After stuffing ourselves on the usual Christmas feast of gumbo, turkey, ham, and more starchy sides than I care to mention, my brother Vincent and I decided to go check out a new pizzeria near our house, Oscar’s Ice Cream & Pizza Joint.

Oscar's Ice Cream & Pizza Joint

Oscar’s is occupying two suites of what used to be Heads ‘n’ Tails Seafood on Perkins Rd, one suite housing the ice cream shop, and the other the main restaurant. When Vincent and I stopped in for lunch, the small main dining room was not full, but had two or 3 larger parties dining in, a pretty good sign for a holiday afternoon. Oscar’s has a number of really interesting pizza combinations, and we decided to split a 12″ D&A Gumbo (Smoked duck, alligator sausage, andouille sausage & green onion on a roux based tomato gravy):

D&A Gumbo

D&A Gumbo Slice

I think Vincent and I have both had alligator before, so there wasn’t much of a flavor surprise there. I hate to say it, but alligator (in grilled form) pretty much does taste like chicken, just chewier. The fact that this was alligator sausage made a difference, because we got more of the sausage seasoning (which was quite good) than any strong alligator taste. The duck was really nicely cooked–nicely crisped skin and not at all tough. I didn’t catch much of the “roux-based tomato gravy until I swiped off a finger-full near the edge of a slice. It did taste differently than regular pizza sauce, but wasn’t especially noticeable under everything else. Overall, we both enjoyed this spicy pizza, but agreed that it didn’t taste anything like gumbo.

Afterward, we walked next door to try some ice cream. You can order ice cream within the restaurant, but you have to get it as part of a larger dessert and can’t mix flavors. There are also additional “specialty” flavors in the shop next door. I got a scoop of amaretto cheesecake and one of cafe au lait, and Vincent tried out cinammon and pralines & cream. The flavors were good, but I thought the ice cream was more icey than creamy. Oscars’ website lists a ton of really interesting flavors, but not nearly all of them were available when we visited. I’d love to try more of them, even though it wasn’t necessarily the best ice cream I’ve ever had.

Oscar’s Ice Cream and Pizza Joint is a great new addition to the Baton Rouge restaurant scene. They have some really intriguing specialty pizzas I’m looking forward to trying next time I visit (Pig & Fig, Muffuletta Pie, All That Jazz). They list their daily specialty slice on their Facebook page (I’d suggest Twitter too, guys!), which is offered as a lunch special along with soup or salad for $7.99. I think Oscar’s will quickly give Fleur de Lis a run for its money for “Best Pizza in Town”. They offer more variety and a much better ambiance, including a full bar and flat screens for checking out those LSU and Saints games.

www.icecreamandpizzajoint.com