Center City Collision primarily serves the Norwood (45212), Oakley (45209), and Hyde Park (45208) neighborhoods…. there is so much to love about these neighborhoods and from time to time I’d like highlight some of our favorite things about the places we serve.

Oakley is home to our favorite pizza – Deweys. We regularly order mass quantities for the guys at our shop who love (ie destroy in about 5 minutes) the X-Pep(peroni). Our painter Aaron designed his own personal favorite – a white sauce, prochetta  with pesto. Then there’s the owner and his family who can be seen there multiple times a week enjoying a huge salad and a large Edgar Allen Poe. Red sauce on the side for dipping. Dewey’s has some great deserts but usually we’re too stuffed to enjoy them so we take a little stroll down the street to let things settle and then dip into Aglamesis Brothers for some of the best, old fashioned ice cream anywhere. Their root beer float is a favorite…

For lighter fare a couple other favorites are Red Tree Gallery and Essnecha.

Red Tree is an art gallery, coffee shop, and has some good eats as well including their quiche and breakfast burritos. The environment is artsy without being pretentious, simple but never boring. There’s a great vibe here that makes it great for meeting with friends.  There’s also free wireless if you want to work in a cool, quiet space on your own.

Essencha has the feel of a Japanese tea house… or least what I imagine one would be like. There is minimalist art on the walls, a huge selection of teas, and a knowledgeable staff that can guide you to new tea drinking experiences. While it took me a few tries to get used to it I ended up loving the Macha which is like the equivalent of a fine, select, exclusive espresso or wine… only tea. It is very green and has some big promises on the health/anti-oxidant side.

So there’s out little tour of some Oakley favorites. It will take multiple posts to get to everything we love about Oakley… but this is  a good start on the culinary side.