Tonight, I have to go with The Boy to a Cub Scout pizza party during the dinner hour and I am already dreading it. Not because the other parents and kids are downright annoying, they are but that's beside the point. The reason I am dreading it is that I know that 9 times out of 10 they will order total shit pizza from either Papa Johns or on one of the other local places that tries to pass cardboard and Ragu sauce off for New York style pizza . On top of that they will cut the pizza into little squares which is a Midwest thing that I totally cannot fathom.
Growing up on the East Coast, New Jersey for all of my childhood and Pennsylvania for college, really spoiled me in terms of what I rate as good pizza. In fact, it has caused me to become very particular about the pizza I eat, a snob if you will. I will only eat thin crust New York style pizza with prepared sauce and good mozzarella cheese. The pizza must be pie cut so that you can fold it in half when you eat it. It must also have a consistent amount of grease on it so that there isn't too much or too little.
The New York style pizza in the Chicago area is for the most part very subpar and many of the people out here cannot tell the difference between good and bad. I have neighbors that think Papa John's is delicious. I have no idea what they are thinking. Now, I will give credit where credit is due. They certainly have handle on Chicago style deep dish and are very particular about where they go to eat it. Yet many are unable to tell the difference between cheap canned sauce and bad crust when it comes to New York. If they'd just open their eyes a bit they'd realize there are much better choice out there.
If you are looking for a great piece of New York style pizza in the northern Chicago suburbs, here are two places I will recommend. Kaiser's in Gurnee has by far the best pizza I've had since we moved out here. Quonset in Waukegan is another that's right up there. Not quite Kaiser's but definitely a far cry from every other pizza place I've tried. Special note, both will cut your pizza in those damned little squares unless you ask otherwise. Enjoy!
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7 comments:
To quote a silly movie with a great line, "Pizza is like sex. Even when it's bad, it's still pretty good."
Mmmm. Pizza. Being from the Northern suburbs myself, Napoli's in McHenry is awesome. Deep dish and thin crust. So is Halftime in Johnsburg. But they will cut your pizza into little squares unless you tell them not to, which I do every time. How can you eat a piece of pizza with no crust without looking like an idiot? Plus, then you feel like a pig because you eat thirteen pieces of pizza instead of one or two. I'll have to check out Kaiser's the next time I'm out that way.
You should come to the UK, after visiting the US last year, I've only just realised how bad it is over here!
Being from New York myself, I TOTALLY understand where you're coming from. Pizza Hut did a fair job with their New York style pizza, but their crust is not cooked on a flat surface, and has the wrong texture. However, the last time I ordered it, it had the right grease consistency, dripping properly off each folded slice. Now if their crust were just done slightly different....
Carrot,
Did you stop to think that your neighbors just have bad taste? I do agree with you, it is a 'pie', cut it like one!!!
ps: my neighbors tell me that dominos is "the best, by far!"
NOT!!!
I am torn by your pizza dilemma.
I live in New York, and absolutely love the pizza style here. Particularly Pomodoro's on Mulberry and Spring. And of course Ray's.
However, I lived in Chicago for a year and learned to love that stlye of pie as well. Particularly Leona's with the cornmeal crust.
Holy cow, that was good.
I'm babbling now, by the way.
Lovely blog. We both got a mention at 86 tips? today so I thought I'd check you out...
Ta!
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