Onward With The Top 10: Pi Pizza

Onward With The Top 10: Pi Pizza

Even Obama knows our St. Louis pizzas are the best!

Stlpizzaguy gives Pi his "P of Approval"

In this heated and divisive election, go the bipartisan route and cast your vote for pizza. Remember early in my pizza blogging days I cited that 93 percent of Americans have eaten pizza in the last month? Well even the health-food loving President Barack Obama loves my next favorite on the top 10: Pi Pizza. For starters, I have visited Pi more than 30 times and celebrated three birthdays here. I’m really unveiling a huge pizza secret by telling you about arguably the number one place on the St. Louis pizza scene.  But it’s election time and with all the stress and bickering by our two political parties, it is a timely post to find something that can bring us together: Chicago-style, deep-dish pizza.

I’m not going to lie. I may not like Chicago baseball teams, but I prefer Chicago-style, deep-dish pizza almost any day over thin-crust St. Louis-style. Of course, a time and a place exist for both. There’s just something masculine and a male empowering satisfaction involved in eating a thick, saucy, deep-dish piece of pizza that the cracker-thin crust just can’t give me. Eating Chicago-style makes me feel like a man mainly because eating a piece of Chicago-style is a challenging task that makes you feel full very quickly. However, going for a run the day after eating deep-dish is like running with bricks in your stomach--so I don’t recommend that.

Stlpizzaguy first discovered Pi in 2010 when a law professor mentioned it before she began her lecture. It was mesmerizing the town at the time because their food truck traveled around Barnes Jewish Hospital and the Forest Park creating a lot of buzz. Then they started getting big and expanding. Their first two Pi Locations were in  the University City Loop and Kirkwood. Then Pi expanded to Central West End, Washington Ave., and then a carry out location in the Ballwin area.

Pi is the only pizza place in St. Louis to my knowledge that has been visited and celebrated by a sitting President. Barack Obama enjoyed Pi so much that Pi even opened a location in Washington DC where they serve local St. Louis beers like Schlafly.

It is important to note that Pi pizza is great with or without the fanfare surrounding it. Some restaurants get their break from celebrity and television publicity, but their performance in the following years to sustain that endorsement and keep their quality high is what counts.  

When you walk in to Pi, the first thing you notice is that they are a symbol and not a name. Their black and white logo shines proudly before you as you walk in the restaurant. Most of their restaurants are pretty dimly lit, and has a romantic ambiance, making this one of the few pizza places where you can take your wife or girlfriend and actually have a romantic dinner. Of course every trip to a pizza place is romantic for me because I love pizza. Stlpizzaguy also had his first date with my fiancee Dr. Adria Jerkovich at Pi Pizza. Overall, Pi is pizza tailored more for adults, but you will see some kids at the Kirkwood location.

Dr. Adria Jerkovich, more affectionately known as the goddess of pizza, and cover girl for Stlpizzaguy fliers around town, smiles with a Southside Classico Pizza at the Pi Central West End location. 

The Pizza Details:

A slice of Pi

Yukai Chen, friend of Stlpizzaguy and China native says that Pi is his favorite pizza in St. Louis. Chen gives Pi his "P of Approval."

THE CRUST: CORNMEAL, CORNMEAL, CORNMEAL. Pi is unique because they add a large amount of cornmeal to the dough. The cornmeal makes the crust a little crunchy and more flavorful in a healthier way than adding lots of butter. The crust is firm enough to hold the impressive amount of cheese, toppings, and sauce. Unlike other types of deep-dish, you can pick up a slice of Pi and eat it pretty easily with your hands. Other more traditional types of Chicago-style make eating a slice a task like eating a pizza casserole because the crust is more flimsy and overloaded with toppings.

THE CHEESE: Pi uses mozzarella cheese.

THE SAUCE: sweet, with a few chunky bits of tomato, with parmesan and oregano sprinkled on top of the sauce. The sauce here is put on top, which is good for me because I don’t usually eat mushrooms on my pizza, or olives, but if I can’t see them I eat them.

Stlpizzaguy’s choice pizza at Pi is the Southside Classico deep-dish with mozzarella, Berkshire pork sausage, mushrooms, green bell peppers and onions. One surprising thing about Pi is given their love for vegan, gluten-free and fresh ingredients, they do not have any nutrition facts available for their pizzas. Just remember to eat pizza for your pleasure, not your health. 

The only drawback is the price (22.95 for a large deep-dish Southside Classico.) However, you are probably making an investment for two meals. Their deep-dish pizza is usually enough for two people with normal eating habits to have for lunch the next day. 

MORE ABOUT PI: Pi Pizza is named for the math equation and for the 314 St. Louis area code. They are known for their locally-sourced fresh ingredients, making their meatballs from scratch for their meatball pizza called the Kirkwood. Pi started marketing their pizzas with a Pi food truck back in early 2010 and claims to have the first new generation food truck in the St. Louis area. President Barack Obama ordered a delivery for Pi Pizza during a campaign stop in 2008. One of Obama’s campaign assistants, Reggie Love put Obama on the telephone and told the owner of Pi that it was the best pizza he had ever tasted. In 2009, after Obama was elected, he invited Pi to make pizza for a lunch at the White House. The fact that Obama had Pi a year after the election shows that he genuinely liked the pizza here. Because of this publicity, and also for its popularity in St. Louis, waiting times at Pi are sometimes more than an hour. Stlpizzaguy admits he has waited an hour at Pi. In the spring of 2011, Pi opened a Washington DC location called the District of Pi, just a few blocks from the White House in the Penn Quarter.