Joe Momma's Tulsa
112 South Elgin Avenue
Tulsa, OK 74120

Expertise: With hours that extend to 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and with a trolley stop from the BOK Center just across the street, Joe Momma's already is drawing some event-driven diners, as well as people who work the late-night entertainment venues downtown. "It's good for everyone to get some food in their stomach before they go home," Ewing said. We decided to get a bite at Joe Momma's on a recent weeknight, and with a tyke in tow, we visited during the regular dinner hour. Diners may build their own pizzas or make selections among the 16 specialty pizzas on the menu. We ordered one with half Golden Driller and half Sweet Heat, and another with half Betty White and half California Love. The jalapeno peppers must have been flexing their muscles that night because the heat dominated the Sweet Heat pizza, which also included diced ham, bacon, chicken and pineapple on an Alfredo base. The Golden Driller seemed awfully tame by comparison, even though it contained garlic Alfredo and roasted garlic. It also featured sauteed mushrooms, roasted chicken, pine nuts and sprinkles of cheddar cheese. The artichoke hearts put some bite into the California Love, which included a pleasing mix of pesto, crumbled feta cheese, mozzarella, Roma tomatoes, mushrooms, sliced red onions and pine nuts. The Betty White was the simplest and perhaps my favorite, with crushed black pepper providing strong support to Alfredo sauce, Roma tomatoes and feta cheese. The relatively thin crusts on each pizza were terrific. They were firm enough to have some crunch but still soft enough to bite through easily and showed charred marks from the brick oven. Specialty pizzas range from $11.95 to $17.95 depending on type and size. Build-your-own pizzas start at $9.95 to $13.95, and toppings are 50 cents to $1.50 each. The basic pizza crust also was used to go with a nice bruschetta ($6.95) appetizer of diced tomatoes, fresh basil and olive oil. Fried mushrooms ($6.95) were plump, crispy and flavorful. I also wanted to try the Cuban sandwich, but the kitchen was out of the necessary ingredients. I switched to a buffalo chicken sandwich ($6.95). The order inadvertently went in late, so I wound up taking it home. The chicken breast, bleu cheese crumbles, Swiss cheese, lettuce and tomatoes on flatbread held up well enough to make a tasty lunch the next day. Ewing said he plans to offer pizzas with ingredients from other restaurants as monthly specials. The first, he said, will be from Phat Philly's, a restaurant that operates about a mile south of Joe Momma's. Beverages include a selection of low-point beers. Ewing said strong beers, including 11 on tap, and wines will be added when licenses are approved.