Summer Pizza Thread

[Northside Hawk]

You're just flat out wrong. I agree, the hipster movement has caused a horrific increase in nonsensical fusion cooking. But taco pizza predates this by decades. DECADES.

If you want to do a market check on taco pizza, you do this, pal. You roll into Godfathers down on Highway 1 in IC for lunch buffet someday. You watch when they bring that taco pizza out. You'll see a slew of out of shape old men hurdling chairs like OJ in that Hertz commercial trying to get up there to get a slice before it is gone. Same thing happened when I went to Pizza Ranch in Fort Dodge. There was actually a line forming at around the time they thought the taco pizza would be out. Taco pizza is amazing.

You can request a specific pizza at the Dubuque Pizza Ranch (technically in Asbury) and they will bring it to your table before they put it on the buffet.

 

[okeefe4prez]

You can request a specific pizza at the Dubuque Pizza Ranch (technically in Asbury) and they will bring it to your table before they put it on the buffet.

If I ran a competing pizza place, I would send people in everyday to order pineapple and [fill in the blank] pizzas and then watch them go out of business when their food costs soared due to all the pineapple pizzas they would make and throw away.

 

[ibahawkeye]

Casey's pizza is legit. The 2 large one-topping for 9.99 is impossible for me to pass on. I always order 2 and keep the 2nd large in the fridge knowing I'll get to it in the next couple of days.

Pineapple doesn't belong on pizza. Instead, try the pepperoni/anchovies combo when you're drinking. The anchovies are very salty and combo well with the beer.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

You're just flat out wrong. I agree, the hipster movement has caused a horrific increase in nonsensical fusion cooking. But taco pizza predates this by decades. DECADES.

If you want to do a market check on taco pizza, you do this, pal. You roll into Godfathers down on Highway 1 in IC for lunch buffet someday. You watch when they bring that taco pizza out. You'll see a slew of out of shape old men hurdling chairs like OJ in that Hertz commercial trying to get up there to get a slice before it is gone. Same thing happened when I went to Pizza Ranch in Fort Dodge. There was actually a line forming at around the time they thought the taco pizza would be out. Taco pizza is amazing.

O'Keefe...my post began with "This is not specific to taco pizza". Did ya miss that?

Whether one likes it or not, taco pizza is a pretty unique creation that has cred. I'm just "meh" on it...as my experience has been, if it ain't great, it's pretty weak.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

I agree Drummer. The pizza's have gone way too rogue! I guess I'm more of a traditionalist. I might do a Mediterranean pizza on occasion but I have a hard time going against a marinara sauce. I even prefer that if I have chicken on a pie. It doesn't feel like pizza if have a white sauce or just some jacked up olive oil as the sauce base.

Talking about a lot more than just pizzas, MH. One could argue that pizzas are at least a canvas that invites experimentation, which they are. Yet there are pizza examples.

I'm thinking about the "let's stack everything we have in the kitchen on a plate and make it a challenge" stuff. The Beavis and Butthead approach to cooking. I've heard that zombie burger is really good...but IIRC I saw a story on some stack of shit they put together that was their challenge. Don't recall what it was called...but should have been "the Train Wreck". Plenty of other examples out there.

More does not = better.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Casey's pizza is getting a lot of love here. I love the crust, find the cheese to be excessive. I prefer extra sauce, toppings over a la mode style pizza. Go to any small town bar and chances are they serve awesome pizza. My favorite among national chains is probably Pizza Hut.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Casey’s pizza is damn good and honestly can’t find anything like their breakfast pizza anywhere else. I grew up eating it in the great town of Solon, but in all fairness it’s “grocery” store pizza. Lombardi’s pizza in NY has got to be the best pizza I’ve ever eaten. Pizza man Dan’s in Ventura CA has best taco pizza on the face of the earth.. it’s fukn legit.

Um, taco pizza isn't "pizza". It's a pizza-crust salad.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Funny thing about pizza is that it tastes better the hungrier you are. To me, the best pizza I've ever eaten was a Terminator from Paul Revere's after an afternoon of smoking chrondonesia and drinking Busch Light back in the late '90's. That Terminator was so big you had to angle the box to get it in the door.

The Paul Revere "wedgie" (they didn't know the word "calzone", apparently) was the post-drunk pizza of choice from 1980 to 1985.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

This is the correct answer. I got into boutique/small batch/expensive coffee for a while before I came to my senses that "top shelf" wine, coffee, beer, audiophile equipment, etc. is just pretentious yuppie marketing wank bought by people who wouldn't dare take a blind test.

In the end give me Folgers strong as hell and call it a day.

And Casey's pizza is the bomb.

You do realize that Folger's is dye-colored goat piss, right?

 

[Northside Hawk]

The Paul Revere "wedgie" (they didn't know the word "calzone", apparently) was the post-drunk pizza of choice from 1980 to 1985.

I don't make it through college without the Paul Revere wedgie. It was all four of my food groups. What separated it from other calzones was the fact that the sauce was on the inside, meaning you could eat one with your hands.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Casey's pizza is legit. The 2 large one-topping for 9.99 is impossible for me to pass on. I always order 2 and keep the 2nd large in the fridge knowing I'll get to it in the next couple of days.

Pineapple doesn't belong on pizza. Instead, try the pepperoni/anchovies combo when you're drinking. The anchovies are very salty and combo well with the beer.

Let me guess: you only watch Three Stooges episodes that feature Shemp?

Good God, anchovies are The Grossest Thing Ever.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

I don't make it through college without the Paul Revere wedgie. It was all four of my food groups. What separated it from other calzones was the fact that the sauce was on the inside, meaning you could eat one with your hands.

Ah, those were the days!

 

[okeefe4prez]

Um, taco pizza isn't "pizza". It's a pizza-crust salad.

Can we get a moderator in here to ban this treasonous POS?

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Can we get a moderator in here to ban this treasonous POS?

I didn't say I didn't like it. But two things pizza should NEVER have on it:

1) Lettuce...of ANY type...which shall include kale, Bibb, red-leaf, green-leaf, cabbage, romaine, et. al.
2) Fruit...of ANY type...with the exception of tomato/tomato sauce, and peppers, both of which, "botanically", are fruit

 

[okeefe4prez]

I don't make it through college without the Paul Revere wedgie. It was all four of my food groups. What separated it from other calzones was the fact that the sauce was on the inside, meaning you could eat one with your hands.

Back in '96 and '97 I used to live on Fleur Drive and there was a Paul Revere's on SE 14th, if I recall correctly. It was basically precisely the distance that I could place an order and drive there and they would be pulling the pie out of the oven as I walked in the door.

I was a big Wedgie Fan because they were only like $5 back then. The thing was basically a pizza folded over on itself, but instead of costing $9, it was only $5. If I was solo at the Trap House, I would just call over and get one and go pick it up.

One day, I was so hungry I could have eaten the assholes of road kill skunks. I call Revere's and immediately hop in the hooptie ('82 Park Ave) to roll over there. I grab the Wedgie and pay and decide to eat the sumnabitch in the parking lot. The innards of that thing were hotter than the surface of the sun. They couldn't have pulled it from the oven more than 45 seconds before I bit into it. A pepperoni went down my chin, leaving a herpes-esque looking burn. But the sauce burned the roof of my mouth so bad that I considered going to the ER later that night. Point of the story, kiddos, is be careful with shit that is fresh out of the oven.

 

[okeefe4prez]

I didn't say I didn't like it. But two things pizza should NEVER have on it:

1) Lettuce...of ANY type...which shall include kale, Bibb, red-leaf, green-leaf, cabbage, romaine, et. al.
2) Fruit...of ANY type...with the exception of tomato/tomato sauce, and peppers, both of which, "botanically", are fruit

Oh yes, I should clarify, I always pull the lettuce off of taco pizza, or if I order one, I get it without lettuce. That is elementary. No reason to put lettuce on pizza. It has no redeeming value whatsoever. If you get it on a buffet, it will still have a touch of lettuce, but two or three strands are okay.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Oh yes, I should clarify, I always pull the lettuce off of taco pizza, or if I order one, I get it without lettuce. That is elementary. No reason to put lettuce on pizza. It has no redeeming value whatsoever. If you get it on a buffet, it will still have a touch of lettuce, but two or three strands are okay.

Two or three strands is okay, but ya gotta put up a perfunctory objection to any and all other folks at your table.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

I don't make it through college without the Paul Revere wedgie. It was all four of my food groups. What separated it from other calzones was the fact that the sauce was on the inside, meaning you could eat one with your hands.

ohhh...the wedgie. Talk about a blast from the past

 

[uihawk82]

Casey's is pretty good for quick, on the road pizza. The sausage is just average, crust is decent, it is cheesy (we are in the midwest), sauce is ok. I am from Des Moines and we have so many great pizza places many of which were started by Italian families many, many years ago. Most use Graziano's sausage which is awesome. The Graziano's Italian Food store has been open in Des Moines for over 100 years and the owner is 4th or 5th generation. My grandparents grew up in Italy only one or two villages away from this Graziano's family and they all settled in Des Moines. Orlando's in Des Moines is very good with lots of ground fennel in the sauce and home made Italian sausage by the Italian owner. Fennel is one of the spices that gives that great sweetness to sausage and sauce.

I have had really great pizza in Chicago, north of Chicago, Seattle area, California and other places like Boston. But Des Moines is loaded with some of the best pizza places I can have around. I havent had NY pizza and of course they have tons of great pizza I am sure.

 

[uihawk82]

Key to a pizza, IMO. Well, sauce as well. Both can be deal breakers if bad. I want a little sweetness to my sauce instead of a paste.

The best canned, off the store shelf pizza sauce I have tasted is Pastorelli's. Rich, tomato base, with good amount of spices and it just seems better than the rest.