Cogan's

After the Green Onion my favorite place in all of Norfolk is Cogan's. It's in Ghent on Colonial Avenue near 20th Street. It has the best pizza of anywhere...mainly because of the spicy sauce, which is a must on every pie. The atmosphere is laid back and very casual and all the servers and bartenders have a great personality. There is often a huge wait if you go on Sundays ($5 off all pies plus $5 cheese pizzas), so be prepared. There is a lunch buffet of all you can for $8, but none of the pizza have spicy sauce...a travesty indeed. Happy hour is great too and they have great specials every day of the week. Oh and did I mention they have over 30 beers on tap? They always swap a few out for different seasonals, but they have a great selection of both your favorite domestic pilsner to microbrews and more obscure but delicious European types.

I've been to Cogan's many a time and most of the specialty pizzas, but tonight I had the Mediterranean pizza...with spicy sauce of course. This combination of flavors (spinach, artichoke, kalamata olives, feta and roasted garlic) was awesome. The spicy sauce only complemented each item. In fact, it may even be my new favorite specialty flavor....after the New Yorker of course which is a great classic combo of pepperoni and cheese. Other great specialty pizzas include the margherita, big kahuna, five cheese, and wild mushroom. Not saying the others aren't delicious, these are just my favorites.

So, if you're looking for the best pizza in Hampton Roads...go to Cogan's in Ghent. No question.

FYI - there is a Cogan's location at HarborView East in Suffolk. I've been to both, but remain partial to the original Ghent.

Food - 5 forks
Cost - $ (a pizza and a pitcher is around $25)
Atmostphere - 2 thumbs up for a chill place to drink beer