RETURN OF STLPIZZAGUY

WATCH VIDEO BELOW

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. 

TwinOak Wood-fired Pizza: 

Not Just Another Brick In The Wall On The Top 10

TwinOak wood-fired pizza is not just another brick in the wall on the St. Louis pizza scene. Their pies, 10-inches and cooked in a brick oven, is pizza at its finest. TwinOak won the Riverfront Time’s best thin-crust pizza award for 2016, but it has been on Stlpizzaguy’s top 10 list since 2012. TwinOak is my preferred place to go for a great pizza and smoked wings combination. Classmate David Castellucci and I discovered TwinOak during our law school pizza journey of more than 40 St. Louis pizzerias, and it immediately became an agreed upon favorite.

Established in 2011 by the Friederich family, TwinOak brought St. Louis its unique wood-fired fare. The father and two sons are almost always working at the restaurant, and offer a great pizza happy hour deal with half-off pizzas and beer from 3-5:30 p.m.

When customers enter the restaurant, they first see a putting green straight ahead and a hostess to challenge them to sink a 10-foot putt for free beer or pizza. To the left is the bar, with ample seating and a variegated draft beer selection.  As you walk past the bar, you see an open kitchen on your left, at the center of which is the brick oven with its rising flames and burning Missouri oak logs. The brick oven burns wood and gas at temperatures exceeding 900 degrees Fahrenheit. Brick ovens are almost universally recognized as the best way to cook pizza, as it sears in the flavors and tastes of the sauce, meat, and cheese. Keep walking straight and you are at the dining area.

Stlpizzaguy gives TwinOak wood-fired pizza his "P" of Approval. The pizza of his choice in the picture is the Italian Stallion, a mix of Italian sausages and vegetables.

Stlpizzaguy's sister Krista, the inspiration behind the "P" of Approval, poses with the When in Rome pizza. Stlpizzaguy personally believes that if you want a pizza with a mountain of lettuce you should just order a salad, but because Krista founded the "P" of Approval, she gets her picture in the blog whenever she wants. 

"My two favorites of their signature pizzas are the Meatier-ologist and Italian Stallion. One of my pizza mottos is: if there’s no meat, I don’t eat."

The Meatier-ologist has chorizo sausage, Italian sausage, andouille sausage, bacon, basil and mozzarella with tomato sauce. The Italian stallion includes Italian sausage, green bell pepper, caramelized onions and mozzarella with tomato sauce.

TwinOak’s tomato sauce is pretty sweet, too sweet for some customers, but fine by me. They use shredded mozzarella cheese on their pizzas. The pizzas are 10-inches, smaller and crispy on the end, courtesy of the wood-fired brick oven.  One of their pizzas is too much for one normal person with a normal appetite to finish, but too small for two people to share unless you get a pound of wings. So be smart and order two pizzas. Their toppings are generous and taste fresh.

One thing to watch out for at TwinOak: wood-fired pizza does slightly char the crust of the pizza at the bottom. The high-level of skill, attention, and diligence to cook with the brick oven leaves the operator little margin for error or else the pizza is overcooked. Typically this doesn’t happen, but if you dislike crispy crust that naturally comes with cooking in a brick oven you might want to skip TwinOak on your pizza journey. 

The place has my “P” of Approval because I can taste the fresh ingredients, my sister Krista and girlfriend Adria LOVE it, and because I love wood-fired pizza.

TwinOak is located at: 1201 Strassner Dr., Brentwood, MO 63144

Fortel's Pizza Den:
Mom and Pop Pizza Stands Test Of Time

As Stlpizzaguy's adventures drive him deeper into St. Louis County for lunch at the Fortel's Creve Coeur location on July 8, he tells his pizza confidants brother Evan and friend Matt Burke that Fortel's is in his top 10 list for sure, but really quite honestly it’s in his top three. Over the course of his life, Stlpizzaguy has consumed more than 100 of Fortel's pizzas. So it is possible that the repetition and regularity of pizza consumption at Fortel's has blinded his taste buds. But anyone with even a cursory knowledge about St. Louis pizza knows that Fortel's earns a rightful place in the top 10 list.

Stlpizzaguy giving the P of Approval with one of his favorite pizza brethren Matt Burke. Matt Burke's pizza claim to fame is for being a frequent diner of Pizza Hut Pizza. Growing up, his family ordered Pizza Hut at least 2-3 times every week for dinner. In high school we would have Pizza Hut EVERY Friday night when I visited to his house. Do not let looks deceive you, we finished both of these pizzas with a little help from my brother Evan.

As we order and eat a large and a medium pepperoni pizza, the taste is magical. With a liberal amount of tomato sauce and heavy amount of pepperoni, this pizza is a great greasy masterpiece. The taste of the crust is doughy, not a crispy cracker like crust so common with many St. Louis-style pizzas. 

"The pepperoni pizzas here are very greasy, which may turn some people off in this health-conscious age, but I still love it. Stlpizzaguy eats pizza for his sanity and pleasure, not for his health."

Fortel's Pizza was founded in 1981 by Bob and Jan Fortel. I first heard about them in the late 1990’s when Bob and Shelley Fortel appeared on KSDK Channel 5's “Show-Me St. Louis" showcasing a variety of pizzas. Bob Fortel was a pizza visionary, with his barbeque chicken pizza and other experiments with different pizza types way before it became trendy. My mother and I insisted on trying the pizza, so the entire family went to the Kirkwood location and have been regular customers of various Fortel's locations ever since. When I think of great pizza and where all my pizza memories are, most are found at Fortel's when my family went there on Sunday nights after church, after celebrating wins in high school baseball, after my law school graduation, or just to carry out.

The Pizza Details:

THE CHEESE: Mozzarella. You can tell the difference because it’s stringy when cutting off a piece, unlike Provel which can be cut perfectly.

SAUCE: A sweeter than normal tomato sauce that is always applied liberally to the dough.

CRUST: On the thick spectrum of thin-crust pizza. Doughy, not crispy, never overdone or overcooked.

Additionally, Fortel's uses fresh ingredients, fresh toppings, and their dough is made in the store every day. For thin-crust pizza, Fortel's and Imo’s are kings in St. Louis. If you like an alternative to the crispy, Provel cheese laden Imo’s, try the doughy, mozzarella cheese pizzas superbly made at Fortel's.