Switch Brick-Oven Pizza & Wine Bar — Restaurant in Palestine

To begin, this is not your Domino's or Pizza Hut, It is a gourmet Italian restaurant which just happens to specialize in having fire-baked pizza. With that being said, they have one of the best brick-fire baked pizzas I have ever had. The pizzas are 10 inches (about the size of a large plate) and come in a variety of gourmet choices such as sun-dried tomato, chicken, Italian sausage, etc. ranging in price from $9-$18 a pizza. The fancier the toppings and combination, the higher the price. For instance, they have a shrimp scampi style pizza. The mozzarella was authentic and homemade (not that run of the mill store bought stuff), and the sauce also represented the same. The fire-baked crusted tasted just like it was made on an English Muffin, giving it the right amount of crunch while not being burn (slightly darkened because of the fire) and not completely raw, which lent to the overall great taste of the food. They serve alcohol and have a decent wine list ranging from $5-$15 a glass/$27 to $105 a bottle. They have a wine room in which you can actually view the wine that you wish to purchase, instead of just finding a name on a wine list. They have a rotating list of 6 different draft beers from microbreweries and such across the country. Again, gourmet alcohol selection, so don't expect $2 shots and a happy hour...instead be satisfied with a full-bodied, hopey beer for about $6-$12 a glass that you will not typically find at your local Walmart. The wait staff was courteous and fast; and the low-lighting along with the soft music playing in the background helped to set a perfect atmosphere...

Listen. If you are ever anywhere near Palestine Texas, you HAVE to eat at one of the most hidden delectable gems in all of Texas... honestly maybe the whole U.S. Switch-Brick Oven Pizza & Wine Bar. We have eaten here many times and are never disappointed. But tonight........... they had a special - a Rueben sandwich. I know, who would order a Rueben sandwich at a brick oven pizza/Italian restaurant, right? But my husband is a lover of Reubens. He makes his own. He makes his own Russian dressing. His are to die for no matter where we have ever had them. Until tonight. Y'all. Hands DOWN maybe the most delicious thing we have ever put in our mouths. The sous chef told us the sourkraut is the chef's grandma's recipe...aged for days (maybe longer, I can't remember!). The most tender EVER corned beef... aged for days (maybe longer??). Then the sous chef's own version of the 'russian dressing'. We were both trying to figure out what in the world it was made of. He came out and told us. We still wouldn't know how to make it but WOW. When food is made with such patience, love, and flavor like this.... you just HAVE to experience it. This blew our minds and tastebuds! No pic because we were lost in the moment, but honestly there is no picture that could have done it justice. Our server was the best ever as well! Chef Mike Clouse Sous Chef...

Please follow us on Facebook and Instagram at SNDTravels. What a neat place here in Palestine Tx. Good atmosphere and top notch friendly and attentive service. We all ordered the brick oven pizzas but they have a good variety on the menu of pasta, salads and steaks. The pizzas we tried were the Meatball, South street and the Cluck. Mine was the meatball and I enjoyed the way they crumbled the meatball instead of leaving it in big pieces as many places do. The house made sauce and mozzarella were enjoyed and not over abundant. The crust on all the pizzas was very thin with a nice crispy crust edge which I enjoyed because the flavor was there but didn't fill you up. The cluck was obviously chicken with carmelized onion, mozzarella and fontina cheese. Loaded up and cooked tender. The South street is very thinly sliced ribeye with carmelized onion, sauteed bell peppers and mozzarella cheese. Once again everything was good. The only complaint here was it could use just a little more ribeye. We tried the house made chips which everyone enjoyed and the garlic bread appetizers. Bread needed just a little more toasting but was still very good. Overall another great find and two thumbs up. ...