At the heart of the Pinocchio story is a tale of longing, a wooden toy that yearns to be a real boy. I wasn't sure how Pinocchio related to pizzas but I went into Pinocchio's Pizzeria with an open mind.

The menu is extensive to say the least, even the pizzas come in four sizes (10, 12, 16 and 18 inch versions). Pizzas come in neopolitan, sicilian, regular and gourmet varieties($4.99-$22.99). Toppings include pepperoni, mushrooms, sausage, onions, green peppers, black olives, salami, bacon, ground beef, ham, meatballs, anchovies, spinach, broccoli, tomatoes and cappicola. I had the mini 10-inch neopolitan style pizza with pepperoni ($5.99) which had a golden thin crust and bright tomato sauce. There is a note that specialty pizzas including greek goddess (white pizza with feta cheese, greek olives, tomatoes, garlic and oregano, $11.84-$17.79) and hawaiian (ham and pineapple, $10.84-$16.84) take longer to prepare (approx. 20 minutes). 

If you want the pizza dough but want it in a neater package they have strombolis ($5.24-$12.09), calzones ($5.29-$11.79) and canoes ($4.99-$11.54) filled with various combinations of the same toppings for the pizzas. The chicken steak stromboli with chicken steak, sauce, mozzarella cheese, onions and green peppers sounds delicious.

Appetizers include all the usual suspects (chicken fingers, jalapeno poppers, potato skins, onion rings and french fries, $2.69-$6.69) and unexpected items like cheesesteak egg rolls ($6.64) and hummus platter ($7.99).

Burgers, hot dogs (all beef), steak sandwiches are also available.

For something cooler, there are club sandwiches (turkey & bacon, roast beef & cheese, ham & cheese and corned beef & swiss, $7.44), wraps (chicken caesar, chicken salad, tuna salad, turkey, ham & cheese, bbq chicken, $6.99) and hoagies/specialty sandwiches ($4.94-$6.74).

There are also small and large salads. I had the small tossed salad with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, olives, cucumbers, carrots and a side of house Italian dressing ($3.49) which was a nice accompaniment to my mini cheese pizza.

Though Pinocchio's has Coca-Cola products, the clear beverage choice is one of their 800 beers. You are reading that correctly. There are 800 beers to go and 23 rotating beers on draft. There are too many to name but I was impressed with the availability of Allegash White, which is an excellent beer to pair with fish.

The decor is family pizzeria with numerous wooden renderings of characters from the Pinocchio story adorning the walls. The service is friendly and casual and everyone seemed to be a regular...except me. I would head back there if I were in the area again.