Matchbox Vintage Pizza Bistro

September 11, 2008
nice building rustic facade but modern interior - felt a little sterile. Very friendly waitress. Small selection of beers, but had a nice variety of styles. Pizza was good- crust a little thin for my taste.

May 15, 2008 [ Updated July 14, 2008 ]
Located right around the corner from RFD, Matchbox Pizza is an impressive looking building with a very modern, urban feel applied to the typical stone and metal look of a wood-fired pizza joint. Through the front door and into a high-ceiling but skinny bar, I’m met by a small but cramped crowd of mohito and Stella drinking urbanites, but in little time I find a seat at the bar. Draft list includes Allagash White, a Rogue seasonal (Mogul), Chimay, Delirium Tremens and a few other US craft choices. Food wise it’s everything from salad and sandwiches to the wood-fired pizza that everyone is so crazy about. So I went with the Smoke & Fire, which has chipotle tomato sauce, smoked gouda, roasted peppers, onion and basil, with some sausage added on to complete the deal. The dough looks cracker-thin and brittle, but the center of the pizza was unevenly cooked and turned flabby and soft. The flavors never seemed to come together, there was an overwhelming amount of roasted garlic, and the cheese didn’t melt enough (it was sliced gouda, not shredded, hrmm). Service was great, the crowd was fun, but it definitely is not a beer geek only place. Most people were drinking Stella or Delirium, no doubt for the status, but I will recommend this place for people visiting Downtown/Chinatown as an alternative to RFD, where the food is downright awful. However, if you have the chance to visit Pizza Paradiso, skip Matchbox and go there instead, where the beer selection and quality of food is better. Another option would be Ella’s Wood Fired Pizza, only a few blocks away. they have a few good beers on tap as well, and are always less crowded than Matchbox.

December 11, 2007 [ Updated October 2, 2008 ]
Great pizza!!! Very cool little building! While the beer list doesn’t quite have the variety of Pizza Pardisio, it does have the quality. Decently priced. It can certainly get packed though as its such a small place. More or less across the street from RFD and near Gordon Biersch, District Chop House, and a couple of other decent beer bars.

September 19, 2007 [ Updated October 30, 2007 ]
Very nice atmosphere. Like the concept. Great service. A surprising selection of beer on tap from what I can remember. Food is excellent. Pepperoni on pizza isn’t that thin sliced stuff - looks like thick chunks of Boar’s Head dumped all over the pizza. I recommend asking them to hold back on the Pepperoni...the pizza becomes very greasy (still delicious). Made a second stop to order a ’plain’ to enjoy the flavor of the pizza. Highly recommended untraditional or traditional pizza place, depending on how you look at it.

August 25, 2007
Went here for lunch and had some wonderful food - a red pepper cream soup and a blackened chicken pesto sandwhich. It’s obvious that they care about their cooking, which is cool for the kind of place this is. Reasonable prices. Taps include Allagash, DFH, Bell’s, Rogue, Maudite, Chimay Rouge, Delirium Tremens...others. Rotating "stout of the month." A place to get a good meal and know that you can drink something fitting to accompany it.