Newcomer Noto Pizza Stakes Their Claim to Pizza Greatness

Wins a spot in the St. Charles County Top 5!

*Special note from Stlpizzaguy
If this post helps get people's minds off the current state of panic in our world, even if just for a second, then I am doing my job. If it inspires you to go get some pizza and support local businesses then I am really doing my job. As Stlpizzaguy has been saying since 2016: "More people eating better pizza makes the world a better place."

Stlpizzaguy gives Noto Pizza the "P" of Approval

Krista Fox, the originator of the "P" of Approval gives her endorsement too!

Noto Pizza is both a newcomer and an oldcomer. For more than 20 years, J. Noto was a bakery in St. Peters. As a pizza place, Noto opened in January 2020 and fills a much needed void for Neapolitan-style pizza. Located almost exactly where Highway 364 meets 94, I fully believe they are in a thriving area with thousands of hungry bellies lining up to be filled with pizza made the way it is in Italy.

Stlpizzaguy got his reservations two days in advance, and guests without a reservation were waiting for nearly an hour. He was curious how his sister and brother-in-law would react to trying  Neapolitan-style for the first time, and because we live in the land of the cracker-thin crust and Provel cheese.

As I was excitedly ordering my pizza the waitress asked me, "Cut or uncut?" I looked with confusion at the rest of my guests. I don't know if I've ever eaten a pizza uncut. Well uncut is the proper way to eat Neapolitan-style pizza. My wife who is far more cultured than I insisted that Stlpizzaguy order it uncut to get the authentic experience. I hesitated at first, but then conceded. For the first time in history, all four people at my table ordered an uncut 11-inch pizza.

CHARACTERISTICS, HISTORY OF NEAPOLITAN PIZZA

Neapolitan-style pizza is named after the city of Naples, Italy and is considered the most original and authentic style of pizza. Neapolitan-style pizza became famous in 1889 after Italian Queen Margherita visited Naples and enjoyed a pizza pie topped with white mozzarella cheese, red tomatoes and green basil. Coincidentally, these are the colors of the Italian flag. Queen Margherita and Italians alike enjoyed this style of pizza for more than fifty years before pizza grew in popularity in the United States after World War II. 

Neapolitan pizza in general does not center on the toppings but focuses on the specially sourced ingredients and the interplay of the dough, sauce, and olive oil. When tasting Neapolitan pizza for the first time, some people are caught off guard by the somewhat soupy center of the pizza, and that the middle isn't crisp.

The unique domed pizza oven for Neapolitan pizza is critical for success. At Noto, its oven cooks pizzas at almost 1000 degrees Fahrenheit, enabling Noto to cook pizza in 90 seconds or less. Most ovens like the one below cost more than $15,000.

Noto's oven, where the magic happens.

From top left to right: Palla (Meatball) pizza, Amatriciana Pizza, Bianca Pizza, Fungi (Mushroom) Pizza

THE PIZZA DETAILS:

THE CRUST: The crust is the main component of Neapolitan-style Pizza. Noto's does a 36-hour fermentation of their dough. Most regular pizza places only have their dough ferment for a fraction of that time. Because of the longer fermentation period, I noticed the fluffy, soft crust, and greater flavor to the dough. As I mentioned earlier, Neapolitan pizza is best served uncut so the ingredients and cheese do not fall off. We were given gold colored steak knives to help cut the pizza.

The CHEESE: Neapolitan-style pizzas are not overly cheesy, but the cheese they use is high-quality buffalo mozzarella cheese.

THE SAUCE: Noto uses a sauce of hand-crushed San Marzano plum tomatoes. Authentic San Marzano tomatoes come to the U.S. in a can and will have an official DOP (Designation of Protected Origin). The tomatoes are known for their sweet flavor, bright red color, and low acidity. As you can see from the photo of the meatball pizza, the tomato sauce is bright.

THE TOPPINGS: Most of Noto's meat is freshly imported from Italy. The meatballs on my pizza were sparsely placed in my pizza, like little mountains of meaty goodness.

FINAL WORDS:

It's not too often I get a pizza revelation from on high, but Noto's made me feel that way. Their pizza is gourmet, very well-made, and comforting. Prior to visiting Noto, I felt like Neapolitan pizza places may not appeal to all people or audiences and I am now wrong. With 16 pizzas to choose from, I am proud to give this place the "P" of Approval and give them a coveted spot in the St. Charles top 5. The fact that myself, along with people who have never tried Neapolitan-style pizza all loved it and want to come back really makes me think that this pizza place can go places.

MORE INFO:
Noto Pizza is open Wednesday-Saturday 4 p.m.- 9p.m. for pizza. No carryout. 

Located at : 5105 Westwood Drive Saint Peters, MO 63304

Noto Pizza is owned and operated by Kendele Noto Sieve and Wayne Sieve. Together, the couple has visited Italy more than five times, and have done extensive pizza research over there. Noto started off as a food truck in 2017.

If you are interested in more details of Neapolitan style pizza, please see my Randolfi's post, where I covered Neapolitan more in depth: Randolfi.

Mellow Mushroom

Newcomer makes top 5 St. Charles County Pizza List

With Mushy Mushy Good Pizza

Mellow Mushroom wants you to leave boring pizzas behind. As soon as you walk in the door the Cottleville, Missouri newcomer is anything but boring. Their pizza offerings range from the Holy Shitake (mushroom) Pizza to the Pacific Rim Pizza that combines ham, pineapple, and jalapeno flavors. If you want a plain cheese or pepperoni pizza, those are available too, but Mellow Mushroom is definitely for the adventuresome

In this Mellow Mushroom photo montage, you get a feel for the eclectic 1980's  murals on the walls, and throughout the restaurant, you also see some mushrooms (bottom right).

It's a pizza place that's so much more than a pizza place. And I'm happy to give it the "P" of Approval for their pizza, but I am also impressed by their unique ambiance. The 1980's themed Mellow Mushroom in Cottleville is a state of mind, a flash back to happy memories. Wonderful local artists covered the walls with murals. Diners can see Ozzie Smith in the middle of a backflip. On another wall above the kitchen, you can see the Back to the Future Delorian with the 88 mph license plate, or spy Geoffrey the Toy's R' Us Giraffe perched near the ceiling keeping watch over the restaurant.

Stlpizzaguy and sister Krista give the P of Approval for Mellow Mushroom. Pizzas pictured on the left: Half Pacific Rim, Half Meat Eater. Right: Holy Shitake Pizza with Steak.

THE PIZZA DETAILS

CRUST: "This place is for crust lovers. Their fresh, thick, filling, prominent crust is big enough and tasty enough to sell dipping sauce. For extra tastiness, their thick crust is basted with garlic butter and dusted with cornmeal before serving."

Mellow Mushroom touts their crust is always made with spring water imported from the Appalachian Mountains. All I know is that it tastes GOOD. 

CHEESE: Mozzarella, they use a special part-skim mozzarella cheese.

TOPPINGS: Their pizzas are absolutely loaded with toppings, no skimping here. The Pacific Rim Pizza has ham, bacon, caramelized onion, ham, and jalapenos. The Mighty Meaty has pepperoni, sausage, ground beef, ham, and applewood smoked bacon. 

Their Holy Shitake Pizza has an olive oil sauce with shiitake, button and portobello mushrooms, caramelized onions, mozzarella and MontAmoré cheeses. The pizza is finished with a garlic aioli swirl and a spritz of black truffle oil. Garnished with fresh chives and shaved Parmesan. We added steak. I do not typically like Mushrooms, but I just pretended that it was all steak and all good. Seriously though, the Holy Shitake is one of their most popular pizzas. 

SAUCE: tangy, and slightly sweet.

OTHER TIPS AND OBSERVATIONS:

Their 13 specialty pizzas is one of the most expansive selection I have EVER seen. This is a great place for people who want to try crazy combinations, or like to have pineapple on their pizza. If you have problems deciding on a pizza, they also allow you to split it half and half.

Mellow Mushroom is a VERY large space. It is a Pizza Mecca that currently employs 80 people. I would not be surprised if their restaurant sits 300 people when they are at capacity. 

At really busy times, people should expect to be patient for their pizzas. Servers will tell customers if you are looking at a 45-minute wait once you order your pizza. Our pizza came to us on a Sunday night in less than 20-minutes after ordering, but I know that wait times can be longer.

I also enjoyed their partially open kitchen where you can see pizza makers kneading, tossing, throwing dough, and an assembly line of 5-7 people all working to make a pizza. 

Mellow Mushroom is located at 4716 Mid Rivers Mall Dr. in Cottleville, Mo. 
Special thanks to owners Ian and Tammi Hilton for the interview.

Get a piece of Pizza News

GET A PIECE OF PIZZA NEWS

STLPIZZAGUY reveals results of the Provel cheese survey

A few weeks ago I called a local St. Louis-style pizza place to order a pepperoni pizza and the employee asked if I would like my pizza with Provel or Mozzarella cheese. This previously unheard of question at a local St. Louis-style pizza place (Imo's) made me wonder, so I created a little survey.

The two main things I sought to measure were whether people liked Provel cheese and if they preferred mozzarella or Provel on St. Louis-style pizza. 

RESULTS OF THE PROVEL CHEESE SURVEY

Stlpizzaguy asked 50 people whether they liked Provel Cheese. 70 percent of people surveyed liked Provel Cheese. But only 66 percent of people surveyed preferred Provel cheese on their St. Louis-Style pizza. The other 1/3 preferred mozzarella.

Approximately 70 percent of the people who took the survey identified as St. Louis natives, identical to the amount that said they liked Provel Cheese. Coincidence?

One preference I did take into account is that many people like a Provel/Mozzarella Mix. Pasta House is one example of a restaurant that uses a mixture between the two cheeses. 

The survey had a few limits. There were not as many willing or opinionated participants as I thought, but among the haters of Provel, they were wordsmiths of high degree to match Shakespeare's hilarious descriptions.

Top 3 Funniest descriptions of Provel:

1. Eating provel cheese is akin to that high school science experiment where you melt styrofoam in acetone. Its slimy, gritty, unnatural, and if you let it sit too long, it hardens and ruins whatever its on.

2. Open-faced PVC pipe sandwich

3. Cheezwiz on cardboard

Top 3 positive descriptions of Provel: 

1. Perfection

2. Unique flavor versus stringy flat mozzarella. Combined with the thin crust, makes for a great dining experience.
3. It has an awesome creamy cheese taste you don't get with mozzarella.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED. 

*The Provel Cheese Survey had a total of 50 participants and is still an open survey on the blog. 

Thank you Cowboy Judge Show 

On March 31, Stlpizzaguy Appeared on ABC 30 TV COWBOY JUDGE SHOW along with the Stefanina's Wentzville owner and manager.

If you watch the embedded videos below, I discuss the origins of the pizza blog, the signature P of Approval, the uniqueness of St. Louis-style pizza and highlight a few of my favorite places.

I enjoyed collecting pizza boxes from Dewey's, Serra's, and Imo's. They are three places I highly recommend along with Stefanina's of course!

STLPIZZAGUY PROVEL CHEESE SURVEY

Does Provel cheese taste like plastic or is it the GREATEST processed cheese ever? 

A few weeks ago I called a local St. Louis-style pizza place to order a pepperoni pizza and the employee asked if I would like my pizza with Provel or Mozzarella cheese. Should this question even arise when ordering from pizza places that are known for using Provel cheese? Please give your opinion. Provel cheese: do you LOVE it or HATE it?

Create your own user feedback survey

Stefanina's Pizza

Stefanina’s: Queen of St. Louis-Style 

Launches beginning of top-five St. Charles Pizza Places

If Imo’s is the king and inventor of St. Louis-style pizza, Stefanina’s must be the queen and perfecter. The restaurant holds a special cheesy and gooey spot in the hearts of many St. Charles County residents.

Stefanina Roderick Vitale emigrated to the U.S. and St. Louis area from Sicily. As a young lady, she worked in a garment factory near the Hill. After seeing many of her friends open restaurants, she decided to open her own in St. Charles County. The first Stefanina's Pizzeria and Restaurant opened in O' Fallon in 1981. Many of her original recipes are still used today in the pizzas and the pasta dishes. Stefanina's makes its dough, sauce, and meatballs from scratch.

Now they've expanded to six locations. Stefanina's has kept ownership of the restaurants the hands of family and long-time employees. Family owned businesses are becoming rarer in today's age of the rise of fast-casual pizza chains, and other big pizza chains. Having family-owned pizza shops where the owners are working in the restaurant every week is important because you really know that they are personally invested in their pizza quality and the happiness of guests.

In 2018, Stefanina's won the best of St. Charles award. They nearly grabbed a spot in Stlpizzaguy's original top-10 list, but I wanted to reserve them as my first post in the St. Charles top-five.

This is the Stefanina's Special pizza. The pizza is topped with sausage, bacon, onion, hamburger, green pepper, pepperoni, black olives and mushrooms

Stlpizzaguy gives Stefanina's the P of Approval

THE PIZZA DETAILS

THE CHEESE: Provel. The mix of white cheddar, swiss and provolone cheeses. Provel also has a slightly smoky flavor by the addition of liquid smoke. The times I've had Stefanina's I've noticed their Provel is slightly creamier than Imo's.

THE SAUCE: Not a very saucy pizza, I taste more Provel with the sauce just an afterthought.

THE CRUST: Although just millimeters thicker than Imo's, it is noticeably thicker and just slightly crispy.

PIZZA SIZES: Pizzas range from 12-20 inches.

I enjoy Stefanina’s as a welcome change to Imo’s. Their Provel cheese seems slightly richer and creamer. The crust, although just millimeters thicker, is noticeably thicker and less cardboard crispy. The entire interplay of the cheese, the sauce, the crust, makes the pizza an St. Louis pizza lover’s dream.

Of course I enjoy a simple pepperoni pizza. But Stefanina's most popular pies are the Stef's Special, Five Meat, and Taco pizzas.

Stefanina's has locations in O' Fallon, Wentzville, Chesterfield, St. Peters, North St. Charles, and Winghaven.

Stlpizzaguy's favorite pizza is usually a plain pepperoni pizza or pepperoni and sausage. Above is a picture of Stefanina's sausage and pepperoni pizza. Notice the gooey texture of the Provel cheese. 

No pizza post about Stefanina’s and St. Louis style pizza would be complete without homage to St. Louis-style pizza. 

"If they serve pizza in heaven, it should be be St. Louis-style, and why not? You can eat MANY more pieces than Chicago style pizza, it makes you full a lot slower because of the thin crust. We might be the only place on earth that uses Provel cheese, but the MAGIC is in the Provel!"

Union Loafers loafs its way to the final spot on the top 10

Union Loafers

Loafs its way to secure final spot on the top 10

In the summer of 2016,  I waited nearly two hours to try Union Loafers Pizza. At that time, they  limited their pizza nights to only one night per week: Wednesdays. The pizza was amazing, but can a place that focuses on things other than pizza occupy a spot on stlpizzaguy’s top 10 list? After eating here three times in one month in 2018, the answer is YES.

Union Loafers now serves their 18-inch, Roman-style pizzas Wednesday through Saturdays for dinner. They advertise as a cafe and bread bakery in the Botanical Heights neighborhood “serving naturally leavened breads modeled on old-world techniques.” But what brings in the crowds, hysteria, and packs their restaurant on the weekends is the pizza.

The 18' Sausage Pizza

Stlpizzaguy finally decided on Union Loafers to finish his top 10 St. Louis Pizzas. He is pictured here with sausage pizza. 

THE PIZZA DETAILS: 

Roman pizza is similar to Neapolitan style pizza, but it is considerably less regulated. Roman dough is generally made with flour, water, yeast, salt, and olive oil. The addition of olive oil is crucial because it allows the dough to be hand-stretched out wide and thin. Roman pizza dough often uses a tougher wheat as well, so the crust does not lose its chewiness.

CRUST: The crust is thin, but sturdy. The end-crust is prominent, charred and well-risen. The entire crust is baked darker than most pizzas. The pizza is well done, but not burnt. 

THE SAUCE: A sweet tomato sauce with very small tomato chunks.

CHEESE: Mozzarella cheese used somewhat sparingly, so that cheese does not overwhelm the pizza.

"These three elements added together  is really what makes Union loafers great: the large slices, the well-done crust, and the sweet, slightly chunky tomato sauce."

The owners of Union Loafers named their cafe after a classic Abbott and Costello routine. Bud Abbott has a new job baking bread and calls it "loafing." Costello mistakes "loafing" for being lazy, and he becomes more perplexed when he is told that he has to join a union in order to "loaf."

Besides the creative name, their pizza made with high hydration, naturally leavened bread, baked dark, makes for a very tasty pizza. Their cafe is minimalistic, yet modern. Edison light bulbs hang from the ceiling. The indoors seats a total of 50 people with a dimly lit bar that seats 16 people.

Their most popular pizzas on the menu are the pepperoni pizza and the spinach and bacon pizza.

A COUPLE TIPS:  Arrive with your dinner guests in agreement on their pizza selection. Union Loafers does not do half-and-half pizzas. Also, take advantage of the Nowait app to save some time.

Union Loafers is located at 1629 Tower Grove Ave. St. Louis Mo. 63110

SHOUT OUTS: I want to give a special shout out to the New Wentzvillian on Facebook who supported Stlpizzaguy in January by sharing his Imo's Pizza Post, propelling it to almost 10,000 views. 

Imo's Remains The Square Beyond Compare and secures the second-to-last spot in the top 10 list

Imo’s:

Remains the Square Beyond Compare

Secures a Spot in the Top 10

If there’s a conversation topic certain to ignite interest and differences of opinion among pizza lovers, one only needs to ask: what do you think of Imo’s pizza?

Photo Credit to Krista Fox

What does Stlpizzaguy think about Imo's?

Starting as a young boy, my brother and I would ride our bikes a couple miles on a hilly route to Imo’s off Olive in Creve Coeur. We saved and spent all of our hard-earned allowance and lawn-mowing money on Imo’s pizza and wings. At that time in the early 2000’s, we never ate Imo’s with any realization this pizza was maligned by many. It would have been difficult to know because those were days of life before Yelp and online food reviews. We grew up loving Imo's pizza.

Although I loved Imo's from boyhood, it did not make my initial top 10 list. I didn’t want give my P of Approval to a large corporation that had so many independently owned and operated franchises. Imo's has nearly 100 locations. The stores are all franchised—except for one off Hampton and Oakland, which remains a corporate store.

Most franchises are heavily concentrated in the St. Louis Metro area, but you can travel to Farmington, Cape Girardeau, Springfield, or even Overland Park, Kansas and find an Imo’s. I felt that sometimes those franchises tended to create greater variations in pizza quality from location to location.

I changed my mind and properly placed Imo's in my top 10 after my wedding day in October 2017. While getting ready at the Hyatt hotel in the morning, the groomsmen clamored to have Imo’s for lunch and scarfed down four extra-large pizzas in the hotel lobby. The pizza was consumed so quickly that one groomsman did not get a slice as he had to run to the bathroom and come back. After the wedding reception, Imo’s was all the rage again in the Hyatt hotel lobby. The out-of-town guests enjoyed the provel-laden pieces. Rumors swirled that all the pizza disappeared because I consumed an entire large pizza all by myself. It was a special day because I married my wonderful wife Adria, and I do not want to take any significance away from that milestone. But it also uniquely marked the first time I ordered Imo’s twice in one day. And if I enjoy their pizza enough to order it twice in one day, it deserves to be top 10. Imo's defines St. Louis-style pizza.

How Do You Judge Your Pizza?

Someone tried to interrupt me before I could eat my Imo's pizza. I was not happy. Photo by Krista Fox.

Being a pizza blogger can become complicated and time consuming. However, it can be easily simplified. I use three basic things to judge a pizza: the cheese, the dough, and the sauce. You can branch out and talk about the various oven types, ingredients, and whether someone cooks with the toppings under the cheese or over the cheese. I would guess that most around the country judge their pizza mainly on texture of the dough, whether it is deep dish, soft, or crispy.

"To my knowledge, ONLY St. Louis puts their cheese at the forefront, with the crust being an after-thought. And the cheese that Imo's is so famous for is their use of Provel."

In some ways Provel is like peaty scotch. The very unique thing that makes your product popular, is the thing that some people strongly dislike. I first learned about the divisiveness of Provel in law school through interacting with many non-St. Louisans. They did not prefer Imo’s but actually enjoyed making fun of it. Usually they disliked the taste and texture of Provel. Hearing that Provel is not really cheese was news to me. But because Provel has been with me all my life, I do not tolerate much back-talk about Imo's. Even pizza that you don’t prefer is better than no pizza at all!

THE PIZZA DETAILS: 

An Imo's pizza with sausage, pepperoni, and jalapeno peppers. Notice that the cheese is baked on top of the sausage and pepperoni, but the jalapenos are on top of the cheese. 

THE CHEESE: Provel is a processed cheese with a mix of white cheddar, swiss, and provolone cheeses. At room temperature it is softer and more gooey than other cheeses. When cooked it becomes golden-brown and marked in ways that regular mozzarella does not.  The cheese blend not only tastes different on pizza, but it is handy for easily cutting the pizza. Provel naturally stays on pizza and does not become stringy when pulling off a slice. 

THE CRUST: Paper-thin. The crust is not the center of attention here. Although the crust is usually not overly crispy, it is crispy and sturdy enough to hold mountains of toppings.

THE SAUCE: Normal tomato sauce, not spicy or anything to remark on, but liberally applied throughout the pizza to the very edge of the crust. 

THE OVEN: Imo's now uses conveyor ovens, which cook the pizza more consistently than a traditional deck oven.

OVERALL: Imo's is best served hot when you scarf down a piece and some of the Provel sticks to the roof of your mouth. The toppings also retain the heat well because most are placed under the cheese, but beware of a grease burn. Whenever someone from St. Louis tastes or thinks of an Imo's pizza, no matter where they are in the state or country, it reminds them of home.

Other facts and news about Imo's: 

• Their 2016 revenue of $131 million was an 11% increase from the prior year. Rising demand for Provel cheese sold at grocery stores and expansion into C-Stores in rural Missouri helped propel the growth.

• The company added a $200,000 machine that will shred 44-pound blocks of provel cheese 10 times faster than its current method using a grinder.

• Imo’s has a pizza shell and sauce making plant in Waterloo, IL.

• They are headquartered downtown of 17th and Delmar with warehouse spanning 72,000 square feet, offices, and retail space. They sell Imo's gear, and ship Imo's frozen pizzas on dry ice nationwide.

RETURN OF STLPIZZAGUY

WATCH VIDEO BELOW

Brooklyn Pizza

An Oasis of Pizza Excellence in Mid-Missouri

On a lonely stretch of Highway 70 between St. Louis and Columbia, Brooklyn pizza in Fulton shines bright as a pizza oasis. I was on my way to court in Callaway County that afternoon, and was only planning on eating two pieces of pizza from purportedly the most authentic New York-style pizza outside of New York state. The pizza tasted so great, however, that I had four large pieces. Three of the pieces I consumed were the meatball pizza, which says a lot from stlpizzaguy whose favorite pizza is pepperoni.

When you enter to Brooklyn Pizza, everything your eye sees reminds you of red tomato sauce. The walls are all painted a bold red, with tables covered in red and white checkered tablecloths. Every poster lining the walls is a homage to either New York City or to Pizza. When you are inside Brooklyn Pizza, you are transported to a traditional New York pizza joint and forget you are in small town Mid-Missouri.

Brooklyn Pizza recently won the 2016 award for best pizza in rural Missouri by Rural Missouri Magazine. They also have a certificate of excellence from TripAdvisor. But how would they measure up against the great variety of St. Louis pizza places that I love and blog about?

They had a good chance because their unique New York-style niche is underrepresented in the Midwest. I only recommend one New York Style pizza place in St. Louis: La Pizza on Delmar.

When I met Brian Atkins, owner of Brooklyn Pizza, I found a man as passionate about making pizza as I am about eating pizza. His career in the pizza business spans four decades from his roots in Brooklyn, to managing Sbarro Pizza in Florida and Missouri. In October 2012, at the ripe age of 60 he opened Brookyln Pizza caddy-corner from the courthouse in Fulton, Missouri. Atkins says, “I’m in good health, I love making pizza. I go to the store at 4:30 a.m. to buy my meat and ingredients fresh each day."

You may wonder what makes a good, authentic New York-style pizza? Atkins told me three things are essential: the right thickness and taste of the dough, whole milk mozzarella, and last the bottom of the crust should be lightly brown and crispy. Put them together and viola. 

THE SAUCE: The sauce is a rich, hearty, and slightly sweet tomato sauce.

THE CHEESE: 100% whole milk mozzarella cheese gives the pizza it's New York flavor. The 100% whole milk mozzarella cheese also causes the New York-style pizza to be more greasy.

THE CRUST: Very crispy crust. The bottom of the crust was slightly brown. This is a hallmark of a properly cooked New York pie. 

TOPPINGS: The pepperoni were normal pepperoni but the homemade meatball slices were flavorful and a pleasurful to eat on pizza. Large, homemade meatballs are made every morning and cut into thin slices as a pizza topping.

MY RECOMMENDED PIZZA: Here I recommend the Meatball Pizza, which consists of sliced meatballs, with fresh garlic and parsley sprinkled on top. The garlic, meatballs and slightly sweet tomato sauce mesh well together in a unique and pleasureful way.

Happy eating and remember that any bad day can become a good day with great PIZZA. 

SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: 

To Stlpizzaguy superfan Joe Delmore who told me about Brooklyn Pizza.  Joe, a native New Yorker, told me that Brooklyn Pizza is just like many of the great pizza places in New York city, and hailed that it was the most authentic he has tasted outside of New York. Even with the rave reviews of Joe and a couple friends, I was skeptical because I’m stlpizzaguy—St. Louis pizza man proud and true. 

Other News For Pizza Lovers

OTHER NEWS FOR PIZZA LOVERS

This month I veered off my top 10 list to cover Randolfi's pizza. In the past five ears the St. Louis Pizza scene has experienced  Neapolitan pizza explosion that is loved and adored by diners and food critics.

Other top Neapolitan pizza places besides Randolfi's in St. Louis are:  Pastaria, Pizzeoli (vegetarian), and Pizzeria Tivoli.

Check out  February 2017 Sauce Magazine’s “The Pizza Issue.” 

Digital edition is available at: http://www.saucemagazine.com/issues.php?it=176&yy=2017

It covers in depth:

Mona’s Roman style pizza’s (started by Brendan Marsden who owned Modesto, it is an American-Italian place)

Pizzeoli: a vegetarian pizza place in Soulard. This was also recommended in the book Where to Eat Pizza. See blog post…. Where to eat pizza in st.louis

Melo’s Pizza

It touches on:

Felix’s Pizza Pub

Farotto’s

Monte Bello Pizzeria

Joanie’s Pizzeria

Pizza-A-Go-Go

Pirrone’s

Places Stlpizzaguy covers that are covered in the issue: Twinoak, Pi, Black Thorne. 

Also interesting is the profile Sauce does of Dogtown Pizza, which is an awesome, local, frozen pizza maker located in Dogtown. 

Check out SNL's skit Pizza Town

Randolfi's Makes Neapolitan Pizza Perfection

Randolfi's Makes Neapolitan Pizza Perfection

In the fall of 2010, I visited a pizza place called The Good Pie, located off Lindell Boulevard with my law school roommate Aaron Moores. It was across from the soccer field at St. Louis University. Little did I know that seven years later I would visit its offspring, Randolfi’s, in the Delmar Loop with a law-degree and as a distinguished food critic. 

Back then, with the limited pizza knowledge that I had, I failed to appreciate the thin, flimsy crust that I had to eat with a knife and fork. Now with my advances in pizza knowledge, I have a greater appreciation for this style of pizza and the true uniqueness of Randofi’s in the Loop.

The pizza here is Neapolitan-style, named after the city of Naples, Italy and is considered the most original and authentic style of pizza. Neapolitan-style pizza became famous in 1889 after Italian Queen Margherita visited Naples and enjoyed a pizza pie topped with white mozzarella cheese, red tomatoes and green basil. Coincidentally these are the colors of the Italian flag. Queen Margherita and Italians alike enjoyed this style of pizza for more than fifty years before it grew in popularity in the United States after World War II. 

Neapolitan-style pizza diverges from my more American taste in pizza, as I prefer pizza loaded with toppings of sausage and pepperoni. The Neapolitan pizza at Randofi’s does not center on the toppings but focuses on the specially sourced ingredients and the interplay of the dough, sauce, and olive oil. When tasting Neapolitan pizza for the first time, some people are caught off guard by the somewhat soupy center of the pizza, and that the middle isn't crisp. But Randofli's is worth it just to taste authentic Italian pizza.

Stlpizzaguy gives Randolfi's the "P" of Approval. Pepperoni is and always will be his favorite kind of pizza. 

SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF NEAPOLITAN PIZZA:

Neapolitan Pizza is the most heavily regulated style of pizza. A true Neapolitan pizza has very strict standards disseminated by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN) in an 11-page guide. Randolfi’s was the first St. Louis pizza restaurant to pursue VPN certification for true Neapolitan Pizza.

The person making the pizza at a Neapolitan pizza place is known as a pizzaiolo, which is Italian for pizza maker. They are much more highly trained than a pizza maker at other restaurants.

THE SAUCE: A true Neapolitan pizza place uses a specific sauce of hand-crushed San Marzano plum tomatoes, grown in the rich, volcanic soil near and around Mount Vesuvius in southern Italy. Authentic San Marzano tomatoes come to the U.S. in a can and will have an official DOP (Designation of Protected Origin).  The tomatoes are known for their sweet flavor, bright red color, and low acidity.

THE DOUGH: The pizza dough must be made with at least 80 percent highly refined Italian 00 flour and a long fermentation period, with the dough taking almost 8 hours to rise. Then the pizzaiolo takes the dough and flattens it into a circle with a thin middle, and a thicker border known as the cornicione.

THE CHEESE: Add buffalo mozzarella cheese and a precise baking method of 90 seconds or less at more than 800 degrees Fahrenheit in wood-fired oven and you’ll have yourself a great Neapolitan style pizza.

Besides the strict requirements for the ingredients, the unique domed pizza oven at Randolfi’s is critical for success. You can have the greatest ingredients in the world, but still fall short if you don’t have the proper equipment to bake the pizza. At Randolfi’s, their Ferrara domed wood-burning oven was built by hand in Naples and is THE big-name oven for all serious Neapolitan pizza places. The crown and the dome are made with hand-pressed bricks, while the oven’s floor is made from special clay from Italy’s Sorrento region. The oven is built to withstand heat up to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit and is durable for more than 20 years.The cost of such an oven is around $13,000 to buy, and does not include shipping and importing. This oven enables Randolfi’s to cook their pizzas in 90 seconds or less. 

ATMOSPHERE AT RANDOLFI'S: Cozy, smaller family type of Italian restaurant that you might find in Italy, complete with red and white checkered table cloths. They have a large bar and an open kitchen, with a large wood-fired pizza oven.

RECOMMENDED PIZZAS: 1. The Pepperoni, which has mozzarella, San Marzano Tomato, chili flake, and pepperoni. 2. Randolfi, which has mozzarella, white bolognese, tomato, and oregano.

Taylor Hamilton, the pizzaiolo at Randofi's, was a very nice, approachable young man who sincerely cared that my pizzas were made perfectly and that I enjoyed them. As obsessive as I am about eating tasty pizza, he obsesses over making quality pizza. I was also greeted with great hospitality by Executive Chef Tommy Andrew. I thoroughly enjoyed Randolfi’s pizza and I make this the first place that is not on my top 10 list to have my P of Approval.

Randolfi's is located at 6665 Delmar Blvd. University City, Mo. 63130 

Top 10: Dewey's Does Pizza and Dining Differently

 Top 10:
Dewey's Does Pizza and Dining Differently

TOP: Brian Andrew and Stlpizzaguy give Deweys the “P” of Approval. The Pizza on the right is half Bronx Bomber and half Don Corleone. The pizza on the left is pepperoni. Brian Andrew is a great friend of mine who is instrumental in encouraging and promoting my pizza blog. After many months of asking to be on the blog, I relented to let him gain some pizza fame

BOTTOM: I love Deweys so much that it is my Facebook cover photo. This is a classic picture of the second time I visited Deweys Pizza in 2012. It captures the pure joy of seeing and anticipating a hot, fresh pepperoni pizza after having to wait a cramped hour in Dewey’s hallway of eager pizza eaters forced to wait.

The Large D outside this St. Louis pizza staple isn’t just for Dewey, it is for different. From the revolving waiters and waitresses one might encounter, to an open pizza kitchen, to the small size of the restaurant, and most importantly to their great tasting pizza, everything is carefully calculated to provide a certain different dining experience filled with anticipation and satisfying pizza.

When you enter the restaurant, you walk in to a narrow hallway that serves as a waiting area for customers.  Be prepared to wait to get seated as a customer here. You will wait anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour during weekend dinner time. As you walk through the narrow hallway filled with various pizza awards, on your left you see a busy open pizza kitchen through a large window, with cooks kneading the dough, tossing the dough, or throwing pepperoni at the kids who are staring. On your right, the room opens up into a small bar and modestly sized restaurant.

If you are brave or have a lunch hour to come here, the pizza is definitely worth it in the end. My usual experience is you can barely get in the restaurant because it is so crowded during the weekends, like trying to get into a popular, crowded club, but the prize of everyone at Dewey's is the pizza. This is the Dewey's experience.

Dewey does dining differently

Revolving waiters, waitresses, and an artificially small restaurant

Every customer has a hostess who seats you, one staff member who takes drink order,  another for a preliminary salad order, another person who takes the pizza order, one server who delivers your food and another server who comes and asks for refills. Instead of only having one server throughout the night, you could have as many as five! Dewey's uses a great team approach to serving guests with the staff constantly roaming the room and taking customers through the dining process. Have no fear, Dewey's uses the same staff member to deliver and pick up the check.  

When I’m waiting at the Kirkwood, Webster, or St. Charles location for upwards of an hour in a narrow hallway,  I get angry and say that Dewey’s purposely makes their places artificially crowded by having such a small dining area. The pizza place could easily be double the size given the high demand, and in fact most restaurants today are rather large. The size of a Dewey's pizza dining area is probably equivalent to most people's living room and kitchens combined, and there may be room for one large party but not much. Quality control has to be the reason for the small size of the restaurant. A pizza place that has many carry-out orders plus demanding customers dining in must have a kitchen with capacity to handle the crowd. Whenever I am at a Dewey's, their pizzas always come out within 20 minutes of ordering it. Recently I went to Mellow Mushroom, with a dining area quadruple the size of Dewey's. Although I didn't have to wait to be seated, I waited for almost AN HOUR for my pizza.

So the bottom line is although I have to wait to get seated at Dewey's during dinner time, the pizza comes out quickly once I order.

MY PIZZA PICKS:

The Bronx Bomber (Left) and the Don Corleone (Right). The other half of the pizza in both pictures is pepperoni.

The pizzas are VERY artistic looking eye-catching, but it tastes even better than it looks. The freshness of the dough and the toppings are always something that sticks out to me. My top choices for pizzas here are the Bronx Bomber and the Don Corleone The Bronx Bomber showcases the most fresh toppings with green peppers, onions, mushroom, circular sausages, olives, and pepperoni piled on top of each other. The Don Corleone features pepperoni, capicola ham, and genoa salami--the perfect meat lovers pizza.

Those are my traditional pizza picks. I am a traditional red sauce pizza lover. For the more adventurous non-traditional pizza lovers, Dewey's has more than five olive oil, ranch, or white-sauce based pizzas on the menu. Dewey's makes all types of pizza very well. And if you can't agree on red sauce or white sauce, Dewey's does half-and-half pizzas so no one has to impose their pizza preferences on the other person.

THE PIZZA DETAILS:

Dewey's uses a high temperature deck oven, cooking pizzas in less than 8 minutes at temperatures over 500 degrees. Their style of pizza is closest to New York-style, with pizzas coming in 11', 13', and 17'. 

THE CRUST: Chewy, but in a good way. The crust at the end is not overly crisp, but slightly chewy. Many people who have been to Dewey's say that this is their favorite crust in St. Louis.

THE SAUCE: A zesty marinara sauce plentifully spread throughout the pizza. Slightly sweet.

THE TOPPINGS: I was once told that Dewey's gets their toppings fresh from the Hill at an Italian meat market. I will say they taste very fresh, and also that some toppings are not baked in the pizza, like the green peppers and onions are put in late in the baking process, making a great contrast to the well-cooked sausage and pepperoni.

THE CHEESE: Mozzarella

If you haven't been to Dewey's yet, give it a try. This Cincinnati-based pizza chain with St. Louis roots is a pizza treasure. 

Matt Burke is a great friend of mine from Parkway North High School. Last March, we visited Deweys and I told him about my plans for the pizza blog. Many of my memories with Matt focus around pizza since almost every Friday night we would eat Pizza Hut at his house before watching Chapelle’s Show on Comedy Central. He is famous for consistently eating an entire large thin-crust pizza from Pizza Hut.

SPECIAL SHOUT OUT to my brother Evan Block. Dewey's has been his favorite pizza for at least the last 10 years. Thanks to his persistence, I've had it more than 50 times now, and it is in the top 10. 

FUN FACT: Andrew DeWitt of the Cardinal DeWitt family opened the first Dewey's in Cincinnati in 1998. It quickly spread to St. Louis, Missouri and has locations in Illinois and Kansas. 

Pizza Heaven In a Dive Bar: Black Thorn 

Next on the top 10 St. Louis Pizza Places 

Pizza Claus Visits Black Thorn Pub

Stlpizzaguy gives Black Thorn Pub his P of Approval.

"Brendan your pizza is ready," comes the sound on the intercom in a small and crowded neighborhood bar on the corner Wyoming and Spring Street in Tower Grove. The year is 2010, during my first trip to Black Thorn and that announcement is music to my ears, as it is nearly 8:30 p.m. and I have been waiting for two hours for pizza. Although the wait was taxing and frustrating, the deep-dish and me formed a special pizza bond that night. While most of the city was crazy about Pi Pizza, I was telling everyone about Black Thorn.

Black Thorn is a no frills experience, but include the pizza and you will leave satisfied. Black Thorn is a vestige of an older times when a neighborhood bar was located smack dab in the middle of residential housing, not in a strip mall. A couple 1970’s Busch beer lamps line the bar. The bar area is on the left side of the establishment, with the dining area on the other side. The dining area walls are covered in chalk and marker writing from customers in the distant past.  Since they only have room to make a couple pizzas at a time with their ovens, please be prepared to spend a couple of hours unless you call ahead and place your order.

A slice of Black Thorn is a layered Chicago-style pizza with the bottom crust, cheese and toppings in the middle, then top crust and more cheese and toppings.

The interior of Black Thorn is a no frills experience with chalk writing on the walls and eclectic bar decor.

THE PIZZA DETAILS

I'd describe the pizza here as a stuft pizza with a exterior lining of mozzarella and toppings with more mozzarella and toppings inside it. Their Chicago-style pizza is 3-4 inches high. One trip here and your stomach feels like it's gained five pounds but it's also consumed some of the best pizza in St. Louis.

THE CRUST: The bottom is thick crust, crispy and sturdy enough to hold many toppings. It is much thicker than Pi Pizza crust on the bottom. The toppings come on top of the pizza, and are also packed inside stuft with cheese all the way around type pizza. 

The inside of the pizza is also loaded with toppings

THE TOPPINGS: I taste so much cheese, the toppings are loaded on top, and layered in the cheesy middle between the top and bottom crust.

THE SAUCE: This is the spiciest tomato sauce on my top 10 list, and frankly that I have ever tasted. It is a dark red, burgundy colored sauce. Even though it is spicy and has a kick, it is not unbearable and also is a good contrast with the mozzarella cheese on overload.

OTHER TIPS for eating at Black Thorn:

1. Call Ahead: Chicago-Style Pizzas take almost an hour to cook.

2. Be prepared to spend the evening here if you do not call ahead. If you find yourself waiting for your pizza, you can play pinball, darts, or shuffleboard. 
3. Do not eat too much here. My record is three pieces of a large pizza, and this is the only place on the top 10 where I can only eat three pieces. I was put in a pizza coma and fell asleep easily a couple hours later. 

Although the appearances of Black Thorn are a dive bar, eat this cheesy, spicy pizza brick and you'll be transported to pizza heaven.  

2016 Stlpizzaguy Year-End Wrap Up

I want to end this year with a bang, with a special Christmas themed post. It’s been a great year for Stlpizzaguy, with more than 5,000 visitors to my little pizza site. I am truly humbled. My last post for 2016 is Black Thorn Pub, a place I first discovered during my 1L year of Law School with my roommate Aaron Moores and other members of the SLU Law Softball League which played at Tower Grove Park.

Next year I will finish my top 10 list and start visiting requested pizza places from blog viewers around the St. Louis area. So far on my list to visit are Faraci Pizza and Felix's Pizza.

Motivation For Starting A Pizza Blog

Probably the best thing about moving to the St. Louis City in 2010 was the opening of a whole new world of undiscovered restaurants. In  the St. Louis area there is a city/county divide that people do not often cross when visiting restaurants. Most people who have not lived in the city haven’t visited Black Thorn, while most who live in the city haven’t been to Ya Ya’s Euro Bistro, a favorite of Chesterfield residents. A huge reason I started the Stlpizzaguy was to get people out of their neighborhood, into other neighborhoods in search of better tasting pizza. I would like to thank my fiance Adria who really motivated me to start the blog and first thought of Stlpizzaguy. I'd also like to thank my sister Krista who helped by giving me a signature P of Approval. 

In Case You Missed it

Here are some posts that will educate you on St. Louis-style pizza, and also about the new fast-casual pizza taking over the area.

Guide to Provel cheese:
http://stlpizzaguy.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-best-guide-to-provel-cheese-part-1.html

What makes St. Louis-style Pizza
http://stlpizzaguy.blogspot.com/2016/03/now-you-can-tell-your-out-of-town.html


The Great Pizza Debate, my post on fast-casual pizza
http://stlpizzaguy.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-great-pizza-debate-has-technology.html

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.