Tony's Pizza Palace, Columbia, MO. January 2012.

Tony's Pizza Palace

17 North 5th Street, Columbia, MO 65201 (map link);
 phone#(573) 442-3188

Pizza Style: Greek
Oven type: Gas
The Skinny:  Another great Greek Pizza Joint in COMO.
Price: $16 Medium 4 topping Pizza.
Chief Pizza eater says: Recommended.

When ever I find my self in Columbia I try to find my way to a pizza joint, it doesn't always happen, but when it does I've yet to be disappointed.  This weekend was no different.

I had been told about Tony's Pizza Palace last year by an old friend and kept it in the back of my mind until I had the chance to get there.  Tony's doesn't have a web-site that I could find, but from what I gather they have been in business since 1968.  Originally they were located on Broadway, now they are on the corner of East Walnut and North 5th street.  The current location appeared to be clean but well used.

Tony's makes pizza with Greek Style crust, a thin crust usually cooked in a pain.  I ordered a medium pepperoni, Canadian bacon, hamburger and onion pizza to go.  About 15 minutes later I was heading out the door with a hot pizza, and the drive to where I was staying was torture The smell was driving me insanely hungry.  When I finally got the box open I found it similar to other Greek pizza joints in that the toppings were all under the cheese and there was a little fold on the edge of the crust.  It had and abundance of toppings and cheese.  There is a seasoning in either the sauce or hamburger that I just can't pinpoint that sets the pizza apart from what you would find in a more Italian orianted pizza joint.

All and all a great pizza.

Recommended.

The Chief Pizza Eater.
GAW

A'mis Italian Restaurant August 2011. Binge 2011 Stop 13

On stop 13 of the 2011 Binge, I once again found my self with a car full of non-pizza eaters.  That didn't stop last time and didn't stop me this time.  A'mis Italian Restaurant in Rock Hill was stop 13.

For starters we had a A'mis salad with the House dressing.  We were all quite hungry, so I completely for got to snap a photo.  I will tell you it was more than enough shared between 3 people, and could have served 4.  It was also quite good, especially the House dressing.

The Non-pizza eaters did the same thing they did last time, they didn't get pizza...

I did get pizza, a hand tossed crust with salami, hamburger and onions.  From the first bite to the last it was excellent.  Some day when I have more pizza eaters with me I'm going to try their Chicago Deep dish, next time.

Recommended.

The Chief Pizza Eater.
GAW

JJ Twigs July 2011. Binge 2011 stop 8.

I've been working at differnt office one day a week, so I drive by JJ Twigs on those days.  I can hear the Douple Decker calling my name evertime.

I started with a  House Salad and the House dressing. a Italian-Ranch affair.  Works for me.

For Pizza I got a 12 inch Double Decker with Pepperoni, Canadian Bacon, Hamburger and onions.  The Pizza was great, and very filling.  One thing to note is that the Double Decker cost about $5 more than a thin crust, but you get what is essentially to thin crust pies staked up together.

Recommended.

The Chief Pizza Eater.
GAW

Picasso's Pizza June 2011. The Binge 2011 stop 6.

A favorite, but I just can't seem to find my way there very often.  The family out of town and working just down the street, I couldn't help myself.

A House salad with the house dressing and a large pizza with pepperoni, meat balls and onions.  More than enough to feed my self and a second pizza eater.  We had enough left that two more pizza eaters would have gotton their fill, and only a shade over $20.  Plus the pizza and salad was great!

Recommended.

The Chief Pizza Eater.
GAW.

Red-L Pizza June 2011. The Binge 2011 stop 5.

Just a small red dot on Google Maps.  With some arens to do after work I pulled up Google Maps, narrowed it down to the area I would be going and type pizza into the search box and a small red dot caught my eye.  I put the curser over it and it said "Red-L Pizza".  I had never heard of it, perfect.

I ordered a Red-L Caesar salad and for pizza I got 12" with pepperoni, meat loaf and onions.  The cheese was a House blend, and when asked I was told it was mozzarella and provolone cheeses.  The crust was of the thin St Louis Style.  The pizza and salad were both great.  I'll be back.

The Red-L you will notice from the photo is just that, a red L.  They are a carry out only joint, but they do have some outside seating, although it doesn't appear they have table service.  The Red-L can be a little hard to find the first time so keep that in mind.

Recommended.

The Chief Pizza Eater.
GAW

Pizza World, May 2011. Binge 2011 stop 2.

The littlest pizza eater and I had worked up an appetite by visiting the St Louis Zoo and some of the local pawn shops (they are a little gritty compared to the TV pawn shops), so we decided to eat at Pizza World in Maplewood.

We ordered a Garden Salad with house dressing, when we should have ordered a Side Salad.  It was bigger than the two of us could eat.  It was good, would have been right for 4 people.

The littlest pizza eater got a small cheese pizza,  she wasn't to keen on sharing so it must have been pretty good.  I (The Chief) ordered a medium with Pepperoni, Italian Meatballs, Ham and onions.  It was excellent, go to love those meatballs.

Pizza World is a small chain, so check out the web-site (title link) and you might have one near by.  Great food and nice people,  I just gotta try and get there more than once every 3 years...

Recommended.

The Chief Pizza Eater.
GAW

Bellacino's Pizza & Grinders, May 2011. Binge Stop 1.

The Binge 2011 has officially begun...er.. actually it began 3 weeks ago, but I'm just now getting  caught up on all my blogging.

Bellacino's Pizza & Grinders in St Charles was the chosen as the first stop on a whim.  We were hungry and it was across the parking lot from The Bass Pro shop, where we were checking out outdoorsy things.

We started with a small Greek salad and for pizza we had pepperoni, meatballs, ham and onions.  The pizza I was told is first cooked in a pan then finished off on the oven floor.  The crust is of  the thin variety, yet not as thin as a St Louis style, and is cut on the square.  The pizza was great.

Bellacino's is what I would call a regional chain with most locations in the mid-West and mid-Atlantic states.  If your interested check their web-site (title link) for a location.

Recommended.

Chief Pizza Eater.
GAW

Guido's Pizzeria & Tapas, May 2011

Guido's Pizzeria & Tapas

5046 Shaw Ave., St Louis, MO 63110 (map link);  (314) 771-4900 ;  http://www.guidosstl.com/

Pizza Style: St Louis thin crust

Oven type: Stone deck.

The Skinny:  Ask for Mozzarella and don't forget the Tapas!

Price: $7.50 small (9in) cheese to $20.95 family (16in) speciality pizza.

Chief Pizza eater says:  Recommended. 

We set out on Mothers day with a car load of mothers to get pizza, and nearly went hungry.  We went to joint after joint finding them all closed, that is until we thought of Guido's Pizzeria & Tapas on The Hill (St Louis's Italian neighborhood).  It turns out that a large number of restaurants are closed on Sunday's in the City of St Louis and The Hill is closed down tight with one exception, Guido's.  As they say "All's well that end's well".

Lesson:  if you aren't 100% sure, call ahead to find out the hours of operation.

Being the only place open on The Hill seating was scarce, so we chose to dine al fresco, which was perfect as it was a beautiful day.

Because not all of the pizza eaters are as dedicated as the Chief, we had quite the mix of food.  Things we had other than pizza included:  House Salad, Caprese Salad and Ensalad Mixta.  from the Tapas menu we had Gazpacho Madrileno, Croquetas Caseras (chicken), and Empanadillas (tuna).  By now you must realize Guido's is bilingual, a little Italian and a little Spanish.

For pizza Guido's offers traditional St. Louis style pizza, with the option to have mozzarella cheese instead of  provel.  We had a large with half cheese (for the youngest pizza eater) and half with pepperoni, salami, Canadian bacon and red onions.  We also chose mozzarella over the provel.  The pizza crust was very thin, crispy and cut on the square as one should expect from a St Louis style pie.  The pizza was very good, if not a little messy.  The inner squares are the messiest as the cheese has no anchor and tends to slide around.  My choice of toppings wasn't the greatest, no problems on Guido's part, just my combination.  I like salami on pizza's but  it doesn't work great with Canadian bacon in my book, next time I will pair it with something a little less salty.

Over all the food was very good, and worth a visit.  And if it's Sunday Guido's is your only option on The Hill.  Recommended any day of the week.

Recommended

Chief Pizza Eater.
GAW

Little Caesars, March 2011

I can't help myself...  My coworkers say "Were getting a Hot-N-Ready, you want one?"  I just can't say no...

I have to tell you the Little Caesars down the street from work puts out a pretty good pizza for $5.  I've heard about less than desirable results with the Hot-N-Ready, but the only complaint I've ever had was that they didn't get the pizza cut all the way through in a couple of spots.

I'll take a Hot-N-Ready any day over a fast food burger joint. Plus for $5 I can have left overs for lunch the next day.

Recommended, YMMV

Chief Pizza Eater

Racanelli's December 2010

Routinely it doesn't take much cajoling to get me to order pizza, and that was pretty much the case when my coworker asked me if I wanted to order pizza.  It was very fortunate that I didn't have lunch with me that day...

After a short time we decided on Racanelli's.  I ordered my usual  pepperoni, ham, meatball and onion.  my coworker ordered pepperoni and bacon, a combination that seems to be popular in the Saint Louis area.

The pizza arrived in about 30 minutes, hot and ready to eat.  It was as usual quite good.  For the price I wouldn't mind seeing a few more toppings on the pie, otherwise a pretty satisfying pizza.

Recommended.
Chief Pizza Eater.
GAW

Pizza Files 2010 Summer Binge, Stop Sixteen.

The Binge 2010 was nearing it's end (the last weekend) and I had only just been released from my broken collar bone, so I needed pizza and a motorcycle ride.  I had heard about a place in Potosi, MO that had pretty good pizza. That's how Boo's Market became stop sixteen on the 2010 Binge.

After riding my motorcycle all day I was rather hungry when I arrived at Boo's so I ordered 14" pizza with pepperoni, Canadian bacon, hamburger and onions.  I'm so predictable.  I also ordered a small side salad with Homemade ranch dressing.  The side salad comes with tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions and cheese.

The pizza was of the St Louis style with a very thin & crispy crust and was cut on the square.  It did have a blend of cheese, but tasted like it was more Provel than mozzarella.  Maybe it was because I had been on the road all day, or that I hadn't had a St Louis style pizza in a long time, but I really enjoyed the pizza.  If you are hungry and in Potosi, MO you can't go wrong at Boo's Market, and if you aren't much for St Louis Style pizza try one of their burgers or sandwiches.

Just so you know it's possible to transport pizza left overs on a motorcycle, but they may get a little tossed...

The Chief Pizza Eater.
8/9/10

Pizza Files 2010 Summer Binge, Stop Nine.

It was Friday and it looked like I would be getting out of work on time for a change, so to celebrate I decided pizza for supper.  I also had to do an errand in Brentwood and I wanted to hit someplace new, so after studding my list of Binge 2010 candidates I found what I was looking for.  That's how Pizza A Go Go came to be stop nine of the Binge 2010.

There are some things you should know before you go to Pizza A Go Go, first is that they only have pizza on their menu.  If you want cheese bread, pasta or salad you are not going to be happy.  They only have PIZZA that's it... oh they also have fountain soft drinks, really that's it.  Second they only take cash or checks.  Yep that's right they actually take checks. Third they open at 4 p.m. and are closed on Wednesday.  None of those things mattered to me as I went on Friday evening with a wad of cash in my pocket and I only wanted pizza, so it worked out just fine.

I ordered a large hand tossed pizza (remember pizza, that's all they have) with pepperoni, Canadian bacon, sausage and onions. I'm not one to order sausage often, but they don't have hamburger, so I went with sausage.  I found it to be good, not to herbed up or spicy. 

Pizza A Go Go was a worthy stop on the 2010 Binge, even if they only have pizza and don't take plastic.

The Chief Pizza Eater.
7/17/10

Pizza Files 2010 Summer Binge, Stop Seven.

The phone rings and it is an invitation to go eat pizza,  and you know me.  Being the invitee I go where their going, and their going to Dewey's Pizza.  That's how Dewey's Pizza became stop seven on the Binge 2010.

For 3 pizza eaters we got a Peppercorn Ranch Salad and a large pizza half with pepperoni, meatballs, Canadian bacon and red onions, the other half was pepperoni and meatball. 

Dewey's wasn't on my list for the Binge 2010, as it's a family favorite I seem to find my self there several times a year, but as always the pizza was great.

The Chief Pizza Eater.
7/5/10

Pizza Files 2010 Summer Binge, Stop Six.

The Sixth Stop on the 2010 Summer Binge was new to me, I first read about it last fall in the St Louis Post-Dispatch and put it on my to do list at that time.  They also made it in to the St Louis magazine's Best Pizza issue.  I went there last week only to find them closed, not deterred I returned today, and that's how Feraro's Jersey Style Pizza became stop Six on the Pizza Files 2010 Summer Binge.

The Chief Pizza Eater.
6/27/10

Pizza Files 2010 Summer Binge, Stop Five.

The Fith Stop on the 2010 Summer Binge was on my list, but not my intended location for the day.  The last few days have been kind of a lousy, so I was determined to drowned my self pity in Pizza.  I had wanted to visit someplace new to me, so in my aimless wandering around this afternoon I found my self at Feraro's Jersey Style Pizza in South St. Louis County, only to find it closed on Monday's.  My Day just got worse...  I tend to have a hard time deciding where to eat, so finding the place closed was just one more kick in the ribs.

I start to think about the different pizza joints between where I was and home, several came to mind but only Fortel's was on list  for the 2010 Summer Binge, so it's decided.  That's how Fortel's Pizza Den became stop Five on the Pizza Files 2010 Summer Binge.  I started with a small side salad and the House dressing.  For pizza I did my favorite,(remember I'm drowning my self pity) Pepperoni, ham, hamburger and onions.  Fortel's pizza is very interesting, It's a bit like St Louis style in that they put sauce and toppings all the way to the edge, no handle on this pie, and it's cut on the square.  Similarity's stop there, the crust is slightly thicker, they use Mozzarella cheese and they put all the toppings on top of the cheese.  Speaking of toppings, they load it up.  Delicious, no matter how they slice it.

The Chief Pizza Eater.
6/21/10

Andoro's Pizzeria

I drive past Andoro's Pizzeria on my way to and from work several times a week.  The first time I noticed it was last summer.  They don't have a website per-say, but they do have a Facebook page. The Facebook page list a website (Link), the link will take you to Andoro and Sons a pizza and restaurant supply company based in Wentsville, MO.  While the pizzeria has only been around for less than a year Andoro and Sons has been in business since 1957.  Andoror's Pizzeria menu includes Salads, Appetizers, Wings, Pastas, Sandwiches, Desserts and of course Pizza.  The Pizza is available in St. Louis style or New York style.  The St Louis pizza comes with provel cheese and the New York mozzarella cheese.

I started with a Dinner salad, it had Iceberg lettuce, provel cheese (one of the few good uses of provel), tomatoes, onion, peppercini and croutons. I choose the Oil & Vinegar dressing.  The salad was very good, but I would have liked to have seen red onion instead of the yellow.

For pizza I ordered a New York style crust with pepperoni, Canadian bacon, hamburger and onions (my usual).  New York style pizza in the St Louis area varies greatly from one place to the next, and Andoro's is another variation.  The crust wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either.  As I was eating it There was something I just couldn't put my finger on, later.  The sauce was balanced not to sweet or spicy.  The toppings were all good and in the proper quantities, just look at the photo above the pizza looks great.  Overall the pizza was good.

A couple of days after eating the pizza I found my way to the Andoro and Sons web-site.  They sell cheese, frozen foods (toasted ravioli etc), meats, pizza crusts, redi-made pizza and tomato products (canned).  I know that most St Louis style pizza crusts (not all by any means) are pre-made, you order a St Louis style pizza and the cook just pulls a crust out of a bag.  Haven't you ever wondered why they are so perfectly round?  Andoro and Sons offers a whole variety of pre-made crust including; Original Pizza Crust, Pan Style Pizza Crust, Neopolitan Thick Pizza Crust and the list goes on.  In fact they sell 7 different styles of crust in a number of sizes.  So I have to wonder if the pizza I ate was from a pre-made crust or not.  I intend to get back there someday and I will ask when I do.  I know from my days in the pizza biz that it takes a lot of work to make fresh dough everyday, but doing so can make a good pizza into a great pizza.

The pizza and salad were good, but I'm a bit on the fence with the crust, so Andoro's Pizzeria just squeaks in to Recommeded.  I know it's not a simple task, but do something with the New York style crust and  throw some red onions at things and it would have been Highly Recommended.  It should be noted, I didn't try the St Louis style pizza so you are on your own if you order one of those.  Andoro's Pizzeria is located at 6240 Mexico Rd. in St Peters, MO.  You can reach them at (636) 926-0333, for more information check out there Facebook page (click on the title link).

Recommended.

GAW

Shakespeare's Pizza.

Shakespeare's Pizza ,locally owned and operated, is located in Columbia, MO. Their web-site is a bit light on history, but it looks like they opened for business in 1973 in downtown Columbia. They currently have two locations, the original downtown and a new joint on the west side of town. The pizza for this review came from the original downtown location.
Their menu includes Salads, Other eats (cheese garlic bread, Brightons cookies and frozen pizza's) and Pizza. The pizza's come with a choice of wholewheat or white crust. The cheese of choice is Provolone, but you can also get pepper or Cheddar cheese. You also have a choice of toppings or Exotic toppings, but unlike many places there is no price increase for the exotic toppings.

We started with a Louie's salad. It wasn't the salad I wanted but it was the salad I ordered (when I ordered the food I was racing west on I-70 towards Columbia). I had wanted to order a dinner salad, but instead I asked for a House salad for four people. I'm not a big fan of spinach salad, certainly nothing wrong with it, just not what I wanted.

We ordered 2 large pizza's, both with white crust, the first half cheese (for my daughter) and half Canadian bacon and bacon (a favorite of my fellow pizza eater). The second had pepperoni, Canadian bacon, hamburger and onions. The pizza's had a bit of a ride in the car, but were still very warm when we busted them out of the box's. The first things I noticed was a lot of corn meal on the bottom of the crust and how light it was, almost white. It was able to support it's own weight, that might be different straight out of the oven at the restaurant. The cheese and toppings were generously applied. Although I didn't realize until latter that they only used Provolone cheese, I did know something was different with cheese. As I recall the sauce was not remarkably sweet or spicy, and on the later my daughter would have made it known loud and clear. The sauce did a fine job of mediating between crust and toppings. I found all 3 pizza's quite good, and the leftovers did very well a couple of days later after spending some time in the toaster oven.

Overall I was very pleased with the food and service at Shakespeare's Pizza. I unknowingly picked Homecoming weekend to order from them, so when we arrived we found a line going around the building, luckily to go orders have a separate door. So if you go on a MU game night you should expect long lines and limited parking. Our pizza's were ready on-time and our salad come in a really nice reusable grocery bag.

The Pizza was very good and I would defiantly pay for it again. Shakespeare's Pizza is located at 9th & Elm Streets in Columbia, MO. You can reach them at (573) 449-2454, for more information check out their web-site (click on the title link).

Recommended.

GAW

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

Cecil Whittaker's Pizzeria / Stumpy's House of Bar-B-Que.

Cecil Whittaker's Pizzeria is a regional chain with 25 locations (3 corporate owned with the rest split among 15 franchise owners) that first opened in 1983 in south St Louis County. My pie came from the St Peters restaurant. Their menu includes salads, appetizers sandwiches, pasta, and pizza. Cecil Whittaker's Pizzeria serves St Louis style, which means very thin crust and provel cheese. They also have mozzarella cheese available upon request, and a thicker crust ($1 extra) for their medium and xtra large pies. The location I ordered from is one of four very unique locations that in addition to the expected pizza joint fare, has the "Smokehouse Menu". The franchise owners also own Stumpy's House of BBQ, and offer a full BBQ menu at their 4 Cecil Whittaker's Pizzeria's.

I'm not a fan of true St Louis style pizza for one key reason, Provel cheese and won't knowingly spend my money on it. My order for this review was a small (9") pepperoni, Canadian bacon, hamburger and onion with mozzarella cheese of course (my standard variation). I also ordered a Smokehouse salad with pulled pork, with ranch dressing and sweet & smokey BBQ sauce. The crust is a uniform thickness all the way across and is nearly a perfect circle, it is perfectly able to support toppings with out any help. The bottom is golden brown and when you bite into it, it's both crispy and chewy. The sauce is a just a little sweet and spicy, and the amount of sauce is just bordering on to much for my taste, especially on this thin a crust. The toppings are all fresh and have good flavor. I do have a few small complaints about the toppings. First is that they used red onions on their salads, so why not on their pies? Second, I got that big giant hunk of onion with out a whole in it, and I really don't like it as it never gets cooked all the way through. Not so much a complaint, but you will notice in the photo above that the sauce covers the entire top of the crust, it goes all the way to the edge which leads to topping slide when the pizza is fresh and hot. If you don't sandwich a couple of pieces or at least keep one finger planted in the toppings it all comes off with the first bite. Leftovers the next day don't suffer the same fate, as the sauce thickens and keeps it all together.

The Smoke House salad (Stumpys salad) is a meal in it's self and can certainly stand on it's own. The lettuce and red onions were fresh, there was a generous amount of pulled pork and cheddar cheese. The dressing comes on the side so that you can add to your own taste. I got both ranch and sweet & spicy BBQ sauce, mixing in equal parts. The pork was very good, but may have been just a touch dry (maybe due to the car ride back to work), not a deal ender by any means.

St Louis style doesn't pass the "I'd pay for it" test, oh I'll eat it just not pay for it with my hard earned cash. Remember I'm a pizza slut, I haven't met a pizza that I wouldn't eat, but have met a few that I wouldn't pay for. Luckily Cecil Whittaker's Pizzeria offers the St Louis Style sort of (mozzarella in stead of provel) pizza. I do like Cecil's pizza as long as it comes with mozzarella cheese, but the kicker is being able to get an order of BBQ with your pizza, and at $12.50 plus tax and delivery for both the pizza (9") and salad it's a good value. Cecil Whittaker's Pizzeria (with Smokehouse Menu) is located at 620 Jungermann Rd. in St Peters, MO. You can reach them at (636)926-8121, for more information check out their web-site (click on the title link).

Recommended (if you go with the mozzarella cheese)

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