Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Racanelli's New York Style Pizzeria

It's my birthday and I will eat pizza if I want to. Ok so it's not my birthday today, but it was yesterday and believe it or not I was forced to eat Steak... but my co-workers came through big time with pizza today.

Racanelli's New York Style Pizzeria is a family owned local chain that first opened in University City in 1994, now they have 6 locations including St Peters, the source of pizza for this review. Their menu includes salads, appetizers, sandwiches, Stromboli, calzone and of course pizza. Aside from the hand tossed crust you can also get their version of the pan pizza called the Sicilian. The standard cheese is mozzarella, but you can also get feta, ricotta and cheddar cheese on your pie.

It was my birthday so they ordered my standard: pepperoni, ham (Canadian bacon is not offered), meatballs and onions. The pizza was a large (18in), and cut into 8 slices, so they required some support for the first few bites. The edge of the crust is a bit chewy but quite good. The sauce was evenly spred in the proper amount, not to much not to little. The ingredients were all good. The meatballs were very good, but I would have liked to have seen a few more on the pizza as there were a couple of slices with only one meatball. We also got a half meatball parmigianna (meatballs with mozzarella and ricotta cheese), half Veggie, both of which are on Racanelli's specialty pizza list. It too was a large (18in) and could have used a few more meatballs. Although I didn't sample the veggie portion of the pie I did try the meatball parmigianna. The ricotta cheese adds a whole new texture to the pizza. The ricotta doesn't really melt in the same way as the mozzarella, so they remain separate. I probably wouldn't order it myself but I wouldn't turn my nose up at it if somebody else was flipping the bill. (It should be noted that I found both pizza's to be as good if not better the next day after about 45 sec in the microwave. I much prefer to use a toaster oven for left over pizza, but at work it is a microwave on nothing)

The pizza was good and my standard pass's the "Would I pay for it again" test. As stated above I would like to see a little bit more toppings on the pizza's (my standard in a large runs almost $25). Racanelli's New York Style Pizzaeria is located at 3945 Mid Rivers Mall Dr. in St Peters, MO. You can reach them at (636) 447-1999, for more information check out their web-site(click on the title link).

Recommended.

GAW

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Tomatoes Pizzeria.

I have recently learned that one of my favorite pizza joints Tomatoes Pizzeria has closed. Tomatoes was not easy for me to get to it was about 26 miles round trip from my home so I only made it there to eat a few times a year, But I talked it up to anybody that would listen. When topic of pizza came up I always recomended Tomatoes Pizzeria. Maybe if I had made the trip a few more times a year they would still be there... or maybe I should...

It's to bad that it's gone I'll miss the great pizza, salad with anchovy dressing and those garlic bread knots. Those bread knots had quite the bite.

If you have a favorite Pizza joint give them your business every chance you get you just don't know what the future will bring.

Tomatoes Pizzeria you will be sorely missed.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Napoli Pizza

It's your boss's birthday so what should his dedicated employees do? Well order him pizza of course, and from his favorite pizza joint.

Napoli Pizza is located in St Peters, MO. and has been there since 2004, maybe longer. It's a family owned pizzeria. They fall into the full service Pizza joint with eat-in, carry-out and delivery. Besides Pizza they also have soup, salads, pasta, sandwiches, entrees, stromboli, calzone and desserts. Napoli will make your pizza with their signature hand tossed crust or you can get it with a St. Louis thin crust or a thick crust. They have a wide variety of specialty pizza's including Taco pizza, BBQ Chicken, and Marinara pizzas (made with sweet pasta sauce). You can also choose from mozzarella, provel, parmesan, ricotta and provolone cheeses for your pie.

Some how I convinced the boss that he wanted a pepperoni, Canadian bacon, meatball and red onion pizza on a hand toss crust, my favorite. We also ordered a pepperoni pizza that was all gone before I could sample it. To me this pizza was a feast for the eyes, The golden brown crust with crispy bits of cheese, the large pieces of meatballs, the pepperonis, the scattered Canadian bacon and the randomness of the red onions. Visually it's perfect. To the taste buds it's nearly the same (nearly perfect, it can't be perfect as that would end my journey). Not unexpectedly the slice needs some support on the skinny end when you pick it up. The meatballs are seasoned nicely, the pepperoni has just the right amount of bite to it, the Canadian bacon is slice to the perfect thickness and the red onions have sweetened up just right. It is music to your mouth or at least to my mouth. Then you get to the golden brown crust, crispy and chewy at the same time, defiantly not to be left on you plate (eat it).

The pizza was great, not only does Napoli Pizza pass the "Would I pay for it again" test (in a heart beat), but it's pretty close to the top of my favorite pizza joints list. I will be visiting Napoli Pizza again in the near future in order to sample the house anchovy Italian salad dressing (I just love a good salad with my pizza), the Marinara pizza and the Pizza Nutella for dessert. Napoli Pizza is located at 7114 Mexico Rd at Mid Rivers Mall Dr in St Peters, MO. You can reach them at (636) 397-7499, for more information check out their web-site(click on the title link).

Highly Recommended.

GAW