Ami's

A'mis Italian Restaurant has been making pizza since 1981, they have two locations, St. Louis (Rockhill) and O'Fallon, MO. A'mis is a full service Italian restaurant dine-in, carry-out and delivery of the full menu. The menu includes salads, sandwiches, pasta, steaks, dinner specialties and 4 types of pizza. You can choose from St. Louis, New York, New York Manhattan (Big Slice) and Chicago Deep Dish. All but the St. Louis come with mozzarella cheese, the St. Louis comes with a mix of mozzarella and provel. You can get pizza by the slice from 11a.m. to 4p.m. from their luncheon specials. I had two criteria when I was researching pizza joints for the Binge; 1. the pizza joint should be locally owned and operated. 2. That they not have just St. Louis Style pizza. A'mis fit right in.

We started off and split a Ami's Salad with the House dressing, a creamy Italian. As the menu states, it's "a meal in itself". Split 4 ways was just about right. The home made creamy Italian house dressing was excellent, as was the rest of the salad, which included; lettuce, boiled eggs, Roma tomatoes, salami, ham, cheese homemade croutons, olives and small but very spicy peppers.

My dining companions on the stop are St. Louis pizza fiend so we had to get one Medium St Louis style. It was cut on the square and had pepperoni, hamburger and fresh mushrooms (their choice of toppings). The St Louis pizza fiends all agreed that it was one of the better pizzas they have had. I had 3 pieces and the first thing I noticed was the crust, I'm not sure how to explain it but it was better than your run of the mill St Louis style. I couldn't really tell a difference in the cheese, maybe with a provel only pizza for comparison that would be different. I'm only willing to say it was better than you typical Imo's pizza. May be with mozzarella cheese I would be willing to pay for it.

for the second pizza we ordered a large New York style with peperoni, hamburger and onion. I was a little disappointed that A'mis didn't offer Canadian bacon or ham as a topping. I can't remember the last time I was in a pizza joint that didn't have one or the other. I much prefer thinly sliced Canadian bacon, but thinly sliced ham is also OK. The crust quite good, was golden brown and needed some support for the first few bites. The bottom showed a small grid pattern across some but not all of it as though it was partially cooked on a screen, the menu states "Pizza on Bricks". No matter it was still good. The sauce was good but, there was just a bit more than I would have prefer ed. The cheese and toppings tasted great and were present in adequate quantity's, although one slice had very little cheese. The left overs from the New York pizza were quite good the next day. The St Louis pizza doesn't get the same mileage and never left the restaurant.

The dinning room is small, but big enough to keep you from bumping into your neighbor. The waitress were friendly, knowledgeable, and attentive. Overall the food was very good and yes "I would pay for it again". Our bill was just under $60 plus tip for 4 people. A'mis is located at 9824 Manchester Road in St Louis, MO. You can reach them at (314) 963-1822 or check out their web-site by clicking the title link.

Recommended.

GAW