Hawthorne’s gives kids fresh dough to play with. This is Chris’ mature creation.

It’s true: nothing beats NY pizza. Charlotte transplants say it’s the water used for the dough. Natives say northerners are food snobs. Whatever your take, pizza is a weekly–or even daily–food source for families on-the-go.

Our family only indulges in pizzas crafted by family-owned pizzerias. So we were skeptic on our first visit to Hawthorne’s NY Style Pizza in Ballantyne. The setting is more sports-bar than pizza spot. But one look at their menu (pizza and pastas and salads) and we were hooked.

So far, the Spinach Pesto and Buffalo Chicken are our top pizza picks. The Chopped Salad tastes fresh and is easy for our 2-year-old to nibble (the Hawthorne salad, with larger lettuce pieces, not so much). Oh, and kids eat free on Tuesday (from the kids’ menu, but still!) Our server–from Belmar, NJ–was sweet and attentive and didn’t mind when Niko karate-chopped her about 1500 times. If you sit on the patio, it’s breezy and spacious for antsy kids to get up after they inhale their meal–giving adults plenty of time to eat and sip a local beer. Hop, Drop and Roll from local NoDa Brewing Company is our favorite American IPA-style beer. Ever. And we drink. A lot. Can you blame us?

We give Hawthorne’s Twelve Thumbs Up!