We now have a Chefs Special Menu which has new items to excite your taste buds. Come on in and check them out! Everyone loves these new creations!

Shrimp Scampi: seasoned and seared shrimp tossed in a light lemon-garlic butter sauce served over your choice of pasta. Spaghetti is a favorite of ours.

Pizza places can be a dime a dozen, but in Mount Dora, one local pizzeria has succeeded in setting itself apart from the rest. With a classic menu offering a variety of fresh dishes and pizza pies, PizzAmoré has been delivering big flavors for the past five years.

Story: Shemir Wiles  |  Photos: Fred Lopez

Leigh Love and Jesse Thomas co-own this quaint downtown eatery, and both are no strangers to the Mount Dora culinary scene. Love previously owned and operated 5th Avenue Café, an upscale restaurant that featured organic and clean cuisine. Later, Thomas joined 5th Avenue as executive chef.

The inspiration for PizzAmoré began with Thomas, who would make personal pizzas for the staff every time he baked bread at 5th Avenue. “It was nothing serious,” he says. “A lot of my early jobs were in pizzerias, and I always liked the work environment.”

With the discovery of Thomas’ pizza-making skills paired with the employees’ consistent glowing reviews, both Thomas and Love hatched a plan to create a new endeavor that would be a place where people could enjoy a relaxing, family-friendly environment and good food at reasonable prices. Thus, 5th Avenue was shuttered and PizzAmoré was born.

I was excited to see how PizzAmoré stacked up against other pizzerias I have visited over the years. I began with their popular Greek salad. Made with garden-fresh romaine lettuce topped with tomatoes, feta cheese, red onions, cucumber, a country olive medley, and hickory smoked ham, this salad made for an extremely fresh start. I enjoyed the added twist of the ham and the homemade Greek dressing, which was delightful and robust.

Next, I tried an order of jumbo chicken wings, dressed sloppy style (a mixture of their buffalo, barbecue, and parmesan garlic sauces). The wings were baked instead of fried, but they were still quite crisp on the outside yet juicy on the inside. Furthermore, the blend of all three sauces gave the wings a balanced sweet and sour taste with a hefty kick of garlic, which I absolutely loved.

Though I wanted to finish my wings, I decided to save room for what I truly longed for — pizza. I sampled two different pies: the classic Margherita pizza and the artisan pizza of the week, which was a homemade barbecue chicken pizza with bacon and fresh pineapple, topped with a cheddar cheese blend, and finished with green onions.

Both pizzas were exquisite. The ingredients were extremely fresh, especially the Roma tomatoes on the Margherita pizza. The artisan pizza was sauced lightly with the homemade barbecue sauce, which did not overpower the toppings. And both pizzas were cheesy without being oily. Nevertheless, the true standout with both pizzas was the crust. It was thin, but not so thin that it would flop when you picked it up. The crust was also slightly crispy on the outside with still enough chew and tenderness on the inside. “We worked really hard on the crust because we wanted to make a bread product people would actually want to eat,” Thomas says.

In keeping with the current health food craze, PizzAmoré also offers gluten-free and whole-wheat crusts, gluten-free pasta, and gluten-free beer. “When I see the satisfied look from a customer who hasn’t had pizza in ages try our gluten-free pizza, it warms my heart,” Love says.

For dessert, I had the award-winning crème brûlée. A simple dish with not many ingredients, this homemade treat still captivated me with its rich, savory custard base and dulcet caramel shell. It was too good to waste any of it, so, naturally, I finished the entire helping.

From its nice selection of craft beers to its daily specials, PizzAmoré is easy on the wallet but still offers a touch of rustic elegance. With a promise to always put freshness first, the pizzeria is certain to have continued success as more people discover this hidden treasure.

Thank You  

      Lake and Sumter Style Magazine

This week we have a thin crust pizza with tomato sauce, roast eggplant, smoked ham, roast cherry tomatoes, and herbed goat chesse.

This week we have a thin crust white pizza featuring a lemon infused ricotta, mozzarella, Italian sausage, sundried tomatoes, fresh basil, and roasted onions.