I don’t know, I sorta miss the grunge of the original Lazy Moon.
I don’t mean the one at 11551 University Blvd., which would qualify as the first Lazy Moon when considering the second one opened recently on Colonial Drive in the Mills 50 district.
I’m referring to the one that preceded it. The original Moon was in the more than slightly rundown strip center on the corner of University Boulevard and Alafaya Trail, just across the street from the UCF campus. It had a real College Town pizza joint feel to it, a lived-in look with decals that had been slapped on the hoods over the stoves and an ordering system that involved sliding tickets to the cooks on a wire strung the length of the place.
But when it was announced that the strip mall would be demolished so that developers could construct the soulless apartment complex with mostly chain restaurants on the ground floor that now sits on that corner, Lazy Moon moved up the boulevard to a newly built-out space. There just was no way to recreate the grunge.
But what was lost in atmosphere was gained with new, proper equipment that improved the quality of the Moon’s pizza.
And that quality has transferred nicely to the new location at 1011 E. Colonial Drive.
The new Moon still serves its signature humongous slices. (Really, think twice before ordering more than one.) And it seems to have gotten the hang of the getting the crust right — not too thick, not too wimpy. My slice was loaded with the requested toppings of ground sausage, black olives and fresh mushrooms.
My friend’s slice, plain cheese, had plenty of it, too.
The space is big and open and bright. Most of the seating is at picnic tables that are surprisingly comfortable.
One nice design element is a collection of vintage photos from the Orange County Regional History Center in floating frames along one of the walls. The installation is from Brandon McLean.
There is also a large multi media painting by Blair Sligar, slightly Pollockian, slightly psychedelic, made more so with an overhead black light.
Very college dormish.
Lazy Moon downtown is at 1011 E. Colonial Drive, Orlando. It is open for lunch and dinner daily. The phone number is 407-412-6222.
