On a cold and rainy Saturday night in Topeka, College Hill Pizza Pub was packed with students looking to grab a bite.

I entered the restaurant at 1418 SW Lane St. around 1:40 a.m. and then watched as the bar crowd began rolling in about 2 a.m. The crowd was steady, as servers took orders and then concurrently helped dish out piping hot 10” pizzas to customers.

It was my third time at College Hill Pizza Pub, and there’s a reason I will continue to return. The environment is cozy, with tables along the south wall. Most tables are equipped with small TV’s, and the walls are filled with beautiful photographs taken on the Washburn University campus.

Orders are taken in a sandwich shop style, as you select everything on your pizza, down to the cheese and sauce used. A one-topping pizza is $5 plus tax, and the restaurant also serves multiple alcoholic beverages and soft drinks.

When you get your pizza, you may wonder if it will be enough to feed your hefty pizza craving, but rest assured, these 10” pizzas pack more punch than you expected. Finishing three of the four slices, I’m full and ready to take my final piece home with me.

The restaurant itself can hold roughly 50 patrons, with room for 20-30 more on the outside patio (weather permitting.) On this Saturday, as patrons ran into the restaurant to dry off, I ordered a pepperoni pizza. Roughly 10 minutes after ordering, my name was called at the front counter, and I walked up to grab my box of pizza goodness.

Opening the box, the first thing I noticed was how hot my pizza was. It was to the point I burned my mouth my first bite. Granted, it was delicious, but I learned my lesson to let it cool off.

Looking at the other patrons around me, everyone was trying different toppings. That’s one virtue of the pizza pub. Their toppings consist of everything from pepperoni to green peppers to lamb. Yes, lamb. I compliment them on their originality in that regard.

As aforementioned, after three slices, I was down for the count. I couldn’t eat anymore. As I prepared to leave, I admired the fact this pizza joint was taking a chance telling patrons it’d stay open til 3 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. The restaurant is a nice break from the IHOP and Denny’s I regularly go to for late night eats.

So, in all, check out College Hill Pizza Pub. It’s different, it’s delicious, and best of all, it won’t break the bank. As a college student, that sounds like a home run to me.