Calzones, understandably, are seen as pizza’s weird little brother.
They don’t possess the instant visual gratification of a pizza, and by design, skip the pie’s communal eating. But one day, somewhere in between folding their pizza and taking a bite, someone thought of baking the slice already folded, and the idea of a pizza turnover was born.
As Ben Wyatt of “Parks and Recreation” explains, a calzone is a “delicious, portable meal that is its own container” yet, they see little respect from the Auburn crowd. However, Eddie’s Calzones is trying to remove the stigma of being pizza’s little brother.
Found on West Glenn, in between Rock N Roll Sushi and Island Wing Company, the Auburn location is Eddie’s Calzones third opening adding to Columbia, South Carolina and Athens, Georgia family. Based off locations alone, it’s clear Eddie’s’ target demographic is the college crowd. It also closes at 4 a.m. every night, serving any early morning stumblers that need a calzone fix.
Eddie’s Calzones’ dining experience screams of college eating.
The interior is entirely red and black, which alongside the classic checkerboard tiling, gives off the atmosphere of a diner that sitcom characters often find themselves in.
A chalkboard painted on one wall features dozens of scrawled names. The food is served in styrofoam to-go containers and eaten with plastic cutlery. Even the free water comes from one of those sideline water coolers and is served in red Solo cups.
Unfortunately, my guest’s RONI-N-SHROOMS calzone and my CHICKEN BACON RANCH calzone left us both disappointed.
We were told those were two of the most popular calzones Eddie had to offer. They came out under-baked, with an outside too soft and an inside too doughy. The CHICKEN BACON RANCH didn’t exactly come across as chicken, bacon, and ranch and the crust’s main ingredient seemed to be more air than anything else. As for their tater-tots with bacon and cheese ... just skip them.
As Ben Wyatt also said, “the calzones betrayed me.”
However, as important as first impressions are, second chances are even greater.
Eddie’s second chance came using their online delivery system. It should be noted this took place on a home football game weekend. An impressive 20 minutes later, I was handed a dozen chicken wings and a Blueberry Cheesecake Calzone.
Surprisingly, the chicken wings rival their next door neighbor, Island Wing Co. They were hot, tender, and tasted of chicken. However, the real standout was the dessert calzone.
Yes, I know, that blueberries and cheesecake filling mixed in a calzone hardly seems approachable, but this was legitimately one of the best desserts found in downtown Auburn.
Harboring the chemistry found in an unordinary combination of two different favorite foods, Eddie’s dessert calzones is where the true college eatery’s humble magic is found.
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