Serious Eats contributor Daniel Zemans, our man in Chicago, checks in with another piece of intel from the road, this time in Iowa City. —The Mgmt.
Wig and Pen Pizza Pub
1220 Hwy 6 West, Coralville, IA 52241 (map); 319-354-2767; wigandpeneast.com Pizza Style: Thin crust, stuffed and Flying Tomato Oven Type: Gas The Skinny: The Flying Tomato is short on tomato, but will still appeal to those who like mozzarella in very large quantities Price: Large Flying Tomato with one topping, $24.35.
On my way back to Chicago from Omaha a little over a week ago, I took a break from the rolling hills of young corn that were interrupted by the occasional wind farm to stop in Iowa City, home of the University of Iowa, for a late lunch that would get me through the rest of the drive. In doing my research before starting the trip, I discovered that Iowa City did not seem to be a particularly notable pizza town. That said, I did find a popular place that offered a new type of pizza: the Wig & Pen Pizza Pub.
In the 16 years since Dick Querrey took over the Wig & Pen and made significant menu changes, the popular Iowa City spot has expanded to three locations, one of which bounced back from some serious flooding last year. Querrey, who runs the place with help from his kids, serves three kinds of pizza: thin crust, stuffed, and the Flying Tomato Pie.
The Flying Tomato is a cross between a stuffed pizza and a pan pie that was invented by a cook at the Wig & Pen who was having fun experimenting in the kitchen. Since I am always eager to try new types of pizza, ordering a Flying Tomato was a no-brainer.
Serious Eats contributor Daniel Zemans, our man in Chicago, checks in with another piece of intel from the road, this time in Omaha. —The Mgmt.
La Casa Pizzaria
4432 Leavenworth, Omaha, NE 68105 (map); 402-556-6464; lacasapizzaria.net Pizza Style: Thin crust rectangular pies with buttery crust are the norm; double-crust pies also available Oven Type: Gas The Skinny: Half-century old Omaha institution offers a unique, very good pizza Price: Large (10” x 15”) with two toppings, $15.14
I have some important advice for anyone planning on taking a trip to the College World Series: Wear purple. When LSU is in the CWS (which is pretty much every year these days), hundreds of Louisianans make the 1000+ mile drive to Omaha, Nebraska, to cheer on their favorite baseball team. While flying might be easier, cars are required to bring along the stunning amount of food and cooking supplies that go into what must be some of the more impressive tailgating on the planet. And that brings me back to the "wear purple" suggestion: The people who bring the food may not speak a version of English that most Americans can understand, but they are happy to share their food with anyone and everyone who is there to support LSU baseball.
Since all my purple clothes were still in Chicago, I had to find some other dining options while in Omaha over the weekend. In that quest, I encountered a couple of misses, but La Casa Pizzaria was a definite hit. The Omaha institution has been serving up unique pies since Joe Patane opened the place in 1953.
Since then, they have expanded their original location, which I went to, and they have added a second restaurant.
Serious Eats contributor Daniel Zemans checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. Daniel also blogs about Chicagoland pizza with his friends on the Chicago Pizza Club blog. —The Mgmt.
Freddy's Pizza & Gelateria
1600 South 61st Avenue, Cicero IL 60804 (map); 708-863-9289 Getting There: Blue Line to Austin, walk nearly 1 mile south to corner of Austin Blvd. and 16th Street; or drive Pizza Style: Italian bakery (Sicilian), Margherita, thin crust Oven Type: Gas The Skinny: Great pizza, even better non-pizza food options, and even better service Notes: Mon.–Sat., 10 a.m.–7 p.m.; extensive catering options available; cash only
Most people who have heard of Cicero, Illinois, know it for one of three things, all negative. First, it is the place where Al Capone moved to escape the pesky Chicago authorities trying to stop the man from making a living. Second, when Martin Luther King led a fair-housing campaign in the Chicago area in 1966, the residents of Cicero, nearly all of whom were white, were so violently opposed to integration that King assented to the wishes of Mayor Richard J. Daley and various civic leaders and opted to avoid Cicero. Third, Cicero has a history of corruption that makes Chicago politics seem pure, most recently highlighted by the imprisonment of Cicero Mayor Betty Loren Maltese.
Today, Cicero is, in some ways an altogether different place. It is no longer a safe haven for the mob, and, thanks to a huge influx of Mexican-Americans, it is a racially diverse town. Of course, not everything has changed: Current Cicero Mayor Larry Dominick is being accused of sexual harassment by multiple women, has given plum jobs to campaign donors, and has been accused of a variety of unsavory political acts. On the bright side, another part of Cicero that has been consistent for 41 years is that Freddy's Pizza & Gelateria continues to serve up a variety of excellent Italian foods, including three types of pizza.
13455 Maxella Avenue, Marina del Rey CA 90292 (2nd floor of Marina Marketplace; map); 310-577-8182; anticapizzeria.net Pizza Style: Neapolitan, VPN-certified Oven Type: Wood-burning The Skinny: Delicious Neapolitan pizza from the president of the U.S. branch of the Verace Pizza Napoletana association Price: Margherita pie (serves 1), $12.50
As a transplanted a New Yorker living in Los Angeles, I have often suffered pangs of homesickness for the streets of my youth. All I have to do is close my eyes and allow imagination and sense memories to transport me back to the Bronx.
One of the most poignant and vivid memories is of eating pizza, usually at either Paradise Pizza (just a few doors down from the palatial Loew's Paradise Theater) or at Burnside Pizza. Both establishments were ordinary, local businesses that produced extraordinary slices. I can clearly visualize a hot, plain slice, perfectly crunchy and chewy, and with a perfect balance of cheese and sauce, all for a mere 25¢.
Longtime Antica Pizzeria pizzaiolo Jose Barrios, who trained under Peppe Miele many years ago and who makes the pizzas most nights.
Well, years have passed and, though the price of a slice has risen considerably, so has my degree of pizza sophistication. Having discovered in the '90s the wonders of coal-burning ovens and homemade mozzarella, my early love for this simple and satisfying food has evolved into an obsession. Imagine my excitement and relief when, more than ten years ago, I discovered that I lived just around the bend from Antica Pizzeria,Peppe Miele's Neapolitan outpost in Marina del Rey.
417 Madison Road, Covington KY 41011 (map); 773-275-7080; larosas.com Pizza Style: Traditional (thin), hand-tossed (medium), and crispy pan (thick) Oven Type: Gas The Skinny: Popular Cincinnati chain's success is baffling, as this is just not good pizza Price: Large thin crust, one topping, $14.04; large focaccia-style pie, $17.14.
As with religion and sports teams, I think it’s safe to say that most people are loyal to the type of pizza on which they were raised. Given the lifelong ties so many have to their favorite pizzeria as well as my love of virtually every pizzalike food, I try to find the good in whatever pizza I try. When I planned my recent trip to Cincinnati, I did some research and learned that the 'Nati’s quintessential pizza can be found at LaRosa’s Pizzeria, which has been a local institution since 1954. While it may not be every Queen City resident's favorite, it does have an incredibly large and loyal following. LaRosa’s has grown from one shop on the city's west side to become a chain with more than 60 locations in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, so I assumed they were doing something right.
I visited the Covington, Kentucky, location late Saturday night, where I picked up the pizzas and then took them to my hotel (the dining rooms close at 10 p.m., but delivery and to-go orders are available until 11 p.m.). To order a pizza for carry-out or delivery, everyone calls the same phone number no matter which LaRosa’s they are ordering from. The pizza dispatcher takes the order and coordinates with the local pizzeria. When calling, people have the option of ordering right then or having their pizza ready at a particular time, a convenience I took advantage of. The guy I talked to, who was at the end of a long shift, could not have been more helpful in walking me through the various options (I had forgotten the online menu I'd printed out). Unfortunately, the customer service was the only thing about my LaRosa’s experience that was above average. Simply put, while Cincinnatians have plenty of food to be proud of, LaRosa's pizza is not in that category.
"I would be happy eating a Delfina pizza every day of my life, but it probably would never make me jump for pizza joy."
Pizzeria Delfina is Alan Richman's No. 3 U.S. pizzeria.
Last week I took advantage of a quick-turnaround, 36-hour trip to San Francisco to try a couple of much-ballyhooed San Francisco pizzerias, Pizzeria Delfina and Gialina.San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic Michael Bauer took me to Gialina (many thanks, Michael) and I took myself to Pizzeria Delfina because, well, because that's what I do—try pizzerias near and far. And much to Mr. Kuban's chagrin, Mr. Bauer blogged about my little San Francisco pizza adventure before I could even get the sauce stains off my shirt. Actually, there was another reason I went to both places that night: My friend Alan Richmanhad ranked them both very highly in his recent GQ piece provocatively titled "The 25 Best Pizzas You'll Ever Eat." How highly? Pizzeria Delfina was ranked third and Gialina 14th.
Now I know that up to now I have been conspicuously absent in the heated debate that's ensued since Alan's piece came out a couple of weeks ago. No more. I loved reading Alan's pizza piece because Alan's stories are always a good read designed to provoke argument and debate. He's a wonderful, very funny writer who actually visits and tastes all the food he writes about (note to Details editors: Googling is not eating).
All that being said, I didn't agree with all of Alan's individual pizzeria and collective pizza city rankings. Detroit is certainly not a top five American pizza city. A provocative statement to be sure by Alan, but not a true one. But I digress. I went to Pizzeria Delfina to see if it could possibly be better than Pizzeria Bianco (ranked fourth) or Una Pizza Napoletana (which Alan preposterously ranked 25th).
In other words, I went to see if Richman was a serious pizza eater and not just a serious pizza provocateur.
Gialina Pizzeria is one of San Francisco Chronicle food critic Michael Bauer's pick for the best pizza in the City by the Bay.
Ed Levine here at Slice–Serious Eats headquarters was in San Francisco last week and went to both Pizzeria Delfina and Gialina Pizzeria with San Francisco Chronicle food critic Michael Bauer.
And do you know how I found out about this excursion? On Michael Bauer's blog via my "pizza news" Google Alert. Hmmph. Where's the Slice report, Ed?
I've been waiting for Ed to weigh in on the pizza, but since the dirt has not been dished, here's the gist: Ed disses Pizzeria Delfina and says he loves Gialina. Apparently, Bauer seemed to feel his pizza-reputation was riding on his Gialina recommendation, and the place did not disappoint him or Ed. Although the site 7x7takes issue with both men's love of the Glen Park pizzeria.
So, Ed ... are we ever going to read your thoughts on Delfina vs. Gialina here on Slice?
Gialina Pizzeria
2842 Diamond Street, San Francisco, CA 94131 (map)
415-239-8500; gialina.com
The most popular pizza is not always the best pizza. But when North End natives start lining up at ten-thirty in the morning—before the shop even opens—that slice is going to be pretty damn good.
But these whole-pie debates ignore the humble, hefty Sicilian slice—which, at Galleria Umberto, is the only pizza you’ll find. Recently named one of Alan Richman’s Top 25 pizzerias in America, Umberto easily disappears into the Hanover Street brickwork. Neither its unadored storefront or its sign ("Galleria Umberto Rosticceria") hint at the pizza waiting within.
Open Mondays through Saturdays, Galleria Umberto slings slices only from 11:00 AM until the dough runs out (before mid-afternoon, earlier on the weekends). Their cavernous space makes the lines look deceptively manageable; a lunchtime visitor could easily wait upwards of thirty minutes for a slice to go. But with the drama behind the counter, the time disappears. The staff run between the register and the food display, sliding effortlessly between English and Italian, pausing only to kiss or shake hands with a regular customer. Pizza flies out from the kitchen, enormous pans appearing every three or four minutes, smacked down on the counter, slices scooped up so quickly the cheese hardly has time to ooze over the side.
Admittedly, the previous item I blogged about was a week old*, and in that time Alan Richman has moved on to writing about some old standbys. He posted his thoughts yesterday on Grimaldi's (DUMBO), Patsy's (East Harlem), and Di Fara (Midwood). Again, let's take them in order.
On Grimaldi's:
The oven is just right, but the crusts are merely okay—they have a fresh, bready smell, but to me they’re a little too thick and slightly too soft, somewhat undercooked. The tomato sauce is vibrant and essential, which means the white pizzas are best skipped. These basically consist of soft, melted mozzarella atop soft, bland crusts. I tried a half-dozen pies and by far the best was topped with grated cheese, fresh mozzarella, tomato sauce, and excellent, spicy, thick-cut slices of pepperoni.
Agree or disagree with Richman's Top 25 Pizzas List, but I think he's spot on about Grimaldi's here. [Richman's take on Patsy's and Di Fara, after the jump. ]
The toppings here are overly ambitious yet flavorsome, but the crusts are flabby, tasteless, barely charred, and lacking the puffy outside ring that is reminiscent of a true Naples pie. My favorite menu item by far was the arancini, listed under “Neapolitan Street Food” but as far as I know found just about everywhere in Italy. These little rice balls were wonderfully crunchy, the only item we tried that came to the table crisp.
Ouch. But when it comes to Ignazio's, it gets worse. To say Richman doesn't like the joint is an understatement. On Ignazio's:
Daniel Zemans, our man in Chicago, checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. Daniel also blogs about Chicagoland pizza with his friends on the Chicago Pizza Club blog. —The Mgmt.
Marcello’s (Father & Son)
2745 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago IL 60647 (map); 773-275-7080; marcellos.com/ Getting There: Blue Line to Logan Square, walk 1/3 of a mile south on Milwaukee or take #56 Milwaukee Avenue Street bus to Sacramento Pizza Style: Thin crust and pan/deep dish Oven Type: Gas The Skinny: Classic Chicago thin crust is definitely worth a visit; deep dish/pan pies are an added bonus Price: 14-inch thin and crispy pies start at $10.45; 12-inch pan/deep dish pizzas start at $13.95
Father & Son has been selling classic Chicago thin crust pies in
Logan Square since it first opened in 1947 at the corner of Diversey and Whipple. Seven years later, 24-year-old Marshall Bauer became the pizzeria's third owner, and the restaurant has truly been a family affair ever since. Upon taking over, Bauer was guided in the ways of the pizza business by family members who owned Rossi's, a southside pizzeria. A few years later, Bauer brought his father into the business, where he would stay until he passed away 30 years later. In 1962, the restaurant was doing so well that Father & Son relocated to the larger Milwaukee Avenue location I visited for this review. Today, the company is still in the Bauer family, with Marshall's son Bill in charge of day-to-day operations. Marshall’s other son, Jay, runs Nation Pizza Products, which makes frozen pizzas and related products. Marshall Bauer remains the CEO and Chairman of both companies. His third son, Jack, is not directly involved with either company, but he does keep the pizza-eating world safe by fighting terrorists.
In addition to the Logan Square location, there is a huge restaurant and banquet hall on the border of Old Town and Lincoln Park as well as a new place (2 years old) in the northern suburb of Northbrook. Twelve years ago, Father & Son added a catering division it dubbed Marcello's, a name the company applied to its pizzerias two years ago. While the name has changed, the pizza is still very good and understandably popular. And between the catering business and three spread out pizzerias, Marcerllo's serves the entire Chicago area. They were the first or one of the first pizzerias in Chicago to offer delivery and today, they make between 8,000 and 10,000 deliveries per week.
1518 W Chicago Avenue, Chicago IL 60622 (Armour Street/Greenview Avenue); 312-929-3615; paulaandmonicas.com The Skinny: Worthy newcomer with an unusual "Combo" hybrid pie that combines Italian beef and pizza Price: 10-inch Combo, $10; 14-inch Combo, $17
As happens every spring in the midst of the NBA, NHL, NCAA sports championship hoopla, mayors in every major city hunker down and waste public tax dollars trying to feed the PR machine with cheeky side bet offerings of their particular cities culinary offerings. Just before the Blackhawks–Canucks game, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley promised Vancouver's mayor Red Hot Chicago hot dogs, Red Hots candies, and Goose Island Brewery's new Red Felt beer if the the Blackhawks lost. They didn't, and I don't know what we get in turn from Vancouver, but with all the TV shows filmed there and the proximity to the water, probably some old X-Files props and a bag of fish.
When adding toppings, Beau Jo's definitely seems to take into consideration the amount of crust, because the quantities are huge.
Beau Jo’s
2710 S. Colorado Boulevard, Denver CO 80222 (map); 773-275-7080; beaujos.com Pizza Style: Mountain style Oven Type: Gas The Skinny: Family-friendly Colorado mini-chain serves up unique mountain pies with huge corniciones and an overload of toppings; honey for crust-dipping is a genius idea that ought to be replicated Price: Mountain Pies range from $6.99 for a plain-cheese 1-pounder to $35.99 for a 5-pounder Specialty Pie; all-you-can-eat option featuring 7-pizza buffet, salad, and soup is $8.49 for adults and 50¢ times years old for kids Notes: Environmental commitment is very evident; extensive gluten-free options available; free garlic bread for moms on Mother’s Day
Serious Eats Chicago contributor Daniel Zemans (he's a part of the Chicago Pizza Club), checks in with another piece of intel from the road. This time, Denver. —The Mgmt.
I learned three important things on my trip to Denver over the weekend to visit my older sister and her family. First, although I am not a fan of anything related to Sam Walton, the fact that a Sam’s Club in Denver sells Mexican Coke by the case makes me positively giddy about that drink’s bright future in this country. Second, if anyone trusts me with sole responsibility to watch their 2-year-old child, I will lose track of the kid at least once every 15 minutes. And third, Beau Jo's has been serving up a unique type of pizza for 36 years that needs to be added to Slice's List of Regional Pizza Styles.
They call it Colorado Style, but as far as I can tell, they are the only place that serves it, so I guess that makes it Beau Jo’s Style. Either way, it deserves to be recognized.
The original Beau Jo’s opened its doors in the gold rush town of Idaho Springs and has since added locations in eight other Colorado cities. Beau Jo’s is rightfully best known for its Mountain Pies, the thick-crust monsters that are sold by the pound rather than the traditional S-M-L-XL system. Beau Jo’s also sells a thin-crust that they call Prairie Pies, as well as a couple of additional unique creations that I have never seen anywhere else.
Skillets are pizzas cooked in a pan with a tortilla in place of a crust. Like every other pizza style at Beau Jo’s, they come loaded with toppings and, I assume, require a knife and fork. Beau Jo’s also sells pastas, all of which are served on a pizza crust bowl rather than a plate, which I guess makes them pasta pizzas.
Serious Eats contributor Daniel Zemans checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. Daniel also blogs about Chicagoland pizza with his friends on the Chicago Pizza Club blog. —The Mgmt.
Monticchio
4882 N. Clark Street, Chicago IL 60640 (map); 773-275-7080; monticchiopizza.com/ Getting There: Red Line to Lawrence, walk half mile west and 2 blocks north; or #22 Clark Street bus to Ainslie Pizza Style: Neapolitan-style and thin crust Oven Type: Gas The Skinny: Comes up short on what they call Neapolitan pizza, but the thin crust is worth a visit Price: 11-inch Neapolitan pies, $9.75 to $14.50; 14-inch thin crust (2 toppings), $16.25
Like most major American cities, Chicago has seen an incredible amount of urban renewal over the past few decades. Nowhere has that been more evident than in north side neighborhoods along the lake stretching almost all the way from Old Town to Andersonville. For reasons that would take a team of political scientists, economists, historians, and sociologists to adequately explain, the periodic economic booms of the last 30 years have somehow consistently skipped much of Uptown, the large community between Lakeview and Andersonville. The most recent boom finally saw some economic growth in Uptown, but the forces that have kept the neighborhood struggling could not be defeated entirely.
Perhaps no one block better defines the slow transition of Uptown than Clark Street between Lawrence and Ainslie. At the southern end sits Rainbo Village, a beautiful new development that was built and financed by overly optimistic folks who thought hundreds of people would pay a premium for a view of St. Boniface Catholic Cemetery. The development is failing. Further to the north sits a remnant of Uptown’s past, Lincoln Towing Services, among the most hated of Chicago corporations. Immortalized in song by the brilliant Steve Goodman, LTS seems to have progressed beyond the days when it would routinely tow legally parked cars, but a mere mention of its name can send countless longtime Chicagoans into a rage. And next to LTS sits what may well be a part of Uptown's future: Monticchio (pronounced Mone-tee-kee-oh), a six-month-old pizzeria that serves both Neapolitan-style pizza and a more traditional Chicago-style thin crust. The good news is that Monticchio serves up one OK and one very good style of pizza. The bad news is that neither the Neapolitan pies nor the Chicago thin crust fit most definitions of their respective styles.
For a city with a historic and world-renown Italian community (North Beach), San Francisco and the Bay Area has, until the last few years, been sorely lacking in great pizza. While there are several excellent Italian delis and restaurants like Molinari's, Lucca, and, my favorite restaurant when I lived in San Francisco in the '80s, Caffe Sport, no pizzaioli were creating memorable pies.
Thankfully, that woeful state of culinary affairs has been remedied. One of a handful of great purveyors of pizza is Pizzeria Delfina. Opened by Craig and Ann Stoll on 18th Street in the Mission in 2005, next to their original Italian trattoria, Delfina, the pizzeria was inspired by Craig's memories of great pies in New York, where he grew up, as well as the pies he'd eaten during his travels to Italy.
The Stolls have also recently opened another Pizzeria Delfina branch in Pacific Heights, where I had the pleasure of dining two weeks ago. I can unequivocally say that Delfina is worthy of the admiration of pizza lovers in San Francisco and throughout the Bay Area.
From left: St. Marks 2 Bros. Pizza, 542 Ninth Ave, New York NY 10018 (at West 40th Street; map). 99¢ Fresh Pizza, 569 Ninth Avenue, New York NY 10036 (at 41st Street; map). Click all photos for larger versions. These and all subsequent photos feature 2 Bros. on left and 99¢ on right.
Fig. 1: A side-by-side comparison of St. Marks 2 Bros. Pizza and 99¢ Fresh Pizza slices.
Yesterday afternoon, Zach Brooks of Midtown Lunch issued a challenge via blog and tweet. He claims he doesn't know much about pizza and wanted my opinion on the hot new pizza rivalry occurring within the realm of his blog's coverage.
But first, some history: Just west of the Port Authority Bus Terminal on the northwest corner of 41st Street and Ninth Avenue is 99¢ Fresh Pizza. This bargain pizzeria has been king of the cheap slices for about three years—eventually opening up a branch on 43rd Street and Third Avenue, which in turn inspired other pizzeria-delis in the area to drop slice prices to a dollar. While 99¢ Fresh Pizza has only two locations, it has claimed the majority of dollar-slice mindshare in this town, thanks to its first-mover status and the fact that its cheapassity is built into its name.
But last summer, upstart buckslice joint St. Marks 2 Bros. Pizza opened in the East Village and by mid September had already branched out to Chelsea. And yesterday, 2 Bros. pretty much brought the noise straight to the castle walls, opening a location on the southeast corner of 40th Street and Ninth Avenue.
Whose cheap-ass dollar slice would reign supreme? I took up Zach's challenge late yesterday afternoon in order to find out. The results, after the jump.
Serious Eats contributor Daniel Zemans checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. Daniel also blogs about Chicagoland pizza with his friends on the Chicago Pizza Club blog. —The Mgmt.
Pizza By Alex
5040-44 W. Montrose Avenue, Chicago IL 60641 (map); 773-427-8900; pizzabyalex.com Getting There: Blue Line to Montrose, walk half mile west; or take #56 Milwaukee Ave. bus to Montrose Pizza Style: Chicago thin crust Oven Type: Wood-burning oven The Skinny: Decent pizzas worth trying for innovative Mexican toppings Price: 14-inch specialties, $13.95 Note(s): It's BYOB; liquor store around corner on Milwaukee Avenue
Inspired by a recent mini-run of nontraditional pizzas that has included macaroni and cheese pizza and bulgogi beef pizza, I headed to Portage Park to continue the trend. The neighborhood has long been home to Chicago's largest Polish community, which is saying something, given the city's huge Polish population, but inexplicably does not, to my knowledge, have a pizzeria with distinctly Polish pies (anyone besides me up for sauerkraut and Polish sausage pizza?). Recently, there has been a rapid increase in the neighborhood's Latino population and businesses, including Pizza By Alex, which has been serving up Mexican-influenced pies since 2004.
Alex Pinega learned the pizza business at Caponie's, where he rose from dishwasher to general manager. After developing his pizza-making expertise, he went out on his own and founded Pizza By Alex. Caponie's is home to one of the oldest still-active wood-burning pizza ovens in Chicago (which, at less than 20 years, isn't saying much), and Pinega opted to continue the tradition at his pizzeria, where he did well enough that, less than two years after opening as a take-out-only operation, he expanded into the storefront next door and added a sit-down restaurant.
Lately I've been putting links to non-Slice pizza reviews in the new(ish) Leftovers link roundups, but something about this photo of a Colony Grill pepperoni pie on Writing With My Mouth Full calls out for its own post to highlight it.
Blogger cia_b spends much of her review dissing pizza in general—to the point that you fear the awesomeness of this photo will outstrip what she has to say about Colony. But at the last minute, she comes around and confirms what seems evident here: that the pizza here rocks.
I have not yet traveled to Stamford for Colony, but this photo makes me want to jump on the train north or take out a Zipcar NOW. Colony is famous for its "hot oil" topping—hot as in "spicy"—which is drizzled all over a pie when you opt for it as a "topping."
You can see the areas where the oil bubbled up and transmogrified the cheese into a pockmarked (and I'm guessing) almost crunchy landscape.
Editor's note: Today we've got a dispatch from "L.A. Pizza Maven," our man in the City of Angels. LAPM filed this quite some time ago, and my lazy ass has sat on it—hence the references to the Big Dance of last month. Take it away, LAPM! —The Mgmt.
March Madness has new meaning for me ever since the son of one of one of my oldest friends became a major league baseball player. No longer do these two words conjure up visions of young men in shorts and sneakers battling it out for the NCAA basketball championship, no crazed fans wearing wild boar or cheese wheel hats.
For the last several years, this seasonal lunacy takes place on bright, emerald baseball diamonds strategically built in the midst of the Arizona desert, where a few old friends and I gather for the perennial spring training ritual.
Heightening the insanity has been the relatively recent transformation of the Southwest into a pizza mecca, where I can continue my pursuit of the perfect pie.
On this trip, I decided to indulge my sauce, dough, and cheese obsession in the entertainment capital of the world—Las Vegas.
Serious Eats contributor Daniel Zemans checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. Daniel also blogs about Chicagoland pizza with his friends on the Chicago Pizza Club blog. —The Mgmt.
Cheogajip
8273 W Golf Road, Niles IL 60714 (map); 847-583-1582; cheogajip.co.kr Getting There: Drive Pizza Style: Apparently, this is Korean pizza Oven Type: Gas The Skinny: The nicest thing I can say about the pizza is that people should go to Cheogajip for the chicken Price: 12-inch pizzas, $10.99 to $12.99; fried chicken, $10.99 to $15.99
I had so much fun with the toppings I had last week at Ian’s Pizza (reviewed here for Slice) that I decided to press my luck again this week with a trip out to Niles, a northwestern suburb of Chicago with a significant Korean population. The purpose was to go to Cheogajip (pronounced chuh - ga - jeep), the Chicagoland outpost of the Korean megachain (over 1,200 strong). I think this was Cheogajip's fourth location on these shores. The first two U.S. locations opened in the Virginia suburbs of D.C. (Annandale in October 2005 and Centreville in March 2006). A third location has been in Flushing, Queens, since April 2006, and the Niles outpost opened in the summer of 2007. There are other locations in the U.S. that operate under the name Pizza and Chicken Love Letter, but I'm unclear as to the relationship between those places and Cheogajip, but I do know that the name is not the English translation of Cheogajip, which actually means something along the lines of "wife's family's house."
I’m not sure about the other U.S. locations, but the Niles restaurant is an independently owned franchise, and our server said the menu was identical to the locations in Korea. Presumably also part of the Korean Cheogajip experience is the panchan, which here consists of a plate of coleslaw and a bowl of pickled daikon radish. The coleslaw is shredded cabbage topped with a staggering amount of Thousand Island dressing and some corn kernels. People who, like me, can enjoy an occasional overdose of Thousand Island, will be just fine with slaw, but others may want to pass. I was more appreciative of the pickled radish, although it was on the sweet side. The menu is almost exclusively in Korean—the names of the 11 dishes (six chicken and five pizza) are in English, but the descriptions are in Korean. What the menus failed to mention is that the chicken is excellent, but the pizza is not very good.
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Admittedly, the previous item I blogged about was a week old*, and in that time Alan Richman has moved on to writing about some old standbys. He posted his thoughts yesterday on Grimaldi's (DUMBO), Patsy's (East Harlem), and Di Fara (Midwood). Again, let's take them in order.
