There’s something about tomato sauce that I adore, so much so that it’s a staple in my family’s weekly meal prep: lasagna and pasta, as well as a dipping sauce for pepperoni quesadillas and Italian grilled cheese sandwiches. My favorite way to get my red sauce fix is in pizza.

Don’t get me wrong, cheap and easy Costco pizza is delicious. But I’ve found my new go-to spot if I’m craving any sort of specialty pie: Aroma Italia Pizzaria & Gelateria in Manoa Marketplace. It’s my favorite of Aroma Italia’s two locations (the other is on Monsarrat) because the pizza sizes are bigger (13 and 16 inches compared to Monsarrat’s 8 and 13 inches) and Manoa serves up gelato. Plus, Manoa is closer to where we live.

Pizzas at Aroma Italia are made to order, so expect a little bit of a wait — but it’s very much worth it. Confident (and very hungry), I dove into my 13-inch burratella ($25) pie, determined to completely savor the cold, fresh burrata as it melded with the piping hot pizza topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, tomatoes, arugula, pesto, Parmesan, olive oil and balsamic. My eyes, however, were bigger than my stomach, and I couldn’t finish it. There was a brief moment of despair because I wasn’t sure how the burrata would hold up in the fridge, but when I devoured my leftovers during dinner, it was still pretty darn delicious. Granted, the burrata took on more of a mozzarella texture after being chilled, but I also love mozzarella, so it worked out in the end.

My husband got the 13-inch cannibale ($24) that features tomato sauce, mozzarella, turkey pepperoni, beef sausage, beef meatballs, olives, mushrooms, bell peppers and olive oil. It’s the perfect pizza for the meat-lover in your life. And while you’d expect a pie of this magnitude to be heavy, it does a good job of being packed with protein without leaving you feeling sluggish after, which I attribute to the quality of the meats.

Note: The burratella and cannibale are only available on the Manoa menu. But, good news, you can add additional toppings whether you’re at Manoa or Monsarrat. If you’re feeling hungry, get extra pepperoni ($4), shrimp ($5), olives ($3.25), arugula ($3.25), garlic ($2.50), burrata ($6) and more.
At an attempt to be somewhat healthy, we also ordered an arugula salad ($14) that’s topped with tomatoes, red onions, shaved Parmesan, a vinaigrette dressing, olive oil and a balsamic glaze.

I mention health because I recently had blood work done, which prompted my doctor to tell me to cut down on the sweets. All this to say that I didn’t even get to try the gelato. I had my eye on the pistachio flavor, but tore my eyes away, telling myself that I could indulge another day. After hearing the “yums” coming from the family sitting at the table near us, I can only assume that it’s as good as I’ve heard.

Aroma Italia Pizzaria & Gelateria

Address 
2756 Woodlawn Drive Ste. 6-101, Honolulu

Phone
808-492-1221

Hours
11 a.m.-8:30 p.m. daily

Website
aromaitaliahawaii.com/manoa

Instagram:
@aromaitaliahawaii

Food: 4/5
Price: $
Ambiance: 3/5 
Service: 4/5
Parking: free at Manoa Marketplace