Campus Pollyeyes

The website for Pagliai's Pizza and Campus Pollyeyes tells the "legend" of the opening of the restaurants in Bowling Green. I'm going to open with a selection from that history:

"...our story begins, in 1967, with a nineteen year old Missouri born pizza maker named George Nicholson. George had spent his early years mastering his trade under the tutelage of the Pagliai's brothers, Salvatori, Armond and Haldo, who had built a chain of pizzerias which stretched across Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois. One day, after having passed through a college town in Northwest Ohio called Bowling Green, Salvatori thought, rightfully so, that this town would be an ideal location for the first (and to this day the only) Pagliai's Pizza in Ohio. When George was given the opportunity to relocate from their location in Iowa City to Bowling Green to open up the pizza house, he jumped at it.

Pagliai's opened for business at 1004 South Main in 1967, across the street from the present location, with George and a handful of employees under him. Cheese pizzas for ninety cents and bottles of pop for a dime caught on... in a big way. In 1969, hot subs and the first salad bar in town were added. In 1976, having outgrown its current location, the business moved across the street to its current location at 945 South Main. In 1978, a second pizzeria was established at 440 East Court Street and named Campus Pollyeyes. The name changed to a more phonetic spelling to avoid confusion."

I included this story because I found it to be interesting, and also because this is the first time I have seen an explanation of why the names of the two restaurants are spelled differently. I've pondered this all my life, and the answer has been waiting in plain sight for who knows how long.

Campus Polleyes, in my opinion, is quite different than its predecessor. Pagliai's has a pizza, soup and salad buffet, and a bunch of Italian recipes on their menu. I had to look to see what else the Campus joint sells, because I've only ordered one thing from them, ever, and that's stuffed breadsticks.

They're kind of pricey, but the stuffed breadsticks are worth it. There's nothing else like them in town. They'll take pretty much anything they have in the restaurant and bake them in some dough with cheese and top it with garlic butter. Six come in a full order, but if it's just you, I'd advise three unless you want leftovers. Three breadsticks has always been considered a full meal by anyone I know.  That whole order will run you around $14, but there's coupons on their website that can bring it down to $11 or $12. I always get chicken and cheese with ranch (you choose a dipping sauce), but there's all kinds of other stuff to get, like steak or roast beef.

I don't visit Campus Pollyeyes in person very often, but it seems like a decent enough place. They have beer on tap (a nice selection, too), and it's close to campus at 440 East Court Street. They also serve pizza, sandwiches, salads, and more. Check out the rest of their menu with these PDF  links to the Carryout and Dine-In menus. Call for delivery at 419-352-9638.