First look: Goodfellas

Damian Nunan, general manager at Goodfellas in Covington, tosses the dough before he puts a pizza in the oven. (Credit: Tony Tribble | Special to Metromix)

With two locations in Lexington, the New York-style pizza franchise finally opened an outpost in MainStrasse.

Taking its namesake from the Joe Pesci mob film “Goodfellas,” the gangster theme continues with big slices of Italian pizza, cold, craft beer on tap and artifacts from The Rat Pack and “The Godfather,” sans horse head.

The mood: From the street, we could smell their cheesy pizza being baked. Goodfellas sports two levels: the first is the pizzeria (the most important part), the second is their Speakeasy parlor called Wiseguy Lounge upstairs.

Huge pizza pies bubbled from behind their glass case and movie stills stared at us from the burnt umber walls while someone from behind the counter took our order.

They have three sizes of pizza, but be forewarned – they’re huge. We ordered a “small” 12-inch pizza for two people, but it was more like a medium. I’m guessing the 22-inch large could’ve fed Marlon Brando alone.

The seven specialty pizzas have cute, gangster names like The Boss, Fuhgetaboutit (with everything on it) and The Immigrant, but you can also do a build-your-own pizza and get pizza by the slice.

They offer monstrous calzones and subs, extra large breadsticks (the only size it comes in) and salads.

In the pizzeria, there are really only three seats at the bar. Upstairs there are a few leather couches, armchairs, a full bar, and a brand-new deck for al fresco dining.

The drinks: We sidled up to the bar and perused Wiseguy’s long menu of craft cocktails and beers and admired their whiskey shelf. I sipped on a champagne cocktail and Adam drank a Stone Smoked Porter, one of their 17 beers on draft. Downstairs they have a few beers on draft, but upstairs they have a much larger selection.

Some patrons in the bar were only drinking beers while others ate pizza with their beers. For those who don’t want to imbibe, downstairs offers fountain drinks in a nifty black plastic Goodfellas cup.

The food: We had ordered the Don (pepperoni, sausage, beef, bacon, green peppers, onion, mushrooms and black olives) with the meat only on half of it.

A staffer from downstairs brought us the fresh, made-to-order pie and we gobbled it all up, right out of the square paper box. The bartender did give us some plastic plates and silverware to help us not make a complete mess, though. The breadstick came topped with parmesan cheese, garlic butter and oregano, and we tore through it as well.

The verdict: Goodfellas works both as a pizza establishment and as a bar combo, but it’s probably better to choose one over the other. It’s nice to know you can swing by and grab a slice to-go, or dismantle an entire, homemade pizza in an upscale bar swimming in craft drinks.