Neon lights, the thump of 2010s pop, pizzas served on red checkered paper and the sounds of blistered pies being thrown in and out of deck ovens: Pizza Marvin on the corner of Wickenden and Governor streets is a well-frequented neighborhood spot.
This 2023 James-Beard Foundation Semifinalist is no underdog when it comes to pizza. Walk past the restaurant on any night and you’ll see tables filled with the Providence hipster type, young families with strollers and a few college students escaping dining hall fare. Their formula seems to be well-received — high-quality pies, bright salads, original cocktails like their Pepperoni Negroni and, if you felt this wasn’t enough, a seafood menu. In fact, the name Marvin is meant to call to mind the sea (mar) and their drinks (vin).
Marvin offers two styles of pizza: a New Haven thin crust and a Sicilian square slice. The former comes as an entire pie, the latter as an individual slice. If you’ve come with a group, get one of the whole pies, made fresh to order. If you’ve come alone, grab one of the slices but know they’re not quite as glorious.
The best way to start though is not with their pizza but with their Spicy Greens salad ($13). It’s nothing too complicated: a heaping pile of arugula coaxed into extravagance by lemon, olive oil and a pile of local Atwells Gold (a parmesan-like cheese) from Narragansett Creamery. Despite the smattering of fatty cheese, it’s acidic and punchy. Have a few bites but leave some behind to punctuate your pizza-eating.
My party opted to start with the House Cheese ($24) with added pesto (+$3). The pizza itself deserves high marks: the crust is structurally sound with an irregular and bubbled crumb, a crispy bottom and a well-portioned ratio of sauce to cheese. If anything is good enough to write home about, however, it’s the pesto. It’s impish: garlicky, rich and practically standing upright with the amount of olive oil and cheese that have been emulsified into it.
The Buratta Pie ($28) arrives next, a lightly sauced crust crowned with shreds of mozzarella and dressed liberally with olive oil and basil. There’s no bubbly browned cheese here, but the contrast between the fresh burrata and the sauced crust makes it feel like one of the lighter items on the menu.
Before the next pie arrives, we grab a few forkfuls of salad to fortify us. The North Provolone pie ($26) comes with all the elements of an Italian deli sandwich: sausage, tangy pepperoncini, and provolone. Indeed, the concept is not especially groundbreaking — sausage on a pizza — but the acid from the spicy pickled peppers and Marvin’s exceptionally simple tomato sauce bring the whole pie into balance.
If you find yourself with a small pile of crusts developing, ask for some olive oil. Theirs is a fruity and luminous green-gold. Dipped in oil, the crust, which is fermented to add flavor and improve the gluten structure, is a marvelous testament to bread.
The Sicilian-style slices are a good option for solo diners or a smaller lunch. Different from the more familiar triangles, these square slices have a thicker focaccia-like crust that’s practically fried in olive oil and boasts a crispy mozzarella halo where the cheese has come into contact with the hot pan. Feeling especially loyal to the Marvin pesto, and wanting something green without having to order an entire salad, the cheese slice with pesto topping ($7) got me pretty close to the whole pie. Their Roni slice ($6) is equally mouthwatering, with a generous helping of pepperoni stacked and curled into little goblets of bright and glistening orange oil. However, the slices can be hit or miss — on my second visit I got a sad-looking corner slice with a meager serving of sauce and a warmed layer of cheese.
If you have any room at the end, consider trying their soft serve. The flavors rotate seasonally, and you can opt for one or a swirl of both. Choose the swirl, and get it with olive oil, a grassy, almost savory counterpoint to the ice cream. The cones are expensive ($8), but — if you’re willing to pay — quite groundbreaking. I tried their rhubarb and pistachio. The rhubarb was especially fruity and tangy; the pistachio was harder to pick out, but made a pleasant pairing.
Pizza Marvin is about a 15-minute walk from campus. Not exactly a pizza restaurant nor a pizza joint, it’s got just enough familiarity to invite you in and just enough funk to get you back.
Service: Friendly, relaxed, personable
Sound level: Quieter inside, louder music outside
Recommended dishes: House cheese with added pesto, spicy greens salad, pistachio and rhubarb soft serve
Hours: Monday-Sunday 12-10 PM
Price Range: Appetizers/Salads $9 - $15. Slices $4 - $6. Pizzas $19 - $28. Dessert $8.
Wheelchair accessibility: Wheelchair accessible
★★★★/5.
