From a block away, a tall tree in front of Iggie’s covered with fairy lights functions like a beacon. There are five tables (all occupied!) out on the sidewalk on a pleasant weeknight evening. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows that frame the front of the restaurant, we can see that the joint is jumping with people talking, laughing, drinking and eating pizza! It’s an intriguing place; “Pizza with a purpose!” is their motto. It’s got a casual funky feel inside—the walls are painted a warm yellow, while dark red ceilings help to disguise the presence of overhead plumbing and duct work. There’s some interesting large art, including a portrait of a lean dog in Italian Renaissance drag and a mix of a dozen and half large and small tables.

Iggie’s is a “self-service” restaurant. You order at the counter, pick up your food (as well as your own utensils & napkins), and “bus” your own table when you’re done. In lieu of tips, there’s a container near the register where you can make a donation to a local charity (which changes each month). There’s no liquor sold here, but “bring your own booze” is encouraged (but not bring your own soft drinks)! While Iggie’s supplies real glasses for any beer or wine you bring, thankfully there’s no dreaded “corkage” fee. There’s a large refrigerated unit with an array of interesting soft drinks to select from if you don’t bring wine or beer to go with your pizza.

Iggie’s mission is to provide authentic Neapolitan style thin crust pizza (hey, they even make their own mozzarella here!). The menu, written on a large chalk board behind the counter, offers a dozen different standard concoctions and doesn’t make it easy to decide what to order. There’s the basics (with interesting twists): Margeherita, Funghi (mushroom w/leeks), Cipolla (red onion w/pancetta), Salsicia (sausage w/fennel), Quattro Fromaggi (four cheese w/mozzarella, parmesan, Asiago, & goat cheese), Verdura Fresca (spinach with veggies, pecorino, mozzarella and a tad of balsamic reduction). There’s also some not so standard: Anatra (roasted duck with blue cheese and asparagus), Pepe (argula w/ricotta) and Pera Saporita (pears w/gorgonzola). Small 8” pizzas range from $8-$10, while 14” pizzas cost from $12-$17. While pizza is clearly the focus, there’s also Tomato Lemon soup ($4), an antipasto plate ($9), a few salads ($6-$8), pastas (“Mac & Cheese” and “Piselli & Pancetta” – aka “Peas & Ham”) for $9.

We decided to sample the soup and share a “Verdura Fresca” pizza. The large bowl of soup had a light frothy texture, but it tasted like fresh tomatoes whipped thru a blender with no seasoning, was served room temp and disappointed both of us. Self-service style, we picked up our pizza (as well as plates). Visually, the pizza looked great—dark green spinach green with grilled red onions and sweet red pepper. While light on cheese (curiously, there’s no grated cheese to add at table), it tasted good (and droplets of balsamic reduction were an unusual counterpoint for the veggies). We each polished off four slices—too good for us to leave any to take home! We want a little something else still and decide to share a strawberry sorbetto for dessert ($4). It’s really good, a perfect palate cleanser and the serving was more than enough for two of us to share.

John’s curious. Is there really an “Iggie”? The woman behind the counter smiles and says, “Why, yes, there are three of them!” Three Iggie’s? It boggles the brain! Well…it turns out that “Iggie” is a nick name for an I(talian) G(reyhound) and the owners have three Iggie’s! Aha! That explains the large portrait of the greyhound in Italian renaissance drag (as well as the small framed photo of the three dogs tangled together for a group photo near the register.) As we finish “busing” our table, a large group that has polished off four bottles of wine and half a dozen pizzas smiles and asks if we’re brothers! We’re dumbfounded! We’ve never been asked THAT before! We don’t have a ready witty reply, but it all-in-all re-enforces the friendly, funky feel of Iggie’s. We’re going to have come back and try some of those other interesting pizzas we missed out on!

BASICS?  Iggie’s Pizza (Mt. Vernon), 818 N. Calvert St,  410-528-0818 ,  www.iggiespizza.com. Open 12 noon until 8 pm on Sun, 9 pm Tues-Thurs, & 10 pm on Fri-Sat); No Liquor - BYOB; Limited vegetarian options, but no soy cheese!

Feedback? Email us at diningout@baltimoregaylife.com or find all old & new, not yet published reviews at http://hometown.aol.com/~gaylifediningout.