While new restaurants—particularly those opening up along the red-hot South Congress strip—try to declare themselves an “Austin Institution,” Southside is just plain Austin. (Cut all that institutional crap.) It’s Austin because it’s notably friendly, it’s cheap, it’s fast, it’s quality, and it doesn’t strike any poses. Southside doesn’t fling real New York pie, real Connecticut pie, real Jersey pie, real Chi-town deep dish; it doesn’t have all kinds of crazy toppings or wacky stuffings. It’s not a date place, a latest-local-beer place, a rock-’n’-roll place, or a see-and-be-seen place. It’s just a corner pizza joint with a really friggin’ hot brick oven, top-notch ingredients, and a total lack of attitude.

Although Home Slice up the street is a whole lot trendier, there’s a no-frills style here that’s appealing, and Southside never skimps on the ingredients. There’s nothing canned here. Even the tomato sauce has the blushing taste of the vine still on it, and from the home-seasoned sausage to the leaf spinach, everything tastes bright and fresh. Black olives are of the Kalamata variety; Portobello mushrooms are pre-marinated; and fresh garlic, Gorgonzola, jalapeños, and sundried tomatoes offer plenty of rich flavor. There are generous daily specials to help you feed the family a decent, somewhat healthy meal on the cheap, and service-industry nights. Generosity like that is the real Austin Institution.