pizza will be the lures that makes us repeat visitors.
Review
• What: Dry River Company, 800 N. Kolb Road, 298-5555.
• Hours: 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays; 7 a.m.-1 a.m. Fridays; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturdays; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sundays.
Our order
Large iced black tea ($2.15).
Bruschetta ($6).
Shrooms pizza ($7.50).
Southwest turkey sandwich ($8).
Total before tax and tip: $23.65.
