The Backspace

We were very impressed by The Backspace. Our friend and fellow diner had been before and was bringing us for dinner last night. We are walking down the craziness of 6^th street and I am wondering where this place could be among this party scene? Once you turn down San Jacinto and dip into The Backspace, you are immediately transported to Italy!
First off, the smell. When you open the door you are hit in the face with the most delicious smell of basil, oregano and the brick oven. You should make a reservation. Even with a reservation, we waited about 15 minutes. It was no big deal though! They set up some bar stools for us to wait on and we ordered a bottle of wine and sipped and chatted while waiting for a table to be made available.
The space… this is a SMALL, intimate restaurant. In all of the good ways. This is another reason why you should make a reservation because there were not a lot of tables in this restaurant.
We started off with the bruschetta and it was very unique and tasty. It was more citrus flavored than onion, so be prepared for that. The Mozz is also very good for a starter or side.
The pizza… yes! That is why you go to the backspace, so just look at the different options and pick what you are feeling. The crust is divine and the flavor is robust. You will enjoy whatever you order! We had the margherita pizza and it was too GOOD! They are individual size pizzas, but if you share some apps or are not that hungry, you can share one with someone special (they have to be special for you to choose to share this delicious pizza with!) :)
The service was great from the moment we walked in until the second we walked out.
We will bring other people back here (and you should go too!)

Cute, comfortable place with breathtaking pizzas.
We weren’t that hungry so we shared a pizza after each of us had starters. The crust was nicely charred but a perfect balance of chewy and crunchy. We asked them to put chicken meatballs on the Margherita. So good. The meatballs were light and well-​seasoned and the sauce and cheese were really perfect.
To start, my husband had a green salad that he loved and I had a dish called «local peaches» which had mozzarella, peaches, pesto and bacon. All gorgeous flavors but with one major issue: the dish should have been called «local mozzarella» because there were only a few slivers of peaches in a small bowl full of spoon-​sized balls of cheese. Not what I expected at all given that name. I ate four spoonfuls that had all of the ingredients and left an almost full bowl of cheese. Wish they had had a bowl of local peaches with a bit of the other ingredients. The four well-​balanced spoonfuls I had were delicious.
The service was lovely.

Delicious. Didn’t have a reservation but they made seats available for us even though they were very busy. Best pizza I’ve had in Austin.

Great meat and cheese board. True Italian pizza? Don’t trust anything with more than 3~4 ingredients. The pizza is sooo chewy and the crust so thin and crunchy… Memories of a childhood in Italy.
Oh hay~ Glad you asked: yes, this is where I take my friends visiting from Italy.
Mamma Mia!

If you’re looking for an intimate setting for a date or nice dinner, this place is a perfect location! It’s warm and lively dining space is perfect for catching up with friends if you want a quick break from the bustling noise of 6^th street. As for the food, however, I wasn’t blown away by any of it. We ordered three different pizzas and they were all only a little above average. It had nice presentation but could have tasted better overall.

Probably the best Neopolitan pizza you’ll find in Austin. Due Forni is pretty good too, and has more space. But Backspace eeks ahead with the quality of their pies.
Space is limited, which could definitely cause problems. During SXSW I went as a single and couldn’t even get seated without a 30 minute wait.
The ingredients just seemed to lack the freshness and quality of the neopolitan pizza I am used to in San Francisco. And there was wayyyyyy too much sausage on my pie as well.

My friends and I were in the area and hangry, so we decided to give this little joint a try. Now, I had heard about this place, but due to it’s close proximity to dirty sixth, I had my doubts. My experience with pizza on or near dirty sixth has been unimpressive, but this place completely blew that out of the water. First of all, the ambiance. It is an adorable, quaint little restaurant. It even has a bit of a real, authentic Italian feel to it. We didn’t have a reservation but the host was happy to seat us anyway. I ordered the pepperoni pizza with basil, mozzarella and tomato sauce. Heavenly my friends. Just heavenly. The crust was amazing and just cooked to perfection in the beautiful brick oven. Let me talk about the ingredients for a second. I read on their website that the ingredients are imported from Italy, which explains how delicious and fresh they were. The tomato sauce was just as it should be– simple, thin, and flavorful. The pepperoni, basil and mozzarella were perfect as well. Overall, it was a pizza masterpiece! The prices are pretty reasonable as well. My friend and I split a pizza and it was just enough for us. Word to the wise: make a reservation if you’re coming here at night. The place is fairly small and filled up pretty quickly. I highly recommend this place to anyone who wants some good old fashioned, authentic Neapolitan pizza.

Great pizza, friendly staff. Would definitely come back.
We had a bruschetta appetizer and the margherita pizza and both were very good. The pizzas are 6 slices, enough for 1 really hungry person or good for sharing with another if you get appetizers.
It can get quite loud in the restaurant.

A favorite downtown spot. The wood-​fired oven is a relaxing and cozy focal point of this intimate space. Consistently delicious pizza pepperoni pizza and margherita are good traditional pies and the chicken meatball pizza is unique and tasty), and there is a nice selection of wines and appetizers (try the baked ricotta with focaccia!). My husband and I often walk here for a date night experience. There are only 8 or so tables, and a few bar seats so you’d be well-​served to call for a reservation, even on weeknights. The servers are laid back but helpful. There are always tasty dessert options perfect for sharing (we recently had the butterscotch panna cotta with the raspberry whipped topping) A wonderful place to be downtown. Near, but nicely removed from, the chaos of sixth street.

Meh, not sure what all the fuss is about. Another reviewer described this place as a bit bourgeois slacker and I have to agree. I wanted to like it more, but nothing stood out as excellent to me. The service was polite if not perfunctory… the pizza dough on our roasted mushroom pizza and 2 pepperoni pizzas was on point… but even with the finest ingredients, crust is damn cheap to make and damn hard to screw up if you have a basic dough recipe and a blazing hot oven.
The pizza sauce is what disappointed us the most. It was so vinegary and muddy and missed that bright acidic flavor I typically expect from San Marzanos in great neopolitan pizza. My roasted mushrooms were more spongy, less roasted. Our app was $ 10 for some thick slices of bread with a basic Herb salad on top. Not bad but again, very, very simple. The pizzas are sized for one person unless you’re more there to see and be seen and less to eat.
They were a bit snotty about last minute efforts to make a reservation for two when we called earlier in the day for an early evening reservation… even though when we arrived at 6PM on a Saturday and all bar chairs were empty. After our 3 personal sized pizzas, single simple appetizer and two Mexican cokes, no alcohol, tab was $ 70 before tip. Y’all. That’s like $.25 worth of crust/​bread and a few ounces of herbs and veggies, plus maybe 2 ounces of pepperoni. For $ 70! I’m all about paying well if you get what you pay for, but at the price point, and the fact that it’s pizza, not rocket science… it was just too much to justify going again. You left feeling sort of annoyed and ripped off… and don’t forget your $ 10 valet on the way out!
Also, there’s peeling paint all along one wall. Husband works for S-​W for 8 years and took one look at it and said «the way that’s delaminating, and with the age of this building, I guarantee you at least one of those layers is lead based paint.» Fantastic!
PS – read a few of the owners’ rude responses to other reviews, then watch the South Park episode about Unilocal reviews and laugh your behind off. ;)

Pizza… ahh, Pizza. How can you make bad pizza? That I have not figured out. I do not think you can, but to make exceptional pizza is an art. I had heard from a few friends that The Backspace had elevated their pizza game to an art. So of course, I had to try.
The place is small so reservations are a must. We arrived at our time and were promptly seated. The menu is simple. The choices are apps, salad, and of course pizza. The wine list is reasonable. The mozzarella starter was enough for our group of four. Overall, it was well received. We decided to skip the healthy salads and go right for the pizzas. We had the margerita, the mushroom, and the fennel sausage.
All three pizzas were red sauce based. They also have white pizzas. The sauce is lite and flavorful. The crust was done well and was just the right amount of crisp. Of the three pizzas, I liked the margherita the best. It was delicious and allowed me to really taste the crust and the sauce. The fennel sausage was also good. The sausage was mildly spicy and this spice really added to the flavor of the sauce. The mushroom pizza was also quite good. Were they the best I have had? No, but they were still quite good.
The service was great. No complaints there.
Overall, great pizza joint in Austin. Will return.
Tips:
1.The pizzas are marketed for one person. We ordered three pizzas for four people and this was plenty. I think if you got an app and a salad, you could easily split a pie between two people.
2. Get reservations.
3. Enjoy

Pizza done right. A wood oven wonderland right here folks. I popped in here for my last lunch before heading back home to NY and I’m so glad I did. It’s a small little place, but packing big flavor and excellent service. The pizzas have that perfect quality of thin middle crust, leading to that doughy carb-​fiend perfected edge. Topped with super fresh ingredients and well seasoned toppings. Each pizza is made to order, nothing sitting out, or pre-​made, all fresh popped into the oven each time. Impeccable little gem. Add it to you ATX food must-​visit list.
Deal Seeking Diva tip: this place is pretty small, so if you were to come for dinner would recommend snagging a rezzy to ensure you get in.

Only because there aren’t fewer stars…
Rudest hostess ever «We’re done with walk-​ins»
Sorry, our bad. It’s two hours prior to close and you’re not accepting phone calls.
Maybe the tourists will be here the other fifty weeks of the year?

Like neighboring Parkside, The Backspace offers some fantastic happy hour deals. All antipasti, beer, and wine by the glass is 50% off. That means each antipasti dish only costs $ 3. At that price you can make an entire meal from their six different offerings. The House-​Made Mozzarella, Roasted Beets, and Eggplant Caponata are all fantastic choices. I could probably eat two or three of the mozzarella servings all by myself!
Despite gorging myself on cheese, I still ordered the Roasted Mushroom Pizza. The pizza is thin-​crust Neapolitan and cooked in a beautiful brick oven. Without appetizers, a single pizza is definitely not enough for two people, but a pizza per person is probably too much food. If you do decide to go that route, the leftovers reheat quite well.
The only beer they serve is Peroni on draft for $ 5 (Yes, it’s only $ 2.50 during happy hour).
If you have a larger party, you can make a reservation by contacting them but be warned they usually won’t seat you until everyone arrives. We had a surprise birthday dinner here once and managed to mostly circumvent that requirement.

Cool vibe, nice simple décor. Great for a small friends dinner or date night.
I started with the lamb and pork meatballs which were relish and tender! Yumm! Also got a marguerite which looked amazing but had a very charred taste because of the pizza oven. It wasn’t burnt at all but had that taste… Wasn’t bad but not amazing.
Overall I liked it a lot but the chairs were not very comfortable and the menu is small– my only complaints!

You know I try. I really do. I mean, the food is good. Pretty simple, but good. The wine selection is nice. But, eh? I mean.
Ok, I see a lot of reviews that talk about the service being a bit… snooty? is that even a word? You get what I mean. It is. The staff is a bit slacker bourgeois. It’s true.
It’s cramped. It’s pretentious. the food is… ok? The wine list is varied, but ridiculously overpriced. I truly would never see myself recommending it to anyone. When I eat out, especially at a place I’ve never been, I like to justify cost like this. Can I make this dish? Do I make it better? Would I make this dish?
To almost everything on the menu, minus the desserts, I answered yes. The beets were, ok. The pizza was, ok. The atmosphere, dishes, and staff just don’t warrant the added expense of eating here. You can probably tell from this review that I was hoping for more. I truly was.
Please Austin restaurants, stop making me write unimaginative, mediocre reviews.

Hit up Backspace for a pizza to go! What a cool place. It’s small and quaint. I just ordered the fennel sausage pizza. While I wait, I’m chilling at the bar drinking a draft Peroni while A Tribe Called quest is jamming on the sound system.
You can tell this place pays close attention to detail. Right up front they have a Berkel slicer to cut their delicatessen meats like prosciutto. (Berkel go for a bit of 10k — 20k depending on the model) Apparently electric slicers create too much heat and will alter the integrity of the fine meats. Attention to details is usually what sets excellence apart.
Now the food! This pizza is so good! Immediately you can taste the liquorice hint the fennel gives the sausage. Then the mozzarella cheese to come in and say hi. Crust is perfect and so so good made out of their brick oven.
What a great pizza and can’t wait to go back and start exploring the menu.

I visited this place quite recently during their happy hour. I made reservations online, because on their website they made it seem like we would not be able to sit anywhere, but when we got there, we were basically the only ones there. Given that it was Thursday, I guess happy hour would be on the slower side.
Since everyone raves about the pizza here, I ordered the sausage fellini and a couple of small plates including the roasted peaches, which I quite enjoyed, as well as the spicy cauliflower. The owner also recommended the meatballs, so we ordered those too. I would say out of all of those, I really enjoyed the pizza the most and the roasted peaches. The pizza was all that everyone in previous reviews promised me it would be. The crust and the dough of the pizza was the perfect amount of chewiness and yumminess. The only drawback I would say was that there was too much burnt stuff on the crust, and it was really bitter sometimes when I ate it.
I really enjoyed the experience here. The desserts were fabulous and the atmosphere was on point.

My husband and I wanted a quick bite to eat on a late Tuesday night that we wouldn’t feel guilty about. The Backspace happened to be open, so we decided to check it out also because it was a mere two blocks from our hotel. We were pretty satisfied with our whole meal. We ordered the Roasted mushroom pizza and the roasted okra antipasti. They make everything in their woodfired oven. We enjoyed our meal and ended with their ricotta and beet red velvet cheesecake, which was also very pretty to look at. We will definitely recommend this place to our friends.

Make reservations and you will be treated very well.
The Backspace is a quaint but adorable restaurant that’s great for date nights with the one you love. I also saw people at the bar enjoying happy hour with friends.
We got there just in time to take advantage of a few happy hour specials including half priced appetizers and wine. It’s a great deal. We ordered the mozzarella and it was basically just captures salad. Get the focaccia bread (which isn’t really focaccia) and dip it in the sauce from the moz. You will not be disappointed. We also ordered the okra. Okra is tricky because it is slimy 99% of the time. This okra was pretty slimy, but the flavor was there. The merlot they served us was delicious.
For our main course we ordered the fennel sausage pizza. I recommend it. It had so much flavor. Out server was attentive and we never had to flag her down. She was very sweet and suggested we get dessert. Take her advice: get dessert. They are decadent so one is enough for two people. The flavor options change but when we went we got the salted caramel toffee. Heavenly.