Imo’s:
Remains the Square Beyond Compare
Secures a Spot in the Top 10
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| 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.
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?
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| 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.
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.
"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:
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| 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.
