Mama Sid's cooks up affordable, delicious pizza

By DREW HALL

Mama Sid’s Pizza on Barnett Shoals is a hidden, little gem on the eastside of Athens just waiting to be found by this generation of broke and hungry college students. An Athens tradition for more than 20 years, it’s easy to see how it’s spanned the test of time. What’s not to like about a $5 pizza buffet for students with a student ID. Granted, it used to be $5 with the drink and now it’s $6 if you get a drink, but it’s hard to beat an all-you-can-eat for that price.

The brick walls inside were lined the entire length of the restaurant with tall wooden booths and red and white checkered tables covered the middle and reminded me of an 80s roller-skating rink from my younger years. The pizza was even better than the carefree memory. Not only is the pizza all you can eat, but you can actually request whatever flavor pizza you want. The hell with Papa John’s $5.99 one-topping large on Tuesdays, it’s all you can eat everyday with whatever pizza you pick at Mama Sid’s.

We were greeted upon entering by a friendly waitress who took our drink order and then the cooks asked what kind of pizza we preferred. Next, it was on to the buffet table where several kinds of pizza waited already including white pizza (pizza made with feta cheese), pepperoni and another flavor with spinach and tomatoes which was also extremely delicious. The pizza at Mama Sid’s isn’t the deep thick crust that I despise but rather a quick thin crust with lots of cheese and just the right amount of sauce.

We ordered buffalo chicken and Mama’s Special, which is just their name for a supreme or all-the-way pizza. The buffalo chicken rivals any I’ve ever eaten anywhere and the surpreme wasn’t too bad as well. If you’re going to enjoy the pizza, don’t forget to ask for some of the homemade ranch dressing to dip it in. It’s far from your everyday Hidden Valley and will have you wondering how you ever enjoyed pizza without it.

I had Diet Coke to drink with mine, as if it made a difference by the end of seven slices of pizza, but also tasted the sweet tea which was good even by Southern standards. But, don’t leave without having the garlic-covered dough balls in the basket on the end of the buffet table, you’ll regret it if you miss out on one of those little balls of heaven.

If you happen to be in Athens on Saturday and not in Sanford Stadium, they also have $3.95 pitchers to go with your $5 pizza. And what is finer in the land than a drunk and full of pizza Georgia fan?

VERDICT: Cheap beers plus pizza equals college kid happiness.

MAMA SID'S
2240 Barnett Shoals Road
Athens, Ga.
(706) 549-6100