Where to Stoked Wood Fired Pizza Co., a Brookline brick-and-mortar from Scott Riebling and Toirm Miller, the people behind the food truck of the same name.
What for Stoked’s blistered pies with perfect chew and compelling toppings, plus good beer, in a location that doesn’t roll away just when you need pizza.
The scene It’s early evening, and in the compact dining room and at the wee bar, toddlers and hipsters mingle. A multigenerational birthday party convenes at one long table, on mod gray chairs. There is a lot of hugging in the house. A steady stream of pies emerges from the oven. Groovy starburst lights hang from the ceiling. Somebody has excellent taste in wallpaper, which comes adorned with boomboxes in the restaurant, and in the restrooms with a Pac-Man board where the Pac-Man is actually a pizza with a slice cut out.
What you’re eating There are enticing appetizers — wings, a nice salad topped with a cheesy little crouton, charred Brussels sprouts sweetened with syrup. And kids could get chicken fingers and fries. But everyone seems very happy with pizza — personal-size pies topped with pepperoni and spicy honey, Buffalo Brussels sprouts, smashed meatballs with ricotta, and more.
Care for a drink? There’s milk for the kids and Real City sodas for the teetotalers. On tap are offerings from Idle Hands, Kent Falls, and SingleCut; bottle and can offerings range from Anderson Valley’s The Kimmie, The Yink, & The Holy Gose to Epic’s Lil’ Brainless Raspberries to Miller High Life. There’s a well-conceived cocktail program and a short list of wines, too.
Overheard Talk of beer, philosophy, and sibling relationships. “Her little brother is 3½ so she’s used to it,’’ one mom tells another as a boy accosts a tiny girl. “That’s like 90 percent of the modules,’’ someone proclaims, waving a slice at her friend. “I’d tell her that I hate her shirt but I absolutely love it on her, but I’m not sure if that’s a compliment,’’ muses a woman, eyeing her counterpart at another table. “Whoa. It’s like a hipster parent convention,’’ a new arrival says, taking in the adorably attired children and their matching parents. A man offers a friend a sip of his beer: “At first I thought it didn’t taste like anything,’’ she says. “And then I was like: It tastes like everything!’’ A staffer bonds with a table of kids playing with dog figurines. “ ‘Paw Patrol’! My little sister loves that show,’’ he says. “You know which one is the coolest?’’ He and one of the moms shout out a character’s name in unison, then fist-bump.
1632 Beacon St., Washington Square, Brookline, 617-879-0707, www.stokedpizzaco.com.
Devra First can be reached at dfirst@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @devrafirst.
