Coal's Artisan Pizza announces early April opening

Is this place kid friendly? (I'm talking toddler friendly, not well behaved ten year old friendly).

I'd love to try it soon i just need to know whether to leave the kiddo at home. What is the atmosphere/noise level?

We have 6 high chairs and 3 booster seats. So, yes, we are very child friendly!

Great, thanks!

The wife and I tried Coal's on Saturday and truly loved most everything!

The only knock was the "new restaurant smell" that is still in the air at Coal's. Not a biggie...hopefully to soon-be-replaced by pizzeria scent!

I had the gorgonzola wedge and thought it was one of the better wedge salads that I've had. The wife had the house salad, which had just the perfect amount of dressing (it was not over-dressed) and she enjoyed the cubes of mozz cheese in there also.

We kept things simple and tried the St. Matthews pizza. The pizza was great! Sauce and cheese were tasty and well balanced, the basil was super fresh and it really made for a tasty pie. The crust, well was absolutely awesome...lightly charred and crispy...airy, but not doughy.

We shared the tiramisu...and even though I am not a big desert or coffee guy, it was very delicious.

I can't wait to get back and try more of Coal's offerings. YUM! DD

Now that Coals has had the opportunity to get a little training in, last night we held our own personal little sixteen slice bout between Coals and one of our other "go to" pizza places...Not intended as a grudge match, just some friendly sparring between two of our favorite pies.

Coals, the contender, came out swinging with the Stevie P Pie (Pepperoni, Sausage and Basil)...A kicked up version of their soon to be famous Brownsboro Pie...Having spent the last 10 days in training, the crust was in prime form...Firm outside, and soft and chewy inside, standing up well to the toppings, a bit smokey (but not burnt) and ready to go the distance. The Marinara sauce...Ohhhhhh the sauce...a perfect blend of tomatoes and spice, fresh to the palate and applied in just the right proportions. The pepperoni and sausage were extremely tasty and applied generously...but not so heavily that they K.O'd the crust. The cheese may have been the haymaker on this pie... mozzarella...fresh and gooey and so very very tasty...If the P Pie ever wears the Champion belt, it will in large part have the cheese to thank. Washed down with a perfect "pairing" of two Sierra Nevada Pale Ales, it was obvious that the Stevie P Pie is a true contender for the best pie I had personally ever...EVER...eaten.

After working up a bit of a sweat, we sent Coals off to an early shower and moseyed on over to try out the Challenger...a thin crust, almost NY style of pie, that over the past two months has become one of our "go to" pies. Sadly, in our absence from their corner, the pie had become a little bloated and out of shape. Topped with the same ingredients as the Stevie P Pie (pepperoni, sausage and basil), the crust was a wee bit on the soggy side and gave way to the tasty but over generous toppings of sausage and pepperoni. The sauce was (as always) good...but when compared (within minutes of each other) to Coals it came up as a bit out of shape. The cheese...Oh the cheese...overweight, over salty, gloppy and generally not ready to rumble. Not sure if they have a new trainer in their corner but the cheese was a significant disappointment.

While the Challenger still managed to put up a reasonable fight, when it was all said and done, it was a unanimous decision on the part of the judges...Coals and their kicked up Brownsboro pie has earned my vote as my personal favorite pizza...not just in L'ville but evvvvvver.

yeah but did it fall off the bone?

I still gotta try this place. Especially now that I'm freshly armed with 9 days of sampling NYC pizza.

I still gotta try this place. Especially now that I'm freshly armed with 9 days of sampling NYC pizza.

Mike, I think you will dig it. It's close as I've had here.

[Robin Garr]

Please? Are we there yet? I want a calzone for lunch!

WOW! Thanks Steve for the vote of confidence. I have to admit I was a little nervous but I am glad you liked it. Robin, I was out shopping for patio furniture today. We are working on the lunch menu this week which will include calzone as well as several kinds of sandwiches (our dough of course), entrée salads and more tasty treats. Almost there!

Not to diss many of my favorites in town, but Coals was hands down the best pizza I've had in louisville. A reasonable price and a class act all the way around. The crust is too die for.. light, slightly crispy and smoky, melt in your mouth cheese and more reviews to come when I try the rest of the menu. They are only blocks away from the homestead, outstanding!!! Bil and Susi.

heather and i were there last night and ran into steve and becky and bill and susi, it was like a mini offline... lol

We were told by Madeline that Coals has become quite the hot spot for a number of local chefs as well as some "local celebrities". Alas, no "special booths"

The girlfriend and I enjoy really enjoyed our dinner at Coal's last Friday, although we were worried that the owners thought we didn't like it, being that we both only ate a couple of slices of our respective pies. They both came by to check on us, and seemed worried, but we had just polished off an order of meatballs and arancini.

I loved all of the flavors and the balance of the Clifton(and that crust...we had never had an extended conversation about pizza crust before), and my girlfriend had to give me several strict warnings to keep my hands off of her leftover Bardstown, which was also outstanding. They also re-heated surprisingly well.

But I am extremely hyped up for the calzones. As a big fan of calzones in general, my expectations are really high for Coal's version, as the pizza certainly set the standard pretty high.

Hard decision to make. Craving a slice, but no hair or makeup and gardening clothes on with a nice layer of compost on all. Yep, I got carryout and in spite of my frightening look had a nice conversation with the owners and Jenny. I have not eaten meat for some time, but I had to at least try the meatballs and donate the rest to the carnivores. Oh bliss. Actually, I'd get an order and put it over some noodles, the sauce was SOOO yummy. The pizza was everything I have wanted in Louisville for so many years now. I don't know why someone didn't do it earlier, but this one rocks. As a first timer, I had to have a plain Margherita to get a fair taste of the basic ingredients. Perfect. The sauce- to die for. They need to start bottling it.

I am just so glad to have all these places in the hood. Next stop-NamNam!

ps...I have pics of the pizza and meatballs on www.foodspotting.com

Next time, I am going to get cleaned up and enjoy the very nice atmosphere.

I made it out to Coal's yesterday.

First, review of the pizza. I had the St Matthews. The sauce on this pie is phenomenal, not too sweet, not too bitter. A good chewy crust and the proper amount of cheese for this style of pie. I liked it but for this style crust I'd still rate it second to Papalino's in my opinion. My grand champion for the area is still however NABC. Not to knock this pie at all though as it's definitely good and worth eating. There's few better than it and many not as good as it.

I had the cannoli as well which the filling seemed a little thinned out and there was some kind of maybe citrus flavor to the filling as well which I'm hoping was not orange.

I know the menu is still being fleshed out but I hope some type of vegetarian friendly appetizer is added to the menu. I also would like to see maybe some olives and/or roasted red peppers make the toppings list as well but that's just me.