Tortugas Homemade Pizza

Wow! Really good stuff here! I would say a more honest score would be 3.75. I'll give the detractors first, but really it's just being picky. The accoustics caused there to be a low noise the entire time we were there. It just seemed louder than what it probably actually was. The service was fairly attentive, but could have been better. There didn't seem to be many working and a help wanted sign on the window. Not a big deal. As far as the food, I wished there would have been more depth to the garlic cheese sticks. For $11, I usually expect more than what seemed like 2 split hot dog buns. 8 sticks in all. They were very buttery and cheesy though. Now for the positives!! That stuffed pizza is fantastic! The garlic in the sauce just elevated the whole thing. The toppings were generous and ta

Tortuga’s is an absolute phenomenal classic Chicago style pizza joint. In all honesty, I was not sure what Chicago style looked like before entering this establishment, however this is not a pizza I will soon forget. Driving through Birmingham this was a highly rated pizza option as the synopsis was to stop and reset after a hectic Thanksgiving interstate drive. This was during the epic Vanderbilt vs. Tennessee game as depicted below. We called about 40 minutes ahead and waited 5 once we arrived basically ensuring this was as fresh and made to order as possible. Ordered a meatzza Chicago style and vegan style thin crust to cover our bases along with bacon garlic bread which was just absurd and mulched soon after the photo below was taken. We ordered to go, then decided to eat in. The mana

Had to try this place after seeing it had been voted best pizza in Alabama by Food Network. We had a small stuffed pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms, onions and garlic. If you are ordering the stuffed pizza, it takes an hour to cook so keep that in mind. Food Network got it right. This was a delicious deep dish pizza. The small is about 3 pieces per person but they are large thick pieces and very filling. We could only eat two pieces each and had to save the other two. I ordered to go but went inside to pick up. It was a small but quaint venue with Chicago style decor. The staff was attentive and friendly. The price of the pizza is definitely on the higher side at $37.51 for the small. This will definitely be a return place for me when I’m the area and in the mood for some great deep dish.

Someone call the Real Housewives of Hoover because you need a reservation or to be a VIP to get a table for six at 6:30 on a Thursday not during the holiday season. We were turned away last night because they refused to accommodate our four adults and two kids. They had two other parties and suggested we sit at 2 different tables. That’s not fair because we haven’t seen our friends in a while. What’s the point of having dinner with friends AT SEPARATE TABLES?! We promptly did an about-face and left to eat at Salt Grass wherein they were appreciative. Think twice about Tortugas. I’m going to Chicago in March so I’ll just eat my deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati’s and not here.

I am from Chicago and was excited to try the pizza for the first time. The italian sausage was absolutely identical to a true hole-in-the-wall chicago pizza place, but the sauce was not good. Service was excellent but probably won’t come back.