"Tell me about it, stud."
There comes a time in every girl's life when you wonder, am I a Sandy or a Rizzo? Good girl waiting for the right bad boy to awaken her inner harlot or bad girl with a heart of gold. Or do you just want to be fierce and crazy like Cha Cha? When I was a kid, Grease was the word, Happy Days were here again and I wanted to cruise with my friends on a hot summer night just like American Graffiti. My dream car in those days was a classic Mustang.

McLoughlin Boulevard sometimes seems like the land that time forgot. While much of Portland has moved on to embrace local and organic, and artisan cuisine that is vegan-friendly and gluten-free, the strip in Milwaukie is still filled with car dealerships, strip clubs and dive bars. So imagine my surprise when I walked into Hot Rod Pizza and felt like I was in a scene from one of my favorite movies.

Plenty of places have a theme and in Portland frequently that theme has become less is more. Bare walls and uncomfortable chairs. But here they have gone all out recreating an era. The owners are a group of friends and family who are hot rod enthusiasts who consider pizza 'almost like a religion.' They have put the same amount of love and attention to detail into their new pizza parlor as they did restoring their classic American cars. You'll never find a fleet of cooler delivery vehicles.
Everything here is customized. When you walk in the door you can select a tune on the juke box before placing your order at the counter, which is the front end of a '58 Edsel. What I love about the era is it captured that feeling of freedom and the joy of the open road. Oh, and the color palette. Red is candy-apple, the metal is polished chrome and the jackets are vintage leather. Everything here is in Technicolor.

The pizza is also old school. They serve traditional New York thin crust pizza and something unique in Portland, Detroit-style Deep Crust Sicilian. It is square and the toppings are under the sauce. We ordered some of each and we loved the Continental (pepperoni, Italian sausage, ham and bacon) and Coup de Ville (BBQ chicken). They also have salads and pasta on the menu as well as cinnamon knots for dessert.

The retro vibe continues to the drink menu where they feature at least five types of root beer, Yoohoo and Coke in glass bottles. They are still in the process of getting their liquor license, but will eventually serve beer. The dining room is still under construction and should open in about a week with custom-made booths and stools that will remind you of your favorite soda shop.

As you can tell, I fell completely in love with the spirit and style of this place and the excitement of the owners who are living their dream. The pizza on its own merits is at least a four. It is closer to what you will experience at Escape from New York than Apizza Scholls. But here you probably won't experience the attitude (which my family loves at EFNY) or the long lines. You should factor in some extra time to check out the hot rods in the parking lot while snapping bubbles with Bazooka gum.

"The car is Auto-matic. Its System-matic. Its Hyyyyydro-matic. Why, its Greased Lightning!"

- Jen K., Yelp