Rudy's

3710 Sperryville Pike, Sperryville, VA - (540) 987-9494

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Posted By Michael Stern on 10/19/2012 8:13:00 AM

"Not bad pizza for the middle of nowhere," boasted one of the pizzaioli at Rudy's in Sperryville, just east of Shenandoah National Park. I say it's better than that. This is darn good pizza by any standard.

The business itself is a treasure, for decades known as the Corner Store, and still a place you can come for groceries as well as meats at a butcher counter, plus such modern additions as artisan loaves of bread, organic produce, and local cheeses. The floors are still creaky wood; many of the shelves and counters date back to a time long before anyone in America had ever heard of pizza.

The pizza-parlor part of the operation is a small area with only a handful of tables, plus extra seating out back in good weather. As we waited for our pie to cook, we asked the pizza men what makes Rudy's pies special. They said that they use better-quality ingredients than ordinary pizzerias; they make their own sauce and dough daily; and they know how to stretch dough.

Aside from good ingredients and lovely crust, what makes Rudy's pies noteworthy is their value. Especially considering it is several cuts above your basic franchised pizza chain pie, it is amazing that a "personal pizza," which is about two-and-a-half times as large as Pizza Hut's tiny one-serving pizza, costs all of $5, plus 75 cents per extra topping. A large pie, which is a foot-and-a-half wide and will serve 3, maybe 4 people, goes for $13, plus $1.75 per extra ingredient.

Scorecard

Overall: One of the Best - Worth a Trip

Sausage Pizza (personal size)

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"A 'personal size' pizza is in fact one-half of a small pizza, but is more than large enough for one pretty hungry person."
Michael Stern

"When I ordered a sausage pizza, they took a length from one of these lovely coils and sliced disks off it."
Michael Stern

"I don't travel to northern Virginia to eat pizza, but when the craving strikes, I now know where to go."
Michael Stern

"Rudy's calls its pizza New York-style, meaning it has a fairly thin crust with a puffy collar."
Michael Stern

"Rudy's dining room."
Michael Stern

"The old wood floor at Rudy's is holding up quite well after all these decades of use."
Michael Stern

"The grocery-store side of Rudy's has some of everything."
Michael Stern

"The Maui Wowi pizza features pineapple, ham, red onions, jalapenos, and teriyaki glaze."
Cliff Strutz