Papi's Pizza, Ice Cream & Subs. August 2010

Another great feast from Papi's Pizza, Ice Cream & Subs.

I usually like to eat my pizza at the pizza joint or pick it up my self if eating at home, but occasionally I will get it delivered.  This was one of those times,  I had a great deal to accomplish at home, there was no food to speak of at home and I was in charge of dinner for the night.  Knowing I would get a great pizza from Papi's I pulled up there web-site to see what I would order for the lady pizza eaters and I saw the "Order Online", so I did.  After I completed my order the confirmation stated my pizza would delivered at 6:36 P.M.  Believe it or not my door bell rang at 6:36 P.M. and the feast was on.

Chief Pizza Eater.
8/19/2010

Pizza Files 2010 Summer Binge, Stop Four.

The Fourth Stop on the 2010 Summer Binge was a place I have visited a couple of times in the past year.  Luckily It's not far from my home as I was both hungry for pizza and to tired to drive very far.  Thats how Papi's Pizza became stop four.

I started with a small Papi's house salad with oil & vinegar dressing.  For pizza I went with my fave pepperoni, meatball, ham and onion.  The salad was very good, although the dressing was little lacking.  The pizza was great.  A worthy visit.

Chief Pizza Eater

6/13/10

Papi's Pizza

The day after having my Costco Slice (see previous post) I get a call from some of my fellow pizza eaters asking about a joint I had recently visited,  Papi's Pizza in Wildwood (see review here).  Was it any good?  Do they have seating?  Etc.  Yes, Yes and Yes.  So they said I should meet them there at 5:30, and not being someone to refuse pizza I said I'll be there.

We had a Mediterranean salad to start.  For pizza there were 4 kinds ordered, a Mediterranean, a butcher shop, a pepperoni & bacon and finally a  pepperoni, meatball, onion & red bell peppers.  I almost forgot there was a small cheese, but again my pizza eating daughter wouldn't let me have any, I'm told it was quite good.

I ordered the pepperoni, meatball, onion and red bell pepper pizza, it was very good, and so thought my fellow pizza eaters.  I had a slice of the pepperoni and bacon pizza which was also very good.  I missed out on the butcher shop, but did get a slice of the Mediterranean.  The Mediterranean is not a pizza that I would typically order so I especially wanted to try it.  The Mediterranean has artichoke, tomato, mushrooms, spinach, black olives and feta cheese.  All those veggies bring a lot of water with them and keeps the crust on the soft side.  The combination was quite good aside from the crust being a bit soft, my fellow pizza eaters thought it was very good also.

I couldn't forget the Ice Cream.  I had a scoop of Praline Pecan, a very good way to end a pizza eating session.

It was a last minute trip and I didn't have my normal pizza cam, hence the poor photo quality.

GAW

Papi's Pizza, Subs and Ice Cream.

New to the St Louis pizza scene, Papi's Pizza opened for business earlier this year in Wildwood, MO and looks to be a locally owned and operated pizza joint.  Their menu includes Appetizers, Salads, Sandwich's, Brick Oven Pizza and Desserts (including 11 flavors of Ice Cream).  Their pizza's are hand tossed and come with Mozzarella cheese.  They have a good selection of toppings including: meatballs, red onions, artichoke and shrimp to name a few.  Aside from the standard Mozzarella you can also get cheddar, feta, Ricotta, Parmesan, and Provolone cheese's.

On this visit we started with a side salad with BBQ ranch dressing.  The salad consisted of Iceberg & Romain lettuce, spinach, mozzarella, tomatoes and onions.  It was a very good start to the meal.

The first pizza was a 12" cheese.  My fellow pizza eater (6 yr old daughter) found it so good that she refused to share a slice with me.  I was able to negotiate a single bite, but was not allowed to touch the slice with my hands.

We also got a 14" with pepperoni, meatball, ham and red onion.  The hand tossed crust was very good, it had a nice texture and did a good job holding up the rest of the ingredients.  The tip was just a little soft and the edge just a little crispy.  The toppings were all very good and generously applied.  I was especially happy to see meatballs and red onions on the menu.  The only check against was that the menu says red onions and I asked for red onions, but it looked like it came with onions of the white variety, it was hard to tell, not a deal breaker by any means.  I can also report that the left over pizza did very well in the toaster oven the next morning.

Overall I was very pleased with the food and service at Papi's, so if you find your self in Wildwood and have a craving for good pizza give them a try, heck don't wait until you until find your self there, make it a road trip.  I will return and on my next visit I'm getting a scoop of ice cream.  Papi's Pizza is located at 17209 New Collage Ave in Wildwood, MO. You can reach them at (636) 458-1313 or check out their web-site by clicking the title link.

Highly Recommended.

GAW

Imo's Pizza

If you are a native St Louisan I'm sure you know all about Imo's already, and you needn't read any further. For everybody else, if you have lived here (St Louis) for more than a day or two you have probably eaten Imo's Pizza, or at the very least have had someone (almost always a native) tell you how great Imo's Pizza is. Imo's web-site state's that Ed and Marge Imo opened the first one in 1964 at the corner of Thurman and Shaw in south St Louis. At the time you could get your pizza to go or delivered (possibly the first delivery joint in the U.S.). They credit the square cut pie to Ed being a tile setter prior to becoming a pizza maker. Today Imo's is a regional pizza chain with just under 100 locations, most of which are in the St Louis Metro area. They provide dine in, carry out and delivery, including delivery of all menu items. They have a full menu including salads, appetizers, pasta, sandwiches and desserts, not to mention pizza. The menu indicates that all pizzas are St Louis style thin crust topped with "REAL" Provel cheese and fresh (not frozen) meats and vegetables. They do have a "Thicker Crust" available, but no other information is provided in the menu I have.

The pizza reviewed came from the Imo's Pizza located in Wildwood, MO, it was a 12" with Canadian Bacon, hamburger and onions. Normally I always get pepperoni on my pizza, but I didn't actually order this pie, more on that later. I also received a small house salad (iceberg lettuce & Provel cheese) with the House dressing (sweet creamy Italian). As is typical of St Louis style the crust is of a very uniform thickness edge to edge. Also the sauce covers the crust completely leaving no place for the cheese/topping matrix to anchor it's self, leading to topping slide. If you look closely at the whole pie photo above you will notice that sometime after cutting the pie all of the cheese and toppings moved toward the 1'o'clock position. The crust was crispy and was able to support the toppings without help, as far as St Louis style goes it was adequate. I found the sauce a bit bland, not much else to say about it. The Canadian bacon, hamburger and onions were of fine quality, but could have benefited from some pepperoni. The "Real Provel" cheese is well, real processed cheese. The pizza overall was lacking, pepperoni's would have added some much needed flavor and in my personal opinion the mozzarella cheese would be alot better.

The small house salad is just fresh iceberg lettuce, shredded provel cheese and your choose of dressing. I chose the house dressing (sweet creamy Italian). Here comes the weird part... I really like Imo's salad, their house dressing is very good, and the provel cheese is great.

As I've stated in a previous post, St Louis style pizza doesn't pass the "Would I pay for it" test, and if I would have had to pay for this pizza you wouldn't be reading this. As it turned out a family member who like's to eat a Imo's new I was home alone and without any dinner, so bought me the pizza and salad unsolicited. If you are a fan of Imo's Pizza you are going to eat it whether I tell you to or not. If you have never had Imo's and somebody else is paying by all means try it. Imo's Pizza is located at 16447 Village Plaza View Rd. in Wildwood, MO. You can reach them at (636)458-9000, for more information check out their web-site (click on the title link).

Would I eat at Imo's Pizza again? Sure, but on somebody elses dime. Shoot I might even pay for the salad.

GAW