Napoli Pizza, Closed - For Sale.

Today is a sad day for pizza lovers in St. Peters.

When I opened my email this morning I was shocked. The subject line on my first email read: "Napoli Pizza is FOR SALE". I'm on Napoli's email list and normally I get one every week or two with special offers. I was saddened to see today's offer.

The email when on to say that for financial reasons Napoli must close and that they are looking for a buyer immediately. If you are seriously interested in purchasing or no someone who might be send Scott an email at mail@napolipizza.net.

Good luck to you Scott.

Frank and Helen's

Frank and Helen's Pizzeria was opened for business in 1956 by Frank Seitz, his wife Betty and his sister Helen. The Pizzeria moved to its present location in 1965. Frank & Helen's is still a family owned and operated pizzeria, but is on it's 3rd husband and wife team, not bad for 50+ years. I have eaten at Frank & Helen's on numerous occasions since I was about 5 years old, but I don't recall ever eating pizza there. I'm not from St. Louis, so the early years would have been one visit a year if that. I the 20 years that I've lived in St. Louis I might have eaten there once or twice a year, and on those occasions my family went there to eat the Broasted Chicken.

My pizza eating grew from the 2009 Binge Part 2 said to me "we are going to Frank & Helen's for chicken do you want to go, they have pizza?". So that's how Frank & Helen's became the Binge Part 3. It's also why my behind is so sore, I've been kicking my self for not having ate their pizza sooner!

Frank & Helen's is a full service Italian restaurant. Besides Pizza their menu includes Soups, Salads, Antipasti, Sandwiches, Pasta, Dinner Specials and of course their famous Broasted Chicken. For pizza you can choose from extra thin, thin or thick crust. There are six different sauces and 4 kinds of cheese to choose from, along with a large selection of regular and specialty ingredients.

We started with a Casa Salad and House Creamy Garlic dressing. The large salad easily splits 2 ways, it could be a meal in its self. The House dressing was very good with a nice garlic bite to it. For pizza we ordered a large 18" thin crust with marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, meat balls and red onions. The pizza looked to have been cooked with out pan or screen just as it should and was cut on the square. The first thing I noticed was the crust, ti is very unique, similar to hand tossed but with out the large bread sick handle. The crust was crispy around the edge and dark golden brown across the bottom. There was plenty of cheese and the topping were there in adequate quantity's. The marinara sauce was quite good, but I do look forward to a return visit to try the regular sauce and the olive oil sauce. It was very difficult to make my self stop eating, but I did manage to bring a box home. The pizza held up very well to the toaster over, and was very satisfying for supper the next evening.

The pizza was excellent and I would have no problem paying for it again, in fact Frank and Helen's is near the top of my return visit list. They have been around for over 50 years so you know they are doing it right. Frank and Helen's is located at 8111 Olive Street Rd in University City, MO. You can reach them at (314) 997-0666 or check out their web-site by clicking the title link.

Highly 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

The Binge Part 3, unplanned Bonus.

Stop 3, The 2009 Pizza Files Summer Binge gets an unplanned Bonus!

The Crew of Pizza eaters from Part 2 said "We're going to Frank and Helen's on Sunday, they have pizza, you want to go?" It was a no-brainer.

So today's Pizza came from Frank and Helen's Pizzeria in University City, MO. On the menu today was a House Salad with the House dressing, large thin crust pizza with Pepperoni, Canadian Bacon, Meatballs and Red Onions. Let me just say I was very impressed. Oh, there was some Broasted Chicken on the table also.

It will take a few days to put my thoughts together on Frank and Helen's as I'm still working on Part 2. I'll get it done because next weekend I will be eating pizza in Columbia, MO at least twice.

GAW

The Binge Part 2

Stop 2, The 2009 Pizza Files Summer Binge continues...

Today's Pizza came from A'mis Italian Restaurant in Rockhill, MO. On the menu today was a Ami's Salad with the House dressing, large New York Style Pizza with Pepperoni, Hamburger and Onions and a St Louis Style pizza with Pepperoni, Hamburger and Mushrooms. My eating companions are big in St Louis style so I had to do it...

After the pizza was gone we went down the road a short distance and had Small gelato at Gelato Di Riso. I had half Strawberry and half Marscarpone. The gelato was gone before I knew what happened so no photo's.

It will take a day or two to collect my thoughts on A'mis so check back soon. Next weekend I will be eating pizza in Columbia, MO at least twice.

GAW

"When I come to America, pizza is my happiness"

"When I come to America, pizza is my happiness"

Takeru Kobayashi stated after eating 5 3/4 pounds of Pizza Hut P'Zones in six minutes. His closest competitor came in at 5 1/2 pounds.

No word on what the prize was, but hopefully it included some Tums...

The event will air on the Spike TV "Guys' Choice" show on June 21.

GAW

Napoli Pizza (part 2)

Back in February I reviewed Napoli Pizza, and stated I would be visiting them again in the near future. Well the future is here and it corresponds perfectly with the 2009 Pizza Files Summer Binge. I won't go into great detail about Napoli in this post (see my previous post or Napoli Pizza web-site), I'm just going to stick to what we ate.

First up was the House Salad. Its a tossed salad and includes iceberg and romaine lettuce, mozzarella, artichokes, red onion, diced red pepper tomatoes and pepperoncinis with there House dressing. The House dressing is an Anchovy Italian. That one word can put quite a few people off, but it is their loss if they pass on the House dressing. I have found anchovy based dressing to be quite good and Napoli's House Dressing is no exception. The lettuce was fresh and crisp, the tomatoes too. I could make a meal out of the House salad alone. I really like the idea of the tossed salad, I always make a big mess and usually end up with to much dressing when I have to mix it up.

Next up was the pizza, more specifically Sweet Marinara sauce pizza. The menu shows three different combination for Marinara Pizzas. I asked to have my standard (pepperoni, Canadian bacon, meat balls and red onions) to be made with Marinara sauce. With out a comparison regular slice I didn't detect the difference until I had almost reached the end of the slice, where there is typically a little extra sauce. With a side by side comparison (we also had a pepperoni and hamburger pizza with regular sauce) the sweetness was evident from the first bite. If you were to ask me which I liked best I'm not sure I could tell you. You have to at least try it once, you might get hooked. I will just have to get more than one pizza on future visits. As with my previous visit the crust and toppings were excellent.

Last but not least the Pizza Nutella. Nutella is a hazelnut & chocolate spread that can be found in most supermarkets next to the peanut butter. It's my understanding that Nutella is quite popular in Europe and is pretty much spread on anything you can eat. Personally I think a bag of shortbread cookies goes quite well with it, but that's another story and a bit off topic. Back to the pizza, the pizza Nutella consist of a pizza crust, that I believe may have been pre-baked slightly, Nutella, cannoli cream and a good shake of powdered sugar. There were 3 of us attending the Binge and our comments ran the gamut, but at the end of the day it was all gone, with all having had more than one slice. In a word "Blissful". If I have any say in my next birthday, I will be dinning at Napoli Pizza and will have Pizza Nutella instead of cake.

So far I have found one fatal flaw with Napoli, The pizza is so good I don't think I will ever make it to the other side of the menu. But then again this is The Pizza Files.

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).

Same as before Highly Recommended.

GAW