Paulie's Pizzeria, 4517 Forest Drive: August 2009 7 comments
Well, this isn't a total surprise as Paulie's had been undergoing kind of a combination of Sign #2 & Sign #6 for a while.
To be a bit more specific, I used to eat lunch at Paulie's once or twice a month. I really enjoyed the Italian Sausage Sandwich with peppers and onions, and it was all the better in that they linked their own sausage in two different flavors: hot or sweet. The hot was excellent, and my favorite.
Then I would come in for lunch, and they would be out of the hot sausage, and I would have to get the sweet. Then after that, they would be out of both, and I finally concluded that while they weren't going to drop it from the menu, they weren't really going to have it any more either. Since I rarely eat pizza for lunch (it makes me want to sleep the rest of the afternoon..), I just stopped going there. (They also stopped putting out an un-sweet tea urn, leaving a half-empty pitcher with an implied and we're not making any more when that's gone!.
Their pizza, I do have to say, was excellent! Unfortunately, they closed so early (9pm during the week, 10pm Friday & Saturday) that I was rarely able to have any.
We'll have to see how the Village Idiot incarnation does menu and hour-wise. I've only eaten at VI in Five Points once, and was less than impressed since they had average pizza and no unsweet tea at all. I did not go in, but it doesn't appear that they've changed the physical plant much. The booths could really use some padding!
Hat Tip: Matt.
UPDATE 6 December 2023: Adding map icon and updating tags.
7 Responses to 'Paulie's Pizzeria, 4517 Forest Drive: August 2009'
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Matt
17 Aug 09 at 7:13 pm
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The Village Idiot has tried this before in Irmo and it didnt last long. It had a great spot next to Carolina Wings there in the late 90's and somehow managed to fail. The one in Five Points has now been there greater than 15 years and I've always loved their pizza.
On a unrelated note -Solstice in Sparkleberry crossing center, a noted graveyard for businesses (i.e. D's, Putt-Putt, Al Amir, etc.), has gone to being closed on Mondays. This is my favorite resturant, and I fear the worst judging from the emails and facebook postings Solstice puts out. I believe this is Ted's Rule#1
Alex
18 Aug 09 at 11:25 am
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The closing of Paulie's is tragic and lame. But yeah, I called them 6 weeks ago to order a pizza, and they were out of both kinds of sausage, mushrooms, peppers, anchovies, and something else. I ended up not even ordering a pizza from them that night. It was depressing.
Eva
18 Aug 09 at 6:21 pm
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I never thought the food at Paulie's was badly made, but all the ingredients I had lacked any flavor. I tried the "home made" sweet sausage, and there was nothing Italian about it. It tasted like breakfast sausage. I'm actually pleased by having a Village Idiots to eat at, that's not wall-to-wall college kids and loud music. I think they had one around Decker at one point as well in the 90's.
Nobody
19 Aug 09 at 7:31 pm
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I never tried Paulies, but dont feel I missed much since have not heard great things regarding their pizza. The Village Idiot is one of the best pizzas in Columbia. I think it was old ownership that tried the Irmo location. Ive been in this new Forest Acres location, and it will succeed. GReat pizza and perfect for Forest Acres. They needed a good pizza place. Good luck VI #2!
elizabeth
16 Sep 09 at 1:02 pm
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I used to eat there all the time...I liked the food but I distinctly remember once eating there and Free Times had just had their "best of" issue and Paulies didn't win and I heard the owner b**ching and moaning about it...i was like gimme a break, man you guys JUST opened less than a year ago lol
Ronald
2 Nov 10 at 12:14 pm
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Good pizza here too. Their sausage was superb, i think they made it themseves
Paul D
5 Oct 12 at 3:12 am
I finally noticed something first, I feel so special.
On a side note, the PR Store was next door to Paulie's and they closed back in June. I know this because the corporate office still owes me $ for removing their computers.