Italian Touch Pizza

On Monday, August 13, 2013 my daughter and I had lunch in Winchester at Italian Touch Pizza, 229 South Loudoun Street. It offers dine-in, take out, and delivery service. The phone number is (540) 667-0008. Hours are 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM Monday-Saturday, and 11:30 AM to 10:00 PM on Sunday.

The restaurant has three rooms. The main dining area is in the center room, and has two booths along the front window. Five booths are along the left wall and tables for four are along the right wall.

The room on the right houses the lounge, which has its own entrance from the street. It has an L-shaped bar with perhaps ten stools, a couple of booths along one wall and tables seating six along the other wall. There's TV here, and sports memorabilia posted everywhere.

The room on the left as you enter was not being used at lunch time; it had the appearance of a banquet room. It was set up with tables along the outside wall, and also along the divider separating it from the center room.

A Lunch Special menu is available from 10:30 AM to 3:00 PM. The regular menu's categories are From the Fryer, Buffalo Wings, Dessert, Entrees, Pizza New York Style, Fat Boys, Hoagies, Hot Subs, Philly Steak Subs, Wraps, Kid's Menu, Chicken Subs, Calzone and Stromboli, Salads, and Beverages.

We each ordered from the Entrees Menu. My daughter chose Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, and I had Egg Plant Parmigiana without Spaghetti. These orders included a generous tossed salad and homemade bread, but no seasoned olive oil accompanied the bread.

My daughter was pleased with her spaghetti, but ate only half of it and took the rest home. My egg plant was merely OK. Parmigiana should be layered with cheese and tomato sauce and then baked; but my serving apparently had been baked with cheese, and then the tomato sauce was poured on.

The waitress said that consideration is being given to an outside dining arrangement, possibly by demolishing the section of the building along the side street for a patio, or perhaps by providing a rooftop facility.

Several restaurants have previously operated at this location. It has been the Italian Touch for the past three years. Before that it was Donato's Italian Restaurant; when I dined there in 2005 it was the Roma Garden. In 1999 it was called Kirky's, which followed the Neighborhood Family Restaurant.

When my wife and I moved to Winchester in the summer of 1982 the place was called the Cannonball Restaurant. During the Civil War a cannonball passed completely through the wall of the house on this site, and a replica of a cannonball is attached to the side wall of the present building.