Worst pizza in StL?

NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2001 19:13:49 +0000 (UTC) Xref: usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu stl.dining:1131

Jim S. wrote:
>Two Nice Guys may not serve the kind of pizza you like, but we've enjoyed
>some pretty good meals in the upstairs DR.

[ back and forth discussion of John Willie and I arguing ]

You know, your reply would make a lot more sense if it quoted the *original* post, rather than this tertiary bickering one. The original information was long ago snipped away, so your post has no context.

Oh, and please don't post your replies at the top of the message. People read from top to bottom, and it doesn't make sense to have new material above quoted material.

And just so it doesn't seem like I'm a total grump, with nothing to add, I'll mention a couple of places that I like for pizza. I like the Talayna's thick crust special, and the thin crust Cicero's with fresh garlic and bacon, sausage, pepperoni and mushroom is pretty good. The fresh garlic makes a big difference.

For classic St. Louis style, in north county Faraci's in Ferguson is great, and I like Pirrone's in Florissant a bit less.

Not saying these are the best, but places I go to and enjoy on a regular basis.

NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2001 18:49:10 +0000 (UTC) Xref: usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu stl.dining:1138

John K. wrote:
>Brian R. wrote:
>>Oh, and please don't post your replies at the top of the message. People
>>read from top to bottom, and it doesn't make sense to have new material
>>above quoted material.
>
>I don't. I'm using 'trn', what news reader are you using?
>

That post wasn't directed towards you, but to Jim Savage. You snipped away all my post, so here it is again:

Jim S. wrote:
>Two Nice Guys may not serve the kind of pizza you like, but we've enjoyed
>some pretty good meals in the upstairs DR.

[ back and forth discussion of John Willie and I arguing ]

You know, your reply would make a lot more sense if it quoted the *original* post, rather than this tertiary bickering one. The original information was long ago snipped away, so your post has no context.

Oh, and please don't post your replies at the top of the message. People read from top to bottom, and it doesn't make sense to have new material above quoted material.

And just so it doesn't seem like I'm a total grump, with nothing to add, I'll mention a couple of places that I like for pizza. I like the Talayna's thick crust special, and the thin crust Cicero's with fresh garlic and bacon, sausage, pepperoni and mushroom is pretty good. The fresh garlic makes a big difference.

For classic St. Louis style, in north county Faraci's in Ferguson is great, and I like Pirrone's in Florissant a bit less.

Not saying these are the best, but places I go to and enjoy on a regular basis.

NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2001 01:49:32 +0000 (UTC) Xref: usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu stl.dining:1142

Someone wrote:
>Perhaps this is a newsgroup for dining in St Louis but as a Canadian planning on travelling there, perhaps you could say something positive about the
>city and the food establishments before I come there.

The area known as "The Hill", roughly just south/southwest of Forest Park, has some great Italian food. Lots of little places, like Cunetto's, one of my favorites.

NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2001 01:51:34 +0000 (UTC) Xref: usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu stl.dining:1143

Jerry J. wrote:
>  Someone wrote:
>> Two Nice Guys
>> This was the worst example of StL Style pizza ever.  I've gotten
>Maybe you had a singularly bad experience?  I haven't been there in
>quite a few years, but I remember their basement St. Louis style pizzas
>being just fine.  Also, it wouldn't seem logical, given the
>proliferation of competition, that they could have survived
>approximately 20 years by consistenly serving less than bowling alley
>quality.

As I recall, Bryan doesn't not favor "St Louis Style" pizza in general, you know, the thin thin crusted kind. Imo's is the prototype, and now there are dozens of copies.

NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 09 Feb 2001 08:59:17 CDT
Xref: usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu stl.dining:1146

John K. wrote:

> Someone wrote:
> >Perhaps this is a newsgroup for dining in St Louis but as a Canadian planning on travelling there, perhaps you could say something positive about the
> >city and the food establishments before I come there.
>
> The area known as "The Hill", roughly just south/southwest of Forest
> Park, has some great Italian food. Lots of little places, like
> Cunetto's, one of my favorites.

True.  Lots of good food on The Hill.  A little deli called Rumbolo's has great sandwiches. Great AmeriMex can be found at Hacienda, but if you order a margarita, don't get the cheap, house variety, but drop the cash for a freshly made top shelf.

Really good Greek at Olympia, but though the food is delicious, the portions are on the small side, so if you have a big appetite, you will want to get appetizers and desserts. My wife really likes Jimmy's On the Park, Zuzu, and Cardwell's. The Fatted Calf has excellent burgers. In general, avoid pizza, as StL is infamous for bad pizza, though if you get desperate Pizza USA (located in a shopping mall!) is probably the best in town, and Talayna's New York Style is also passable. Do, as JWK suggests, go to the Italian places on The Hill.  Great pastas. I don't eat Thai, but The King & I gets good marks from my friends. For fast food I recommend Lion's Choice (roast beef sandwiches) and Steak 'n Shake for interesting burgers/fries/chili, that have the potential of being downright great, but make sure to ask them to make the fries fresh to order as their quality control leaves something to be desired, as does their service.  That said, I still eat there occasionally, and they are all 24 hour. If you don't mind a bit of cigarette smoke--I hate it--there is Lou Boccardi's on The Hill.  The place is kind of a dive, no non-smoking section, but their food is very good. Another smoky place is the South City Diner, which has an oldies theme. Del Taco is a decent fast food Mexican place, though you should order items that do not have ground beef unless you like grease, and always get extra green sauce on the items, as the green is comparable to good Santa Fe green chile, weird for a fast food franchise. Fantastic beer is brewed at the Tap Room, which is downtown.  Their Schlafly Oatmeal Stout is nationally renowned.  The Omni hotel downtown has a good restaurant.  Entrees are in the ~$15 range, not bad at all for a nice hotel, and they have duck with raspberry sauce, mmmm.

In a few weeks, the Riverfront Times will be coming out with their restaurant poll.  http://riverfronttimes.com I'd bet that they have last year's results online.

While you are in StL I hope you'll get the chance to visit our first class zoo.  It is FREE, so you can afford to spend a bit on snacks/souveniers.  The art museum next door is also free.  Another tax-supported institution that is not free, but is very inexpensive, is our botanical garden.  If your trip is just a short business thing, consider coming back on vacation to enjoy those three places.

>
>
> --
> John Kuthe, aka cec.wustl.edu@jwk1, St. Louis, Missouri

NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2001 19:52:58 +0000 (UTC) Xref: usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu stl.dining:1156

Someone wrote:
>
>Has anyone tried Pirrone's Pizza in Florissant?  Their offering was pretty
>good, IMHO.

Yes, it's pretty good, I prefer it to Imo's. For north county St. Louis style (thin crisp crust with provel) my favorite is Faraci's in Ferguson. Very small place, mainly carryout, although they do have some tables.

NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2001 16:00:30 CST
Organization: SBC Internet Services
Xref: usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu stl.dining:1162

Brian R. wrote:
> Someone wrote:
> >
> >Has anyone tried Pirrone's Pizza in Florissant?  Their offering was
pretty
> >good, IMHO.
>
> Yes, it's pretty good, I prefer it to Imo's. For north county St. Louis
> style (thin crisp crust with provel) my favorite is Faraci's in Ferguson.
> Very small place, mainly carryout, although they do have some tables.

Both Faraci's AND Pirrone's have wonderful thin crust pizza, IMO.  But I still prefer IMO's.

>
>
> --
> My troubles are many They're deep as a well
> I swear there ain't no heaven And I pray there ain't no hell
> But I'll never know by livin' Only my dyin' will tell
> - Laura Nyro (RIP)
>

 Bub wrote:
> IMOs, TNG, and CWP are all takes on the St. Louis thin crust with
provel.
> Since moving back home to StL after over a decade, IMOs is not the
flavor
> explosion I remember.  Also, the Kirkwood and Hampton IMOs seem to be
more
> consistent in the ingredients as opposed to the other IMOs stores.
At
> the Kirkwood store, i usually get a good cheese scalding - part of
the
> fun.
>
> Can anyone suggest any really good StL pizza styles?  I remeber one
person
> mentioning some small restaurant on Manchester in Rock Hill.
>

That's Farotto's Pizzeria in Rock Hill (9525 Manchester).  Great STL Style Pizza.  Order in advance, particularily on weekends.  They are really busy.

NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2001 09:03:58 CDT
Xref: usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu stl.dining:1166

Jerry J. wrote:

> > As I recall, Bryan doesn't not favor "St Louis Style" pizza in
> general,
> > you know, the thin thin crusted kind. Imo's is the prototype, and now
> > there are dozens of copies.>
>
> Imo's has had the most success in popularizing St. Louis Style pizzas,
> but Provel (a processed blend of swiss, cheddar and provolone - invented
> in St. Louis) was topping thin crust pizzas before Imo's opened (Imo's
> opened about 30 years ago).

Nasty, slimy stuff.  the only redeeming feature os STL Style Pizza is the fashion of cutting it into squares instead of wedges.  The outer pieces become safe to eat sooner than the middle, so one can eat one's way to the center, always having hot-but-not-too-hot pizza.  StL Style crust resembles a matzoh, the sauce is often way too sweet, and it is topped with process cheese.  We're talkin' Velveeta type stuff, or at worst what youd get on a greasy fast food cheeseburger.

Nevertheless, the pizza I got at TNGs was way worse than IMO's, and even as bad or worse than Guido's.  StL has so many things to recommend it that I can't see defending our trashiest of gustatory offerings, StL Style Pizza is up there with brain sandwiches and fried bologna & process cheese on Wonder-type bread.  I love this city, but our strength is not in high standards for restaurant food.  There are, however, two things that are uniquely StL that do deserve high praise, those being breaded beef ravioli and Maull's brand barbecue sauce.  Maull's is a sauce with a lot of complexity.  Wheras here it it just seen as standard, in other cities it is often available, but only in small bottles for high prices, in gourmet stores and butcher shops.  Obviously, the marketing people at the Maull Co. could be doing a better job on promotion/distribution outside our region. Another place worth mentioning--though most large cities have one or more good sausage shop--is Volpi.  I don't eat much of the stuff because of saturated fat considerations, but Volpi sausages and prosciutto (sp?) are as good as any I've ever tasted.  The hot sopressata....

>
>
> Jerry