Pizzas, ‘cheese salads’ and other favorites at LaBrasca’s
By Deena C. Bouknight
Special to Go Columbia
Regulars affectionately refer to the Italian salad with cheese as “cheese salad.”
Deena C. Bouknight
Special to Go Columbia
Love pizza? LaBrasca’s is your kind of place.
Check out the half-century popular LaBrasca’s special – with all available toppings, except for anchovies, piled thick with a substantial portion of fresh mozzarella melted on top.
Pizza is made to order as a mini (6 inches), medium (12 inches) or large (15 inches), with at least a dozen topping choices – everything from ham and bacon to artichokes and feta. And, yes, there are anchovies for those who love that classic topping on their pizzas.
Another favorite is the Italian salad with cheese, or as regulars call it, the “cheese salad” – given its name because the lettuce and tomatoes are covered in a snowy mound of freshly ground mozzarella. Salads, with or without cheese, are served with a special house dressing, and customers can add meats and other veggies for an upcharge to make the salad an entree. There are also baked chicken wings with sauces to choose from, as well as subs – Italian, meatball, and create your own.
For drinks, there are the sodas and sweet or unsweetened tea as well as beer and wine. A popular tradition at LaBrasca’s is for couples celebrating an anniversary to order a bottle of wine encased in a classic Italian fiasco basket; they drink the wine, write a message and their names on the basket encasing, and then the bottle is hung from the ceiling.
Desserts are the specialty of Milly Knuckley, a LaBrasca’s customer since childhood and one of the owners’ neighbors. She has worked at LaBrasca’s for many years and makes, from scratch, vanilla bean and Oreo cheesecakes, plus a specialty cheesecake that is her creation: caramel delight and Girl Scout cookie, for example. Her Oreo cheesecake earned a second-place ribbon in the S.C. State Fair last year.
How did LaBrasca’s get its start?
George LaBrasca and Jack Jackson partnered on the venture in 1966, bringing pizza to Columbia when there were few options. Thus began a tradition that many generations of Columbia families have enjoyed. Some sit at the same table every week; some order the same items. Some have signed Chianti fiasco bottles that hang from the ceiling. Some have made it their place of employment for many years.
Brett Wilson, who began working at LaBrasca’s as a teenager, eventually purchased the iconic pizza joint in 1998 from Jackson, who had become sole owner. Wilson’s goal has been to preserve the feel and flavor of LaBrasca’s because that is what customers have long wanted and expected. Even after flood waters from Gills Creek damaged parts of the restaurant, it was renovated and restored – with help from the community – to continue the same look.
The dining rooms at LaBrasca’s are dated but comfortable. When Gills Creek flooded the restaurant in 2015, a renovation restored its original look. Deena C. Bouknight Special to Go Columbia
What does LaBrasca’s look like?
LaBrasca’s look is dated – but in a familiar, welcoming way. Photographs in one of three dining areas convey the history of the place, wine bottles hang from the ceiling, and a large mural of the Leaning Tower of Pisa decorates the space. Seating is for more than 100, and large parties often occupy one of the dining areas.
Who eats here?
LaBrasca’s has long been a family gathering place.
“I and many others have grown up on LaBrasca’s pizza,” Knuckley said. “When I was growing up, we would always have it on Saturday night, and then we would eat leftover cold LaBrasca’s pizza for breakfast on Sunday morning before church.”
It is also common to see the same groups of friends meeting week after week at the same tables. Plus, sports teams have made this one of their go-to places after games and events. Customers also are drawn from nearby Fort Jackson and from the King’s Grant neighborhood and Lake Katherine area.
