Portland is blessed with an abundance of pizza parlors, but the city's main drag has been woefully underserved when it comes to pies and slices. Not any more. Otto Pizza, at 576 Congress St. (near the Portland Museum of Art and across the street from Empire Dine & Dance), recently opened with thin crust pizzas. The counter service joint is owned by Anthony Allen (left) and managed by Mike Keon (right).

There's no set menu at this point, but you can buy slices ($3-$3.50) or whole pies ($12.99) and Anthony and Mike can accommodate most of the standard requests such as pepperoni, cheese or veggie. The cheese blend includes whole milk mozzarella, asiago and fontina. A selection of sandwiches, salads and scratch made cannolis will be added soon.

Anthony and Mike are using local ingredients whenever they can. Of course, you can't get more local than the potted herb garden they have growing in the front window. These fresh, savory seasonings are added to all the pies.

Next door, there's another cool new shop to check out. Good Earth Furniture opened roughly a week ago and is offering a unique line of furniture made from old shipping pallets and other reclaimed wood. Since shipping pallets are made from a wide variety of wood, including mahogany, oak and cherry, the furniture makers have plenty of choices. The business is owned by Dana Awtry and all the furniture is built in Portland.

When I stopped by, Annmarie Lunt was holding down the fort. She's a recent MECA grad with a BFA in woodworking and furniture design and says the job is a perfect fit for her. The company offers a wide-range of furniture pieces, from jelly cabinets to coffee tables. Annmarie says they always wait until a customer buys a piece before adding any shelving, as this allows the customer to specify what would work best.

For instance, this sweet-looking armoire (priced at $1,200) could be fitted with shelves to hold sweaters or configured to accommodate an entertainment system. Smaller cabinets generally range in price from $200-$400. The shop carries pottery by Leestice and has a few furniture pieces made by a local woman's grandfather who used wood reclaimed from a bar that operated in Portland in the 1700s.

Otto Pizza (at left) is open seven days a week. It stays open until 2 am Thur-Sat and is open until 9 pm the rest of the week. They will deliver pizzas within the immediate area. Call 773-7099 to order.

Good Earth Furniture is open from 9 am-5 pm, seven days a week. Custom orders are welcome. Call 603-738-7579 for more info.