Tags: Italian | pasta | pizza

Well, if you've been in Prague for any amount of time, one thing you'll be thankful for is the presence of Italians in this city pareks and roliks.

And thankful not just for the architecture and the attentions paid to the style of clothing either. You'll be thankful for the pizza. You'll give up thanks to whatever it is that made the universe, but you will also curse it as well, because there are so many great ones to choose from.

One of my favorites has to be Pizza Coliseum on Vodickova, tucked away, downstairs behind the nasty KFC, next to the Lucerna complex.

With over 20 pizzas and calzones to choose from, you're in for a little bit of decision making, that's if you pass up the pastas, steaks, fish, and delicious little salad bar. I always try to order something different each time I go, and I've barely made a dent in the menu. Tops on my list is Fettuccine con carne di pollo, a heaping helping of pasta and chicken with the most perfect sauce (sorry, mom)!

Sticking to my New Dish Rule, the Linguine con gamberi was quite tasty, but pizza is where you get the selection: Quattro formaggi (four cheeses) is absolute perfection, and if you're feeling carnivorous, go for the Quattro stagioni, smothered with ham, mozzarella, salami and artichokes, hmmm...

Of course they carry a full range of beverages and the dessert are quite nice if you have the room (you won't). Tables can be hard to get, diners break down into two categories: Those who eat quick on their way out on the town, and those who come here to wile the evening away with good friends, good food, good drinks in a comfortable atmosphere.

For authenticity, Pizza Coloseum wins hands down. A basement grotto with wicker acoutrements and soft lighting gives the stone walls and wooden furniture a real romantic air. This makes it the perfect place to bring a friend you'd like to know a little better as you share a bottle of wine or two and some rich, succulent, stone-oven baked pizza pies.

Also notable here are the pastas and lasagnas, so if you're getting tired of pizzas, take a break and explore the tastescape of pizzas' old-world cousins.