poopshovel again said:GTXVette said:Kinda Kool how one store in Sandy Springs grew to what it is Now, That's how Ya ( I ) Know It's Good.
I suppose you could say the same about Papa John’s, and you’d still be wrong
Well I wouldn't say that about Papa johns, so I guess you prefer Uncle Peppers at Holcomb Plaza!
In reply to GTXVette :
Like “good” anything, I suppose what constitutes “good pizza” is open to interpretation. Personally, I think Mellow Mushroom has built their business with branding/culture, not making good pizza.
My $.02
OK I'll Lay Off, I really do like the Alice in Wonderland theme though.
And Peppers really does Suck .
I'm really baffled by how much bad pizza there is. Putting aside differences in styles they're basically crust, sauce, and cheese but some places manage to go horribly wrong on at least one piece of the pie. There are all kinds of excuses like the water is different or they don't have a particular flour somewhere but it still shouldn't be too difficult to make something halfway decent. Even in Manhattan it is becoming harder to find a good piece of pizza. Awful saltine like crusts and bad tasting sauces are becoming common. One place by my inlaws puts cheddar on their pizza as though mozzarella is some kind of exotic cheese that can't be had that far from New York City. The FDA or USDA or whoever is in charge of food should be cracking down on these subpar pizza makers and giving them some serious jail time to think about what they've done.
poopshovel again said:In reply to GTXVette :
Personally, I think Mellow Mushroom has built their business with branding/culture, not making good pizza.
My $.02
F'ing A on that Bra. Overpriced E36 M3 sold to college kids spending mummy and diddy's money.
Driven5 said:Enyar said:OldGray320i said:There was a place called Uno's in Dallas years ago, purported to be Chicago pizza. Not that good.
Um, Uno's is a staple in Chicago.
Same basic name. Same ownership. Different deep dish. There is a reason that the chain side of the business never opened any Chicagoland restaurants. You have to go to the original Pizzeria Uno, birth place of Chicago-style, or Pizzeria Due to get the original recipe deep dish. Think of the chain as an 'inspired by' type of creation, exclusively for people with no access to the real thing or frame of reference for its level of authenticity.
This. Although Pizzeria Uno and Pizzeria Due both pale in comparison to Lou's. And the best is Pequods.
Enyar said:OldGray320i said:New York doesn't know snot about pizza.
Chicago. Geno's, then Giordano's.
There was a place called Uno's in Dallas years ago, purported to be Chicago pizza. Not that good.
One of my favorite franchises was Round Table, out of SoCal. Good for what it was.
Um, Uno's is a staple in Chicago. However, Lou Malnati's beats all the previously mentioned shops
Challenge accepted. Next time I'm in Chicago, I shall try this "Lou Malnati's".
OldGray320i said:Enyar said:OldGray320i said:New York doesn't know snot about pizza.
Chicago. Geno's, then Giordano's.
There was a place called Uno's in Dallas years ago, purported to be Chicago pizza. Not that good.
One of my favorite franchises was Round Table, out of SoCal. Good for what it was.
Um, Uno's is a staple in Chicago. However, Lou Malnati's beats all the previously mentioned shops
Challenge accepted. Next time I'm in Chicago, I shall try this "Lou Malnati's".
Yeah, for Chicago-Style deep dish, Lou Malnoti's or Geno's East is hard to beat. Plenty of great thin pizza joints around Chicagoland too though---- good ones (privately owned) are on nearly every corner.
Having worked at multiple pizza joints in my younger days, I’m happy this thread exists, so I can try the best-of-the-best, clearly defined in this thread.
Daemon, I tried to reach you but ......... Contact me dude.
Joe Gearin said:OldGray320i said:Enyar said:OldGray320i said:New York doesn't know snot about pizza.
Chicago. Geno's, then Giordano's.
There was a place called Uno's in Dallas years ago, purported to be Chicago pizza. Not that good.
One of my favorite franchises was Round Table, out of SoCal. Good for what it was.
Um, Uno's is a staple in Chicago. However, Lou Malnati's beats all the previously mentioned shops
Challenge accepted. Next time I'm in Chicago, I shall try this "Lou Malnati's".
Yeah, for Chicago-Style deep dish, Lou Malnoti's or Geno's East is hard to beat. Plenty of great thin pizza joints around Chicagoland too though---- good ones (privately owned) are on nearly every corner.
Ughhhhhhhhh just thinking about Lou's, Portillos and a cold 312 has me drooling at my desk. Soooooo goooooood
Ughhhhhhhhh just thinking about Lou's, Portillos and a cold 312 has me drooling at my desk. Soooooo goooooood
They just tore down the second Portillos---- outside the Brunswick bowling alley on North Ave in Glendale Heights. I had many a feast there! Not to worry, a modern / huge Portillos is just up the street. I hear they are spreading across the U.S. Hope they come to FL! No pizza, but great dogs, fries and Italian beef------ you know, health food!
Joe Gearin said:Ughhhhhhhhh just thinking about Lou's, Portillos and a cold 312 has me drooling at my desk. Soooooo goooooood
They just tore down the second Portillos---- outside the Brunswick bowling alley on North Ave in Glendale Heights. I had many a feast there! Not to worry, a modern / huge Portillos is just up the street. I hear they are spreading across the U.S. Hope they come to FL! No pizza, but great dogs, fries and Italian beef------ you know, health food!
Oh, you mean like the meal I had at Luke's yesterday: A Chicago Dog and fries!
I'll get the Italian beef next time....
Joe Gearin said:Ughhhhhhhhh just thinking about Lou's, Portillos and a cold 312 has me drooling at my desk. Soooooo goooooood
They just tore down the second Portillos---- outside the Brunswick bowling alley on North Ave in Glendale Heights. I had many a feast there! Not to worry, a modern / huge Portillos is just up the street. I hear they are spreading across the U.S. Hope they come to FL! No pizza, but great dogs, fries and Italian beef------ you know, health food!
They are already here! We have 2 in Tampa but I refuse to go. It's one of those things where if you have it daily it would probably lose it's allure so instead I just wait until I'm stopping through Chicago.
Probably a horrible idea because the product here is likely just as delicious as the real thing,
I should have figured Tampa. The Western Coast of FL is full of retired Midwesterners---- hence the Culver's opening over there. (one in Kissimmee now too) and now Portillos.
Meanwhile on the Eastern side of FL, we get refugees from NY, Boston and the Northeast. Likely why there's so many Italian restaurants over here, and no good pizza.
Enyar said:Joe Gearin said:I grew up in Chicagoland. Most folks associate Chicago with deep dish pizza, which is awesome if you want to bust a gut. What 90% of Chicagoans eat on a regular basis is a thin, crispy crust pizza, cut into square pieces, with lots of toppings. The crust stays firm, and it's absolutely delicious. There seems to be a pizza joint like this on every corner---- some better than others, but most are pretty darn good.
I've been in Florida for 16 years now.......and I haven't found a good pizza joint in this entire state. Sure, we have a few "NY- Style" pizza joints, with the huge pieces that you have to flop over onto themselves to eat---- soggy crust, greasy....... It's ok----- but Damn, do I miss a good Chicago (thin crust) pizza.
Maybe it's the water down here that won't allow for a good pizza. I'm not sure, but in the Daytona area we are in a pizza wasteland. Uno's isn't "Chicago style" pizza.....it's Unos. It's kind of it's own animal.......and not that good. Just because you begin your franchise in Chicago---- that doesn't make your pizza "Chicago Style", regardless of how you market it.
If you're ever in St Pete/Clearwater you have to try Greggario's in Safety Harbor. Legendary.
Been a few years since I checked, but Cristino's in Clearwater is pretty good, too.
Zombie thread bump.
In the last year or so been back to Chicago a couple times, including last week (so good to see the family there).
I've tried Pequods and Lou Malnatis. I've not done the original Uno's (next trip out!).
As of this point, I can confidently say:
Geno's East -> Lou Malnati's ---> Pequods (which, I'll be honest, I found a little pedestrian).
Malnati's had me thinking, I'll say that, but still give the nod to Geno's East. And for those going to Chicago - don't skip Portillos.
That is all.
Carry on.
Skervey said:Me and a coworker talk about this often, he moved from outside Boston to Raleigh. He always talks about how they had so many good mom and pop sub and pizza places.
Zombie thread pile on!
Skervey- There aren't a TON of neighborhood institution type mom-and-pop places, that is truth. There are a bunch of independent places, they are just spread out (like every other damn thing around here).
Here are my views, having spun pizzas for a number of years.
Universal truths:
You're probably going to like the pizza you had locally better than other types. This is fine. In fact, I one day hope to make it to your town and try your pizza.
The spice profile, thickness of the crust, gluten content and type of cheese (whole vs. part skim) make up the backbone of the pizza. If you can make a delicious slice of plain cheese pizza, you're well on your way to doing it right.
Many places get lazy with toppings and dump them all on at once. This is sub-optimal. Veggies and things that will release water go on no earlier than halfway through the cooking process. Obviously, they have to be prepped right in order to do this, too.
For a really watery pizza, put down a bit of cheese and par-cook the dough before adding the sauce. You can also lay down cheese before the sauce and cook halfway, but this is easy to get very wrong and should be considered an advanced method.
The ability to cook pies in stages (like the two points above) ware what makes a brick or wood oven superior to any sort of conveyor belt system that the chains use.
If you eat pizza with silverware, you are a berkeleying pod person. This is like biting an ice cream cone from the bottom and eating upwards. It just isn't done.
You should be able to hold pizza in one hand and walk without fear of losing your toppings or having the crust break. Too floppy and too crispy are equally bad.
The sauce should not, under any circumstances, be sweet, it should be savory. This is what 100% of the chains seem to get wrong.
You can put too many toppings on a pizza. SHHHH! Yes, you can.
BBQ chicken and buffalo chicken are both awesome, but if you put tomato sauce on it, you're doing it wrong. Use BBQ sauce or wing sauce as the base instead. If you put tomato sauce on breakfast pizza, your brain may be defective.
In reply to Brett_Murphy :
Yes!
I know it's a zombie thread, but I'm jumping on board dammit
pinchvalve said:It's the same when we go to the Outer Banks, possibly the worst pizza on the planet...if you can call cardboard with ketchup on it pizza. One shop, any shop, in Long Island will you open a branch in Duck, PLEASE!
The northern OBX is SOL on pizza. There's one good pizza shop on the OBX, but you gotta make it down to Frisco at the Ginger Bread House. My family goes there enough we can call in a pizza with only a name and the chef knows what to make. I can get a good thick crust pan pizza with good wheat or white dough and good ham stock based pizza sauce.
In reply to Brett_Murphy :
You need to petition the government for an office of homeland pizza security, and then be appointed head.
I don't care for pizza. But I'd love to try one done right as you're describing. May change my mind. Honestly, to this point my favorite has been dominoes pepperoni, and thats only when i have to.
In reply to 914Driver :
The mafia has it's hands deep enough into Vegas to ensure that there's some excellent italian food.
Dusterbd13-michael said:In reply to Brett_Murphy :
You need to petition the government for an office of homeland pizza security, and then be appointed head.
When I become benevolent dictator he’s got the job.
Want to know why the country’s a mess? We elect people eating pizza with knives and forks.
I went to lou's earlier this year and was pretty disappointed. I was hoping for 6 inch deep dish and that's not exactly what I got. I think we went to the wrong place.
If a place says it makes Chicago style pizza, and the guy who owns the joint doesn't sound like one of the Superfans, gtfo, because you'll be eating cardboard.
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