Obama orders pizza from St Louis. Chicago turns Red!!!

Our president (who prior to taking up residents at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave claimed Chicago as home) ordered pizza for 140 guests to be delivered from Pi in St Louis, MO so it should come as no surprise that Chicagoland pizza makers are turning RED. What makes it all the more interesting is that Pi makes Chicago style pizza...

For the rest of the story click on the title link.

GAW

11,000 free pizza's and I didn't get one.

Domino's may need a bailout after giving away 11,000 medium pizza's last Monday. If you ordered on-line and typed "bailout" into the coupon section you would get a free pizza. Either somebody at the big house forgot they set-up the code, or maybe they didn't...

For the complete story click the title link.

Don't expect a review of Domino's anytime soon, unless somebody sends me a free one. Yes I'm a pizza slut and I will almost any pizza if it's free. GAW

G&D Pizzaria

G & D Pizzaria of Columbia, MO was opened for business in February 1977, by two brothers from Katerini, Greece, and to this day is still owned and operated by them. In fact both brothers were there in the open kitchen when I picked up my pizza. G & D Pizzaria is not your typical pizza joint as you can tell as soon as you pick their menu, the sub-title reads "Delicious Pizza * Choice Steaks". I would still call them a full service pizza joint. There pizza toppings include items such as gyro, artichoke hearts, shrimp and even broccoli. You can also get feta or pepper cheese on your pie. Besides pizza they have sandwiches (hamburgers to subs), steaks & entrees (including a 15oz New York Strip, broiled salmon and spaghetti) and all of the sides to go along. There is also a small section of Greek food on the menu including Gyros, Souvlaki (chunks of pork on a pita), spaghetti (with feta, oregano, olive oil, and tomatoes), and two kinds of salad. If you have room at the end of your meal they even have baklava.

I ordered a medium pepperoni, Canadian bacon, ground beef and onion. The total for the 12" pie was just under $18. The first thing you notice is that all of the toppings are under the cheese, except for the stray piece of Canadian bacon and onion. The second thing is the beautiful dark golden brown crust. The pizza is cut on the square so that you end up with 4 small corners of crust with just a little cheese on them, they call to you in a small voice the whole way home "eat me... eat me...". I suffered all the way home so that I could photograph the whole pie. The ride home (were I was staying, not really my home over 2 hours away) was a bit longer than I normally do for carry out, even so the pizza was all most the perfect temperature when I started eating. There is a generous amount of cheese and toppings, the stand out being the ground beef. The ground bee is cooked up to a very fine texture and becomes one with the sauce once on the pie. It can be messy as it has a tendency to fall our, the rest of the toppings are encased in the cheese. The pepperoni, Canadian bacon and onions all have great taste and are in just the right amount. The crust... WOW! The crust is that dark golden brown, and the bottom of the pie is just a little bit darker. The center squares do need some support (I believe the crust softened some during my long drive home).

G & D Pizzaria is in a class all by it's self, and is definitely on my list for a return visit. If you find your self hungry and in Columbia, MO it would be worth your time to visit G & D Pizzaria. G & D Pizzaria is located in the Crossroads West Shopping Center at the corner of W. Broadway and S. Stadium Blvd Columbia, MO. You can reach them at (573) 445-8336, for more information check out their web-site(click on the title link).

Highly Recommended.

GAW

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

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

Pizza Works

Pizza Works, I have a bit of history with this pizza joint starting before I was old enough to drive. When one of my school buddy's (J.U.B.) got his license it was like getting out of prison, at least to a 15 year old living in a town of about 700-800 people with one stop sign, a gas station and a beer joint. A car load of us would go to the Pizza Works pool our money and order a pizza, typically we ate the majority of the pizza with the rest expertly applied to the wall's, table, seats, floor, and window. We were only asked to leave a few times and occasionally we were threatened by the waitress to clean up our mess or else!

I turned 16 in 1984 and became the owner of a 1973 VW Super beetle (see Pizza Files post). I soon found out that gas money didn't grow on trees, so I made the rounds to the Wal-Marts (just think how much stock I would have if I had got that job and still worked there today, I would probably still be mopping the floors, but...), IGA's, McDonald's, etc. At some point I found my self filling out a application at of all places Pizza Works. I learned quite a few lessons while working there.
1. It can be a lot of fun working in a pizza joint.
2. It can be a lot of WORK working in a pizza joint.
3. If you work at a pizza joint everybody you know wants free pizza.
4. How to mop the floor.
5. How to make a really good pizza.
6. To despise insulate teenagers that make a mess for the sake of making a mess (I think that was me).
7. To like and/or eat onions, mushrooms, olives and anchovies.
I worked at Pizza Works until Christmas Eve 1986 when I had had enough, I left the manager a note stating I wouldn't be back, EVER! Some time after that I became a customer again, a better customer this time, I didn't blow the tip money in video games and I didn't make anywhere near as big a mess.

To my knowledge Pizza Works has been around since the early 1980's with at least 5 or 6 restaurants. The first being in Mexico, MO, I don't recall the other locations out side of Moberly. They were owned by a couple of Guys named Ken and Bruce, whom I met once or twice while working there.

Pizza Works has a pizza style all their own, with their crust being what sets them apart from the rest. The crust has a uniform thickness that gives it some structure when holding it. It is cooked in a pizza pan with a small lip so that the sauce and other ingredients don't run over the edge of the crust. When done the crust is light golden brown and just a bit crispy on the bottom. The dough and pizza sauce were made fresh on site in the past and I suspect they still are. The pizza's are round but cut on the square. It must be a mental thing but I prefer their pizza square cut over pie.

At this point I would normally tell you that I ordered pepperoni, Canadian bacon, meatballs and onions, or some variation of that pie, but it's a different story at the Pizza Works. My favorite is the BJ special (named I believe after one of the owners Bruce Johnson?), it has pepperoni, sausage, onions and a dash of parmasan on top (before baking) of course there is also a thick mild red sauce and a generous helping of mozzarella cheese. One of the things that make the BJ special different is that the pepperonis and sausage are under the cheese, the other is that the sausage is used very sparingly, and for me a little sausage goes a long way. The combination works great, the sausage doesn't have a chance to overpower the other ingredeants. As stated above the crust is sturdy and can be easily handled with one hand (forks not allowed). I usually order mine to go, and this time was no exception. By the time you get home the pizza will have reached that ideal eating temperature. If I'm the only one eating I must physically restrain my self from eating the whole pizza, and you can imagine how hard that is...

My take-out expirance was excellent, and the pizza passes the "Would I pay for it?" test with a most definently Yes. Pizza Works is located at 319 N Morley St. Moberly, MO. You can reach them at (660) 263-8102.

Highly Recommended.

GAW

East Coast Pizza

East Coast Pizza located in Chesterfield Valley has been around for several years. It is a family owned and operated pizza joint. Their Menu states they are from Philly and New York and that they lived in New Jersey for years. The Philly influence is seen in their menu with items like TastyKake's for dessert and Amoroso Bakery rolls for their sandwiches, both famous Philadelphia landmarks.

East Coast Pizza is what I would call a full service pizza joint. They have everything; soups, salads, appetizers, pizza, calzone - stromboli, hot & cold sandwiches, dinners and desserts. You can get your pizza by the slice or whole pie. They have hand tossed and Chicago style crust with homemade red sauce, you can also get both crust as White Pizza (mozzarella cheese, garlic, olive oil and parmesan cheese).

For me it was the usual hand tossed crust with pepperoni, meatballs, ham and onions. Leena my reviewing apprentice ordered a slice of cheese pizza. First thing you notice is the crust is a bit thinner and crispier than what you might find at other New York style pizzerias in the area. The crust still needs support when hot though. Next is that the meatballs are no longer in the form of meatballs, but more of a seasoned finely ground beef. The pepperonis were not overly spicy, the ham was thinly slice and the onion's were chopped. The cheese is of course Mozzarella. The toppings were all fresh with good taste. The sauce was a bit on the mild side. The cheese pizza could have used a little more cheese in my book (yes I was allowed one small bite), but was well liked by my 5 year old apprentice.

Overall the pizza was quite good. Not necessarily at the top of my list, but it passes the "Would I pay for it again" test. In fact East Coast Pizza is on my list for a few return visits as I need to try the White Pizza, the Philly Cheese Steak (their from Philly so it's got to be good right?) and I have yet to sample the TastyKake's. East Coast Pizza is located at 17304 Chesterfield Airport Rd at Boone's Crossing in the Vally. You can reach them at (636) 536-7888, for more information check out their web-site(click on the title link).

Recommended.

GAW

Pizza House, Merrill's Pizza or...

The phone rings, when I answer it's my contact. "How many do you want? I need to know by tomorrow". My reply as always is "I can do three, let me know when they are ready". Let me set the record straight right here, I said contact and that would be my pizza contact, not my drug dealer.

To make a long story short, this review starts in the early 70's, and if you read my earlier post you will have read a bit about the Pizza House and my humble beginnings in the world of pizza. So in the beginning (1970's) there was the Pizza House, next came Merrill's Pizza (mid 80's), the short lived McKenisey Junction steak house (late 90's early 00's) that sold more pizza than steak, until the new highway came along. When McKenisey Junction was closed we (Pizza House fans, I'm not alone) thought that was the end, but as you can see from the photo above we were wrong. I don't know who's idea it was, Merrill's (chief pizza maker and all around good guy) or a fan, but with in a year's time word spread Merrill would be making pizza again. The way it works is, Merrill goes down his phone list asking how many they want and telling them when the pizza's will be ready. Ever since his phone list has grown, he makes something like 800 pizza's a session. My contact and I are small time, combined we may order up to 10 pizza's. Once the call comes in I have about 2 weeks to plan the 6 hour round trip to pickup my pizza's. My 3 pies will last about 4-5 weeks, with the first gone within 2-3 days.

Once the pizza's are in my freezer, I'm only 20 minutes away from 35 years ago. Preheat the oven to 450, place the pizza directly on the middle rack and cook for 15 minutes, put it in the pizza box, cut it into 8 pieces, and close the box and let it rest for a few minutes. When you open the box it's just like you walked in the house from the pizza joint, if you really want the proper experience sit in your car with the pizza for 10 minutes (if you can last that long). I'm a creature of habit, so this is the same pizza we would order back in the day. Back then it was a Spartan Special with hamburger, today it's pepperoni, Canadian bacon, and hamburger. Starting at the bottom, the crust is thin, but not so thin it can't hold up whats on top, the edge is almost crunchy. I believe the crust has evolved since the early days, but it's been so long that I can's say which is better. The sauce is thick and not over spiced, it's spread around in just the right amount. The cheese is "100% Real Mozzarella Cheese" and what ever you do don't ask for extra cheese, Thats a whole other story. The Canadian bacon is the real thing, not just sliced ham, the pepperonis bight back just the right amount, and the hamburger comes from a local butcher shop. I have to make myself stop eating without some strong will power I will power through the whole 14inch pizza, and not realize what I've done. When I hear the word Pizza this is what pops into my mind.

At this point I would normally give you some contact information, but I have none to give. Even if I did have a phone number or email address I probably wouldn't give it out, as it may get me stricken from the next round of pizza's. If you aren't in Merrill's phone book you are out of luck, that includes me as I rely on an intermediary. So for those in the know (you know who you are) I highly recommend Merrill's One Man Pizza Show. for the rest of you to bad...

Highly Recommended.

GAW

Dewey's Pizza

Dewey's Pizza has been in St Louis for a few years and more specifically in Kirkwood since 2005. Dewey's Pizza is a small chain (16 locations) that was started in Cincinnati in the spring of 1998. My first taste of Dewey's Pizza was a year or two ago in Kirkwood, since that time I have made a few visits. Today was a Family gathering of 9 people, so I did the half & half routine. We went to the Ellisville location, arriving around 5:30 and had to wait 30-40 minutes. It was a packed house.

I started off the meal with a Peppercorn Ranch salad, it and the Caesar salad are the only 2 salads that don't start with the words "field greens". All of the salads come dressed and mine was no exception, the romaine lettuce had a light coating of peppercorn ranch dressing, just enough shaved Parmesan, and plenty of fresh tomatoes and red onions, not to mention the bacon.

We ordered 5 types of pizza, but I was only able to try 3 of them. Starting with mine and Akiko's, we ordered Half "Socrates Revenge" which included olive oil, minced garlic, mozzarella-fontina blend, spinach, black olives, green olives, feta cheese, red onions, and tomatoes. I had one piece and it wasn't bad, due to all of the olives it was a bit salty, but hay I've had worse. It falls under the if somebody else is paying I'd eat it. My half was... you guessed it, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, red onions and meat balls. As with the meat ball pizza I have had else where they are cooked and sliced prior to hitting the pizza. Starting at the bottom, the hand tossed crust is probably the best I've ever had, it's a bit on the soft side so you have to use 2 hands for that first bite or two, after that it holds up well. the edged of the crust looks like it has had a stick of butter rubbed across it once the pizza came out of the oven, and it tastes even better than it looks. Moving up one level, the sauce has a spicy bite to it and the very young may not like it. I could do with just a tad less sauce myself, not because of the spiciness, I just like my pie a bit dry. The toppings are all excellent, especially the meatballs. The flavors just melt in your mouth. A most excellent Pizza.

We all so had a Cheese pizza for the younger members of the group, and yes it had the same spicy red sauce as mentioned above, and yes the youngest member complained. There was a "Edgar Allan Poe" on the table as well it includes olive oil, mozzarella-fontina blend, mushrooms, roasted garlic (large whole cloves), kalamata olives and goat cheese, with fresh tomatoes and parsley after the bake. I was unable to sample the Edgar, but Akiko said it was a bit on the garlicky side.

Lastly we had a sausage, meatball and mushroom pizza. I did get a chance to sample it and it was very good. The sausage was very good, it was of the link variety and had been sliced prior to going on the pizza. The mushrooms were fresh, not a topping I would order my self as I'm a canned mushroom kind of person.

Dewey's Pizza leans towards the High Class sort of pizza joint that I'm not really into, but as I said in the beginning they have some of the BEST pizza around. I personal prefer to get it to go so that I don't have the long wait on a table and it lets the pizza attain the ideal eating temperature on the ride home. In the end you really can't go wrong with a Dewey's Pizza. Check out their web site for a location near you (click on the title above).

Highly Recommended.

GAW

Pizzarelli's Pizzeria

As I sit at the kitchen table and put my thoughts to words, I'm enjoying my Pizzarelli pizza for the 4th time. The first was Sunday evening, then Monday and Tuesday morning for breakfast and finely Tuesday night for supper.
Because the whole family is home I don't get to order pizza very often and must make the most of it when I do, hence the multiply feasting on a single pizza.

Pizzarelli's Pizzeria located at 15858 Manchester Road in Ellisville is locally owned and operated and is what I would call my local favorite. It's only 3 stop lights east on Manchester from home. It is by far the best pizza that close to home. They offer the big 3 Dine-in, Carry-out, and Delivery. The dine-in option is limited, and I would suggest you carry out or have you pie delivered. The dine-in ambiance is that of a busy take-out and delivery pizza joint, seating is limited and there is not a lot of time spent in the upkeep of the dining area, as they are all busy making pizza's for carry out and delivery.

The Pizza, you have three choices, New York Style (round hand toss), Chicago Style (thin & crispy) and Deep Dish. Before we go any further I have to discuss the "Chicago Style", living in St Louis for the past 20 plus years I know that "Chicago Style" is not thin and crispy as their menus states but that St Louis Style is thin and crispy, but it's not my pizza joint and they can call it what ever they like. I'm a New York Style Pizza kinda of person anyway so the semantics's don't really matter to me.

For me it's my current favorite, New York crust with pepperoni, Canadian bacon, meat balls, and onions. If I was feeling my oats I would have them put some anchovies on half, but not this time. As far as the toppings go the only thing I would like to see different is Red Onions as an option. By the time I get home (just three stop lights) the pizza has cooled off just a little and is the perfect temperature ( the cheese will stretch a bit but you can bite it in two). There is just the right amount of pepperonis, the sliced meatballs are seasoned just right, the Canadian bacon is the real thing (at least real for those of us south of the border), and the small slice to big hunk of onion. I can't forget to mention the generous helping of mozzarella cheese. The pizza just melt in your mouth, If I was home alone I probably wouldn't stop eating until the whole pizza was gone it's that good in my book. If you are in the neighborhood you ought to give them a try, call ahead @ (636) 394-0094.

Highly Recommended!

The pizza is now all gone so I guess it's time to shut up. GAW

Katies Pizzeria Clayton, MO.

Katies Pizzeria is located about half a block east and across Clayton road from the Esquier Theater. The menu is what I would call FUFU food, its a bit hard for me to explain you either know what I'm talking about or you are one. Their wine list took up more space on the menu than all the food combined.

You have only ten choices for pizza, unlike the infinite combination's you can come up with at a more traditional American pizza joint. I choose the Fingerling Potatoes, Parsnips, Pancetta, Parmiggiano, Onion, and Rosemary it was about 12 inch's and cost $16. I choose this pizza because I know that Pancetta is a bit like bacon, and how can you go wrong with fat salty meat? Right? Outside of the Pancetta it was way out side my comfort zone, but I wasn't ordering my last meal so a little daring I was. I'm not sure if it was the Fingerling Potatoes or the Parsnips as I don't recall having eaten either item in the past, but the pizza had a very unusual flavor all most sour. It wasn't bad by any means just unusual. My dining companions ordered the Italian Market Vegetable Chop Salad which had shaved fennel, carrot, zucchini, shaved parmigiano, pine nuts, cannellini beans, and was tossed with lemon balsamic dressing ($9). They also ordered the Salami, Onion, Crushed Red Pepper, Kalamata Olives, and Fresh Mozzarella pizza ($16). Their pizza was more to my liking than my own. Would I dine at Katies Pizzeria again? Sure, but hopefully on somebody elses dime. GAW

Pizza World Maplewood, MO.

Pizza World is a small chain of pizza restaurants based in Collinsville, IL. They have resturants in 6 states and from my recollections have been around the St Louis area for 10+ years. I have had pizza from Pizza World on several occasions in the past, but those locations are no longer open. I worked in Brentwood today and I didn't take my lunch (out of bread, no really...), I was surprised when Pizza World was one of the places that delivered. Nobody eles wanted pizza for lunch so I held out until my workday was done. I placed an ordered togo and was told it would be ready in 30mins. When I got there the pizza wasn't ready, they had forgot to make it, so I got a free drink and a deep discount. I wasn't in a hurry to get any where and 3:30pm is a bit early to order pizza anyway. I wasn't even half way through the RFT when my pie was ready to go. Yes it was a Pepperoni, Meatball, Canadian Bacon, and Red Onion pizza on a hand tossed crust. It takes me about 45 min to an 1 hour to get home and that puts the pizza just about the perfect temperature in my opinion. It was a very pleasant experience when the first slice hit the taste buds. It was rather hard to not eat the whole pie, but I was feeling a bit lazy so I saved half to lunch on Tuesday. It was worth every penny I paid, I would have gladly paid full price it. GAW