Next time you’re in Georgetown, make sure you visit 600 Degrees Pizzeria and Drafthouse, a local small business with a big personality and high energy. The restaurant serves a large variety of pizza options and has 55 draft beers available, with seasonal and rotational taps. They also offer salads, pork shanks with slaw, New York style cheesecake and tiramisu for dessert, and an assortment of wings.
“We’re known for our wings,” Owner Mark Thompson said. “Sometimes they out-sell our pizza. It’s all in the sauce and the way we prepare them, the process, it’s all fresh and very seasoned.” Wing options consist of hot, dry rub ranch wings, teriyaki, taco wings, mango habanero, lemon pepper, Thai chili, roasted garlic BBQ, Mikey V’s Texas Exes, and bourbon whiskey.
There are 25 different pizza options to choose from. For the adventurous eater, the last option on the menu is called Bakers Choice. “Feeling lucky?” The menu asks, “Roll the dice and let us create a unique pie just for you. Tell us what you hate and any allergies. We’ll take it from there!”
Photo: Courtesy of 600 Degrees Pizzeria and Drafthouse
The most popular pizza is The Pirate, Thompson said, named for Georgetown’s Southwestern University mascot. “It’s basically a meat lover’s pizza with garlic,” he said. “It has so much flavor and with a merlot or a hearty beer, you can’t go wrong.” (The pizza pictured above is The Georgetown with roasted red peppers.)
Most of the other pizzas are named after places in Northern California, where Thompson is from. However, he likes to combine influences from both sides of the nation. “We use the best from the East and West Coast,” Thompson said. “The sauce is a Brooklyn recipe and the dough is a San Francisco recipe – it’s all about the bread there. We took the two concepts and put them together.” Thompson added that everything is made from scratch. Dough is made every day and produce is delivered six times a week to ensure freshness.
Photo: Courtesy of 600 Degrees Pizzeria and Drafthouse
600 Degrees Pizzeria and Drafthouse opened in May of 2014. The establishment likes to call themselves “a 120-year-old bakery reborn.” The building used to house the “Sanitary Bakery” and the original name is printed on the side of the brick exterior. Thompson and his wife Sammy had the building historically refurbished after they purchased it and it’s’ nearly back to its original layout.
Photo: Courtesy of 600 Degrees Pizzeria and Drafthouse
The restaurant also recently won “Best Downtown Business over 50K population” from the Texas Downtown Association. What makes it so unique? “It’s a fun place,” Thompson said. “A little loud and fast, and the servers are like family, very friendly and attentive. There’s nostalgic music and it’s a fun atmosphere.”
