Giorgina's Pizza Features A Healthy And Varied Menu

I'll be blunt: I loved Giorgina's Pizza on Capitol Hill because I was able to put one over on my daughters.

Without their suspecting it, they ate healthy food, pizza in fact, that was low in salt and sugar and was preservative-free.

And with its olive-oil-crisped crust and fresh ingredients, gee it was tasty!

Giorgina's is a small - 11 tables - nicely decorated place owned by Marlis Korber. She opened it almost five years ago, naming it after her parents, George and Eugenie, and borrowing the pizza-crust recipe from the Sicilian family that ran a pizzeria in her New York neighborhood.

When we entered, my kids immediately went for the pink coloring paper and big box of crayons (the finished results Korber displays on a back wall) while I ordered.

That was no easy task. Where most pizza places offer perhaps a dozen toppings, Giorgina's has 30 - including homemade sausage, broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, artichokes and pesto. For those who don't want to choose, Giorgina's offers 10 vegetarian combos and 10 meat combos.

All pizzas are 17 inches; they can be ordered by the whole or half, at prices ranging from $5 for half a cheese to $21.35 for a full-size three-meat special. Pizza by the slice also is available.

We decided on kid-pleasing homemade sausage for the whole pizza, then topped one side only with adult stuff: fresh roasted garlic, sauteed eggplant and feta cheese. With toppings priced individually from 75 cents to $1.95, ours came to $14.15.

To accommodate little hands, Giorgina's suggests cutting the pie into 12 slices, instead of the normal eight.

Giorgina's also offers calorie-reduced pizza, four kinds of salads, three sandwiches, one soup and a meatless spaghetti. The daughter we long ago nicknamed ``Spaghettihead'' for her winning way with sauce insisted on a side order ($1.99) of the stuff. Chunky with freshly sauteed vegetables, the sauce was absolutely celestial, we all agreed as we fought over it.

As for the pizza, it was distinctive and flavorful. The eggplant was an unexpectedly wonderful touch.

``People eat more pizza than hamburger,'' Korber told me. ``It's a much healthier way to eat.''

And the way Giorgina's makes it, delicious, too.

Restaurant: Giorgina's, 131 15th Ave. E., Seattle; 329-8118.

Hours: Monday-Thursday: 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday: 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Saturday: 4 p.m.-11 p.m.; Sunday: 4 p.m.- 10 p.m.

High chairs/booster chairs: yes.

Children's menu: no.

Non-smoking area: yes

Beverages: beer, wine.

Taking the Kids appears the first and third Saturdays of each month. Seattle Times reviewers visit restaurants anonymously and unannounced. They pay for all food, beverages and service. They interview restaurant staff only after meals have been appraised.