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

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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.