New Minneapolis pizzeria will get you to eat more carbs

If you’re one of the types who eat only the pointy middle of a pizza slice, leaving the remaining bare crust edges behind, Mothership Pizza Paradise has found a way to get you to clean your plate. Crust Dippers, their cheffed-up versions of the Domino’s ranch cup, come in five flavors that’ll compel you to up your carb intake, at least until you run out of garlic butter.

If that reminds you of a certain kind of pizza nostalgia, it’s deliberate. Mothership Pizza Paradise is a throwback to the oregano-scented pizzerias of the past, where shakers of Parmesan are always on the table, and strawberry hard candies come with your check.

It’s the work of chef Tommy Begnaud, his wife Carrie Erickson, and business partner Courtney Briden, who are also behind the nearby Mr. Paul’s Supper Club and Mr. Paul’s Po’boys and Jams.

Location: 5057 France Av. S., Mpls., mothershippizza.com

Hours: Open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tue.-Sun. No reservations.

The food: The owners’ and staff members’ mothers get their due in the names of the Neapolitan pizzas on the menu (there’s a Kay, a Connie, a Kathy, and an Also Kathy). Pies are served alongside pastas and an extensive list of appetizers that could take you in either direction: upscale Italian (hamachi crudo) or neighborhood pizzeria (garlic knots). Whatever your path, make sure there’s sauce.

I began with the Kay ($19), a baseline red sauce margherita. Margherita, or even a basic cheese, is the only way, in my opinion, to judge a new pizza on the scene, though I’ll be down for toppings on a future visit. As a starting point, this had the essentials down pat: a punchy red sauce base, creamy housemade mozzarella, a snowing of sharp Parm and a few shreds of basil on a sturdy crust pockmarked by the tiled woodfire oven at the back of the restaurant. The crust dippers are extra, and come $2 each or three for $5. I’m team garlic butter, though my companion loved the housemade pesto.

I was intrigued enough by the description to get the calamari ($15), which said it contained artichokes. This was no 30-year-old rendition of squid parts in breading, but a composed salad of green leaves intermingled with tangles of lightly fried squid and artichoke hearts over a smear of mayo. This could easily be a stand-alone lunch.

Meatballs appear in multiple ways on the menu: as an app, on a pizza, and in the bucatini ($24). The pasta is made in-house, and this holey spaghetti had a satisfying chew. I’m eyeing the pappardelle with short rib, radicchio and hazelnut for my next visit.

There are a couple desserts, though I was too full to try them: an affogato using MN Dairy Lab vanilla ice cream, and brown butter chocolate chip cookies with milk, $10 each.

The drinks: There’s an espresso martini on tap, coming out of what the restaurant says is the only Suntory nitro machine in Minnesota. Bar manager Aynsley Jones (formerly of Mr. Paul’s) has fun with the classics, with fig in the Americano, a nutty Manhattan, and “fluffy orange” in the Garibaldi. The All Day Bloody Mary is built from cold-pressed juices. Cocktails run $13-$16. There’s a selection of $5 cans or a mix-and-match bucket of five beers for $20, and Peroni is on tap for $6. The wines by the glass list is long and mostly Italian.

The vibe: Striped and tufted booths, red bar stools, midcentury rec room-style lighting, an Elvis portrait on a wooden slab are some of the memory-plucked accents giving nostalgic pizzeria feels. There’s a long bar running through the lively former Arezzo space, and both the bar and window-walled line of tables were filled with customers well past the lunch hour.

Parking: There are plenty of places to park in the buzzy 50th and France area, both on-street and ramp, but ongoing construction can create navigational challenges, depending on which direction you’re traveling.