Maria's Pizza, Milwaukee

Posted by Adam Kuban, March 10, 2009 at 2:15 PM

Clockwise from top left: You don't see neon signs like this one as much these days, sadly. Maria's dining room is a trip, full of religious iconography, Christmas lights, and those old Tiffany-style lampshades you often find in Midwestern bars of a certain era. (Click top two pictures for larger view.) The "Special": cheese, sausage, mushrooms, and onions.

Maria's Pizza

5025 West Forest Home Avenue, Milwaukee WI 53219 (near S. 51st Street; map); 414-543-4606
The Skinny: Thin- and flaky-crusted, these pizzas are loaded with toppings until they can take no more then served on trays far too small for their cheesy, delicious bounty. Come hungry but not too hungry. Wait time from order is about an hour. You won't go wrong with the "Special" pizza—sausage, mushrooms, and onions
Oven Type: Four Blodgett gas-fired deck ovens
Price: Special, $16.25 for large, $15 small; but, please, just get the large
Notes: Cash only; no delivery; no alcohol, no beer (Yeah, surprising for Milwaukee, right?)
Hours: Tues.–Sun., 4 to 10 p.m.; Sat., 4 to 11 p.m.; closed Mondays

Maria's Pizza is soul food. Not in the traditional sense, of course—there are no collard-green or barbecue pizzas on the menu at this 52-year-old Milwaukee institution.

And while scads of religious iconography hangs on the wood-paneled walls, making oblique reference to the life of the soul, that's only part of it.

Maria's brand of soul derives mostly from the love, hard work, and comfortable familiarity of the second- and third-generation family members who staff the place, roaming the aisles in their red T-shirts, taking orders and bringing hungry Milwaukeeans rectangular trays of oblong pizzas that overhang the serving platters by several inches.

Maria Traxel founded Maria's Pizza in 1957, using her own recipe and roping her three kids—Ronnie, Bonnie, and Mickey—into working in the joint. And work they did. According to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article, Maria didn't believe in vacations, so when you go, you'll always see a familiar face. I've been going to Maria's off and on since childhood (while visiting family in Milwaukee) and on Saturday night recognized Bonnie Crivello, with her signature blond bouffant and red dress, still roaming the dining room after all these years. Sadly, her sister, Mickey Story, died in 2006. Prior to that, you'd go and your waitress would either be "the blond one" or "the brunette"—or one of Mickey's daughters.

Bonnie Crivello, daughter of founder Maria Traxel, at the cash register.

Regardless, all waitresses there wear red, Maria's favorite color—and the color of the dining room walls at the original Maria's Pizza on 7th Street and Greenfield. The original closed in 1993, after Maria's death. She had split her daughters between the first and second locations and stipulated that, upon her death, the original be closed so her daughters could work, reunited, at the Forest Home pizzeria.

Just some of many of Walter Traxel's paint-by-number religious-themed works.

At that time, all the religious paint-by-number pictures, done by Maria's husband, Walter, were transferred to the second location. (On a side note, those paintings were originally meant to be temporary. There was no money to paint the walls when the pizzeria opened in 1953, so Maria covered them with Walter's paintings. After a priest blessed them, she felt it would be bad luck to remove them.)

The Pizza

We were a party of seven, and, because I was held up as the "pizza expert," my family had me assess the number of pies needed. I figured three large pies of various topping assortments were in order. The pizza at Maria's is cracker-thin, with a flaky almost-pastry-like crust, so you can eat a lot of it. Plus, we had an eighth person we needed to bring pizza back to.

Maria's pizzas: thin like a razor blade.

It had been a while since my last Maria's trip, and I had forgotten the size of the large pizzas. As we saw nearby tables receive theirs, I began to worry we wouldn't have table space or belly room enough.

The "Cheese Supreme," seconds after serving. My extended family is unused to the ways of food bloggers and had to be trained to leave the pizza untouched until yours truly could shoot it. I'm guessing they think my job is crazy.

No worries. We made enough of a dent in the first two (a "Special," sausage, mushrooms, and onion; and a pepperoni) that we consolidated them onto one tray within minutes and were able to bring over the third (a "Cheese Supreme," mushrooms, onions, black olives, and green peppers) from a neighboring table we had commandeered.

Like many Midwestern thin-crust pizzas, the pies at Maria's are sliced "party cut" into a haphazard grid pattern. Depending on topping distribution and whether you get an edge piece, you can either attempt to pick it up or just go at it with a knife and fork. I used a knife and fork for the first couple slices and didn't get a look at the crust until I got my hands on a rim piece.

I hadn't been expecting much in the way of crust color, since this was pizza loaded with cheese and toppings and cooked in a gas oven. But the upskirt shot here reveals a deep-golden-brown crust with lots of texture—surprising for a dough fed through a sheeter.

The ample cheese is of high quality and pulls away in long strings as you eat. The sauce, I have to admit, is difficult to discern among everything going on, but at least it is not oversweet, a fault I've found with much of the Milwaukee pizza I've had.

If you're a pizza snob, the toppings might rub you the wrong way—green peppers instead of roasted reds, canned mushrooms instead of fresh, diced onions instead of nice round rings—but Maria's is something else entirely, and I'm not judging it by New York pizza standards.

It is delicious, reliable, comforting food of the highest order. And on a cold rainy, Saturday in Milwaukee, it was chicken soup for the pizza soul.

Bonus Photographic Outtakes

35 Comments (3)

Tags: Maria's Pizza, Milwaukee, Recommended, Reviews, Slice Reviews, Wisconsin

35 Comments:

Eucharist-thin should be a new crust classification.

Erin Zimmer at 3:05PM on 03/10/09

Hey Adam,
In the Milwaukee area, do you favor this or Zaffiro's?

pastry262 at 3:11PM on 03/10/09

I wanna visit this place just so I can be surrounded by all those lights and paintings. LOOKS AWESOME!

roboppy at 3:14PM on 03/10/09

I have driven by this place several times and never even given it a second thought. I may have to check it out some night.

My Milwaukee pizza rankings are as follows:
1. Lisa's on Oakland
2. Balestreri's
3. Zaffiro's
4. Classic Slice
5. Mattaeo's (Waukesha)

EatWisconsin at 3:15PM on 03/10/09

that overflowing oblong pizza is impressive! its making me really jealous.
i absolutely love their interior. i would decorate my apt like that if i could.

redzerostar at 4:13PM on 03/10/09

As a Milwaukee native, I am embarrassed to admit I have never heard of this place, especially since it looks so amazing. Then again, the South side really is its own country. Balistreri's will always be my favorite Milwaukee pizza, but I am a biased westsider. We're a very territorial town.

Embackus at 4:40PM on 03/10/09

Hands down, longest pizza I've ever seen.

Hillary
Chew on That

Chew on That at 4:46PM on 03/10/09

@pastry262: I'm embarrassed to admit I haven't had Zaffiro's, even after reading Daniel Zeman's Zaffiro's review here on Slice. I wanted to go, but I kinda figured Daniel had it covered for the site, and I didn't want to double-up and "waste" a pizza-eating opportunity on already-tread ground. Also, Maria's is sort of a tradition in my family. My dad LOVES this place and always used to take us here whenever we visited family in Milwaukee. I knew I had to go and do a proper Slice write-up on the place. I wish I could answer your question definitively. I guess next time I visit, I'll have to do a proper pizza crawl. Food was not a priority this trip; we were in town for a few days for my paternal grandmother's funeral. :(

@EatWisconsin: Thanks for your list. I will refer to it next time I'm there and doing my pizza crawl. Funny enough, we passed Classic Slice on the way to visit my cousin's vintage/retro shop (Tip Top Atomic Shop). I liked the name, but we had already eaten and were on a strict timetable so we could catch our plane on time.

@Embackus: That's funny that both you and EatWisconsin have not been. In my world, Maria's is "an INSTITUTION," as I called it above. Maybe it's less well-known than I think. The way it's revered by my dad, I just sort of figured EVERYONE in Milwaukee knew about it or had had it.

Adam Kuban at 4:50PM on 03/10/09

Green peppers are actually one of my favorite things to get on a pizza. And fresh mushrooms often dry out in the oven. If people could get used to thinking of canned mushrooms as foodier-sounding "brined" mushrooms, maybe they'd be more accepting.

That pepperoni distribution is very haphazard.

Michele Humes at 4:54PM on 03/10/09

@Michele: I think you're on to something re: "brined mushrooms." That would be a funny experiment for a pizzeria to perform. Yeah, the pepperoni pie left a little something to be desired. First, the distro was sparse and haphazard. So much for the Journal Sentinel's claim that "the toppings are never measured out; the cooks load them on until the pizza is full." Re: Green peppers, I grew up eating them on pizza and like them with sausage. I'm not saying I had a problem with them, just that some green-pepper-hating food snobs might.

Adam Kuban at 5:10PM on 03/10/09

I see a huge charred crust bubble in the slide show
I see red checked oil cloth tablecloths

The place looks righteous to me

gaffer at 5:15PM on 03/10/09

Yeah, in regard to some of the above comments, I have never heard of Maria's before either. Also, another good Milwaukee pizza place to check out is Pizza Man on Brady St. Wisconsin pizza is known for its cracker thin crust, and Pizza Man follows suit.
By the way, Adam, I was wondering to pick your brain on Milwaukee pizza. I'm not sure if you've mentioned it before, but what's your general feeling towards the crackeriness of our crusts? Personally, having made a trip our to Di Fara's, Pizzeria Mozza, and everything inbetween, I favor the more hefty crust - something way south of deep dish but slightly north of Maria's or Zaffiro's - a good, crunchy snap with some give. At times, it feels as if the toppings will crush the crust, and I've sometimes found the Milwaukee style to be to fragile. Any thoughts?

pastry262 at 5:21PM on 03/10/09

@pastry262: I actually love the thin, crackery pizza crusts of the Upper Midwest.

Someone in Ed Levine's pizza book came up with the "pizza cognition theory," which states that "the first pizza a person eats becomes the standard by which that person judges all pizza he or she subsequently eats."

I don't know if the Milwaukee style imprinted itself on me very deeply, since we moved away from the city when I was quite young and I only had it on visits back, but it is a style of pizza I remember fondly and crave when I get tired of Brooklyn-style or Neapolitan-style.

I agree that the crust gets overwhelmed by the cheese and toppings and that you really do need a knife and fork to eat most of this style of pizza, but in this rare case, the crust takes a back seat for me. (Read those words and savor them, because I think it's the first time I've ever written them.) It becomes a vehicle for the mixture of sausage, good creamy cheese, onions, and mushrooms on top of it.

Adam Kuban at 5:36PM on 03/10/09

I wholly agree, Adam. I think what separates a good Midwestern pizza is the quality of ingredients. Luckily, many of the best pizza places in Milwaukee have great homemade sausage and local cheese - add some mushrooms and you have a quintessential Milwaukee pizza.

pastry262 at 5:52PM on 03/10/09

I was raised in Milwaukee and I never heard of Maria's either - but I agree, it's location. The south side is it's own thing.

The owners of Sally's on Oakland Ave. are family friends, and the pizza really is good. But I have to agree with whoever put Pizza Man on top. To me, this is real Milwaukee pizza. My dad used to go there when he was in high school 50 years ago!

BangieB at 5:56PM on 03/10/09

When I lived in Milwaukee, this was my absolute favorite pizza. I don't really remember why, but seeing it again reminds me of exactly what it tasted like. When you do take out, I think it comes on two cardboard circles. Awesome.

jgrutza at 7:57PM on 03/10/09

Ya I'm a New Yorker and I think that place looks...awesome.

bobbob at 11:04PM on 03/10/09

What is with the random placement of the pepperonis? Care should be taken to ensure even spreadage to maximize pepp per bite.

lambowner at 9:51AM on 03/11/09

Like Embackus, I'm also a Milw native who's never heard of this place, and from the SW side of town (where Maria's is located) to boot! My only excuse is that I moved west over 20 years ago, before Maria's moved to Forest Home Ave. Yes, the South Side is it's own country.....but I guess you can say that about all the major parts of town. But, yah, we're special over here.

Thanks, Adam. We love thin-crust pizza, and this sounds great. And once we get around to giving the place a try, I think it'll survive the drive to Muskego without getting too soggy.

Outside of Milwaukee, especially out here in S Waukesha county, there is NO good pizza. Other than my own. I love to cook--obviously, since I visit this website--and I've made thin-crust pizza a specialty. But it's nice to order out now and then. Even in Milwaukee I can't say I've found many places I really like. My husband's a Wauwatosa native and swears by Balistreri's, but while their crust is great I don't care much for their sauce. Always something, I guess!!

Barbd at 12:01PM on 03/11/09

Ok....now that I've gone to google maps and actually looked at the street view of the place, of COURSE I've driven past it a million times and know exactly where it is. I guess it just looked like a local dive all these years, and you really don't hear about it or read about it in the local press or on tv. Thanks again, Adam!

Barbd at 12:43PM on 03/11/09

yeah, this place looks great. gotta keep it in mind if i'm ever in mil.

sloppy at 12:46PM on 03/11/09

Definitely one of the largest pizzas I have seen that wasn't intentially gigantic.

FrostyGhost at 1:50PM on 03/11/09

That rectangle pizza looks good, but 1 thing is bugging me. What is up with the orange cheese? Is it cheddar? Velveeta? Some kind of blend? Orange cheese shouldn't be on pizza.

beersnob at 7:56AM on 03/13/09

I grew up in Milwaukee and am very familiar with Maria's. I once at an entire large cheese in less than 5 min. Anyway...

Milwaukee is an excellent pizza town, lots and lots of pizza selection. I now live in Connecticut and while New Haven pizza is great, I still look forward to a Milwaukee pizza when I return. Both styles are in the same ball park.......thin crust being the similarity.

There have been a few new additions to the "best" pizza in Milwaukee I have not tried...but my favs include

Pizza Man - Milwaukee
Ann's Pizza - Hales Corners

There are others, prior posts captured others I enjoy...Balisterie's, Matteos. I understand Zaffiro's is being developed into a chain pizza concept by Marcus Corp.....rumor.

BeanoCook at 9:57AM on 03/13/09

That's one awful looking mess.

dmcavanagh at 12:22AM on 03/14/09

Pizza Man is ok, but I kind of consider it bar time pizza. As for Barbd, if you are in Southern Waukesha county have you tried Matteo's in Waukesha yet? Michaels in Waukesha is also ok.

EatWisconsin at 11:21AM on 03/16/09

@EatWisconsin--nope, we haven't tried Matteo's, or Michael's for that matter. thanks for the tip. A new Mama Mia's just opened near our house, and we did give it a try, but I can't say I was terribly impressed, although I know a lot of people who love their other restaurants. It was just ok.

Barbd at 12:38PM on 03/16/09

Maria's is one of the best in Milwaukee. There's nothing close to it. I've been going there for over 30 years. I was a frequent visitor of 7th and Greenfield until Maria passed and now the family runs the one on Forest Home. This is a GREAT family restaurant that everyone should experience. There is quite a wait on Friday and Saturday, but it's worth the wait. Everyone there is very nice. They even have a new soda machine now... :)

badds55 at 11:50PM on 03/21/09

Adam: Didn't know your were a Milwaukee native. So am I. My family lived quite near Maria's. We passed by a million times and never stopped. I'll have to go next time I visit. Looks like my kind of place.

BrooksofSheffield at 1:16AM on 03/25/09

@Brooks: This is so funny. All these people who either still live in Milwaukee or are from there say much the same thing. All my life I've been led to believe by my father that Maria's is this well-known Milwaukee institution, and then to read the comments here, it's like I'd discovered some sort of hidden gem. Really goes to show how much your worldview can be shaped by your parents.

Adam Kuban at 9:45AM on 03/25/09

Hi Adam - this is a late comment, but I just wanted to thank you for posting this place. Ironically, I grew up less than a mile from this joint and never noticed it. I dined there earlier this week and was so glad I did! I am definitely putting this place in my restaurant rotation. Thanks again!

Martini Me at 1:52PM on 04/24/09

@Martini Me: If I can send just one person to a great pizzeria and they like it and return, then I'm having a good day! Glad you liked it.

Adam Kuban at 2:37PM on 04/24/09

Wow! Look at the size of this thing. This looks like the perfect Super Bowl pizza because it has the shape of a football field.

Blog Pizza at 6:22PM on 06/06/09

I am dying reading these comments - hilarious bc I am in the same boat. Raised in Milwaukee and still consider it my hometown - 15 yrs removed. I have never heard of Maria's bc I grew up on the westside and never went on the southside - except to hit Virginia's in highschool. THE PIZZA LOOKS AWESOME. My family does the pizza crawl (last ranking was Caldarone Club downtown, Pizza Man, Lisa's, Balisterie's, and Zaffiros - my dad's fav had a bad showing). Growing up it was Michaels on Fon du Lac and Capital with the homemade fries (still always need fries w/ my pizza) which had moved to Waukesha, but not the same. Then it was Parente's on 124th and North (still my fav that closed in 1989??). Now it is Pizza Man, because of the crust, fries and wine. Waiting for a place in Chicago to compete. IN THE MEANTIME, I AM MAKING PLANS TO GO TO MILWAUKEE TO EAT AT MARIA'S.

RussHux at 11:31PM on 06/18/09

I grew up in Milwaukee and as a child; my family always went to Maria on Greenfield almost weekly; usually after church on Sunday nights to get a Pizza (or two) to go. It basically became a family tradition. I left Milwaukee in '78 and currently live in Kansas City, MO but we still frequent Maria's (now located on Forest Home Ave) whenever we visit family in Milwaukee. I have traveled extensively and cannot find a pizza anywhere that compares to it. I love its great aroma and wish they would franchise as we can't get it here and I often crave its original, one-of-a-kind texture and taste. Dave Allen.

dlallen2 at 8:20PM on 08/23/09

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