Rudino's Pizza & Grinders - Cedar Park
Rudino's Pizza & Grinders - Cedar Park
By Candace Birkelbach Friday, 19 December 2008
The key to a perfect pizza is finding the delicate balance between three main components: crust, sauce and cheese. At Rudino’s Pizza & Grinders, the harmonization of these ingredients builds the foundation for a bounty of flavorful menu items. Housed in a casual yet modern atmosphere, Rudino’s is a commendable choice.
The menu consists mostly of specialty pizza and grinders (oversized, oven-baked sandwiches), but also includes salads, pasta and calzones. Menu prices are affordable, especially considering the large portions and fresh ingredients. Owner Kert Kveton said he keeps the business personable and focuses on the preparation process. The restaurant makes its dough and sauce from scratch, grates cheeses and chops vegetables in store daily.
The breadsticks with mozzarella cheese appetizer ($5.50) is basically a full-sized cheese pizza cut into strips and served with a sweet marinara sauce. The crispy, thin crust allowed the oozing layer of cheese to take center stage. If pizza is ordered as an entrée, oven baked fries ($1.75) or chicken wings ($3.75) might be a better start.
The sliced meatball grinder ($5.99) was much easier to eat than a typical meatball sub without the meat and sauce constantly sliding out. Beef and pork meatballs, green and banana peppers, cheese, marinara sauce and onions made this meatball sandwich stand out from the abundance of similar options available on the market.
Pizza can be ordered by the pie or slice and is thin-crust style. Slices ($2.75) come made to order with a choice of toppings ($0.35 each). Delicious crust is covered with tangy marinara sauce and a layer of melting provolone and mozzarella cheeses that crisps around the edges. The blend of cheeses makes a strong impression on the taste buds and causes the cheese to stay gooey even when cold. The fluffy crust and thin layer of sauce support the ample amount of cheese and toppings, making each bite consistently palatable.
Dessert options include cookies ($0.75) or cinnastix ($5.50), a golden pizza dough sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. The restaurant also serves a variety of wine and beer on draft and catering is available for large groups with 24-hour notice.
Originally from Michigan, Kveton felt a lack of local places to hang out with family, drink a beer and eat good pizza. He anticipated a second location when he opened Rudino’s in Austin five years ago, but waited for a spot in the 1890 Ranch shopping center. Soft lighting, coffee-colored walls adorned with local artwork and live music on weekends make Rudino’s a destination for families to enjoy a quality meal together.
What is a Grinder?
East coast shipyards often employed immigrants from Italy to set and grind rivets in the building of large ships. Workers were not able to return home for a midday meal, so their families baked bread loaded with meats and cheeses. The shipyard foreman would alert the workers to the arrival of their fresh lunch by shouting, “grinders!”
Over time, “grinder” came to represent the Italian meal of meats, cheeses and fresh vegetables layered on oversized bread.
Rudino’s Pizza & Grinders, 1335 E. Whitestone Blvd., Bldg. T, Ste. 150 • 260-6636, Sun.-Thu. 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
