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Published On:Wednesday, January 27, 2010

By REUBEN SHEARER

Tribune Features Reporter

rshearer@tribunemedia.net

Carl's Pizza boasts that since they are a Bahamian based company, they are heads above the competition.

No, they don't have a research lab or marketing budget, but as Lynden Tinker says, "they know what people like."

It's a family business, controlled by he and his wife, Astrid Tinker who seems particularly excited to talk about their line of pizzas, just introduced in July of last year.

Everything on their menu is culturally relevant as far as food goes, says Mrs Tinker. There's Conch Salad, All Da' Meat, Veggie, Bigshot, Da' Callaloo, and Out Da' Sea pizzas, and garlic and barbecue chicken wings on their menu.

The conch salad pizza is a particular hit, topped with chunks of conch, and garnished with green peppers, onions and crushed pepper.

The Tinkers say the response from the public has been phenomenal, despite the fact the fact that they are located off the beaten path-( although adventurous tourists have spotted the store) on Romer Street off Fox Hill Road. Their customer base is purely word of mouth or the occasional person who happens to pass the restaurant and see the big sign they have plastered up.

Carl's Pizza has also become innovative and efficient, delivering pizza on scooters and their signature vehicles with the Carl's Pizza logo also serves as effective advertising.

When Tribune Taste arrived for our lunch interview on Monday, Astrid Tinker, the bubbly co-owner and wife of Lynden seemed particularly excited about their pizza brand.

The pair's daughter Maradona is the all-around woman, driving their restaurant's scooter around town to deliver and "rendezvous" with customers if they must meet them at a closer location that is out of their delivery boundaries.

The restaurant prides itself on its pizza toppings which include salami, jalapeno, diced ground beef, mushrooms, onions, shrimp, and more unusual hogfish and grouper. They have just introduced 3 pizzas to the menu- Da' Callaloo, Out Da' Sea and Da' Gal'lic Chicken, which is topped with chicken marinated in garlic and sautéed onions. Pineapple is a topping used on most pizzas, but at Carl's Pizza, they use ripe plantain on their pizzas to give it that sweet bite of flavor.

"Bahamians like food with taste, so we fix it the way you would eat it at home," Mr Tinker said. "I season it the way Bahamians like their fish and conch seasoned."

"We have a ball and we are a very big happy family," says Astrid Tinker.