The best major pizza chain?

Based on Snowy's other posts, one might think that s/he actually DOES like Pizza Hut and Chuckie Cheese.

quote:

Originally posted by wanderingjew

I don't know if I'm the only one on the board who is seeing right through this, but I believe the initial post is a practical joke (not yours Shayna's Mom). I'm not trying to be sarcastic or condescending here but, I think it's very, very obvious.

Oh, I know...I know. I'd bet you a haggis pizza...

I don't know. Maybe it was the misspelling of Chuck E. Cheese. Sometimes I try to be more than just Shayna's mom, you know...trying to guide them onto the right path, ad nauseum. But as with the infamous mayo thread, sometimes it's wasted energy, too! I don't ever feel too played in Roadfood, because I get too much out of it here (like a tears-streaming-down-my-face-inducing laugh).

quote:

Originally posted by shaynas_mom

quote:

Originally posted by wanderingjew

I don't know if I'm the only one on the board who is seeing right through this, but I believe the initial post is a practical joke (not yours Shayna's Mom). I'm not trying to be sarcastic or condescending here but, I think it's very, very obvious.

Oh, I know...I know. I'd bet you a haggis pizza...

I don't know. Maybe it was the misspelling of Chuck E. Cheese. Sometimes I try to be more than just Shayna's mom, you know...trying to guide them onto the right path, ad nauseum. But as with the infamous mayo thread, sometimes it's wasted energy, too! I don't ever feel too played in Roadfood, because I get too much out of it here (like a tears-streaming-down-my-face-inducing laugh).

Don't forget the lutefisk pizza...

http://www.svenandoles.com/menupagethree.html

For some reason, the mention of the lutefisk pizza prompted a memory of our visit to Prince Edward Island in 1994 (maybe Grand Marais' proximity to Canada). We did eat at Pizza Delight there and we thought it was really good. http://www.pizzadelight.com . As I said, it was in 1994. I don't know anything about their quality now.

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Originally posted by Bushie

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Originally posted by tiki

Ralph--i havent been in YET--but the Ken's Pizza in Eufalla is very much alive---at least the lights are on and there's always cars in the lot----now that you and Bushie have weighed in on them, i am going to stop by and give them a shot---will let you know how it went.

tiki, don't get your hopes up. I would have hesitated to recommend it to you, knowing that you've experienced great pizza all over the country. Ken's makes a thin-crust pizza that I always liked, but I don't know what you'll think of it. Like Ralph said, I would love to hear what you think if you stop there.

Bushie---Janie and I stopped by the Ken' Pizza in Eufalla last night---not the best pizza but certqainly not the worst!!!! they had two crust--one very thin--one a little thicker--and neither was SOGGY---that goes along way with me! the sauce was decent---nicely spicy and not just toamto sauce---and they put eough toppings on but not overloaded---all in all it was a good deal and they actually have a Tuesday night special that include all the pizza you could eat--salad bar with dessert--i liked the Apple strudel pizza!--and drinks --we Both ate for NINE DOLLARS AND 52 CENTS!!!! all in all--they arent as good as good as Hideaway---or my beloved east coast pizza's!!!---but they were a refreshing change from the slop at most pizza chains!!---good call!--thanks!

Davanni's here in Minnesota is pretty good in a pinch!

frank pepe's and the spot

I actually really like Godfathers pizza. I don't eat it to often as the dough is very thick and makes me fat. Every few months though I get a half combination half taco, big big fan of the taco.

Dominoes for some reason to me tastes "fake" if you know what I mean. Like those bread type products you buy in a can that poofes open and you bake at home.

Pizza hut is interesting, way greasy, and it seams like the topping shrink away from the crust and get glopped toward the center of the pie. Edible.

quote:

Originally posted by tiki


Bushie---Janie and I stopped by the Ken' Pizza in Eufalla last night---not the best pizza but certqainly not the worst!!!! they had two crust--one very thin--one a little thicker--and neither was SOGGY---that goes along way with me! the sauce was decent---nicely spicy and not just toamto sauce---and they put eough toppings on but not overloaded---all in all it was a good deal and they actually have a Tuesday night special that include all the pizza you could eat--salad bar with dessert--i liked the Apple strudel pizza!--and drinks --we Both ate for NINE DOLLARS AND 52 CENTS!!!! all in all--they arent as good as good as Hideaway---or my beloved east coast pizza's!!!---but they were a refreshing change from the slop at most pizza chains!!---good call!--thanks!

tiki, glad to hear it wasn't hideous. I've added Hideaway to my "to try" list. Thanks.

Ken's Pizza was the first major pizza franchise venture of Ken Selby of Tulsa. He morphed many of the original Ken's (but obviously some of the original franchises remain) into his newer Mazzio's Pizza concept and has built on that since. I guess my point is that if you liked Ken's you can get similar style/quality pizza at Mazzio's.

Tiki and Bushie:
Although I like Hideaway very much, Mario's NY Style Pizzeria in Tulsa is the real deal, especially for displaced Northeasterners. Great thin crust pizza (by the slice or full pie) and thick Sicilian square pizza. Also, White Pizza topped with ricotta cheese and fresh tomato slices and great hot hero sandwiches (meatball parm, eggplant parm, and sausage, onions, and peppers). Truly worth a try!

quote:

Originally posted by Howard Baratz


Tiki and Bushie:
Although I like Hideaway very much, Mario's NY Style Pizzeria in Tulsa is the real deal, especially for displaced Northeasterners. Great thin crust pizza (by the slice or full pie) and thick Sicilian square pizza. Also, White Pizza topped with ricotta cheese and fresh tomato slices and great hot hero sandwiches (meatball parm, eggplant parm, and sausage, onions, and peppers). Truly worth a try!

Now were talkin!!---Mario's SOUNDS great!!!---where are they---i will be in Tulsa on sat---bass player and I are off to the opening weekend sale at the New Guitar Center!---and will OF COURSE need to eat!!---was thinking of Webers and a burger but would LOVE to try Mario's NY Style!--havent seen an eggplant parm sub in a while!!---do they sell slices?

just say NO to papa johns , thier sauce is disgustingly sweet / like they add sugar , stick to the independents and stay clear of the chains

quote:

Originally posted by tiki

quote:

Originally posted by Howard Baratz


Tiki and Bushie:
Although I like Hideaway very much, Mario's NY Style Pizzeria in Tulsa is the real deal, especially for displaced Northeasterners. Great thin crust pizza (by the slice or full pie) and thick Sicilian square pizza. Also, White Pizza topped with ricotta cheese and fresh tomato slices and great hot hero sandwiches (meatball parm, eggplant parm, and sausage, onions, and peppers). Truly worth a try!

Now were talkin!!---Mario's SOUNDS great!!!---where are they---i will be in Tulsa on sat---bass player and I are off to the opening weekend sale at the New Guitar Center!---and will OF COURSE need to eat!!---was thinking of Webers and a burger but would LOVE to try Mario's NY Style!--havent seen an eggplant parm sub in a while!!---do they sell slices?

Tiki:

Slices are available on all pizza types. Mario's is on 51st Street (on the north side of the street) just east of Harvard. I had an Eggplant Parm hero (and a slice while I was waiting for my sandwich) just last night and both were great! I hope you make it there on Saturday.

Thanks, Howard. Great info. !!!!!

I know I used to love Shakey's growing up in the DC area. However, recently tried again in L.A., and it was disgusting.

I don't know if any are left, but I very much liked Pizza Inn...had a nice thin craker crust and terrific sauce (outstanding for a chain) They were all over the east coast, but I think I saw one somewhere recently on a business trip (Texas perhaps?) Anyone know?

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Originally posted by Fred Ferris

I don't know if any are left, but I very much liked Pizza Inn...had a nice thin craker crust and terrific sauce (outstanding for a chain) They were all over the east coast, but I think I saw one somewhere recently on a business trip (Texas perhaps?) Anyone know?

Fred, you're right about Pizza Inn. Their thin-crust pizza is crispy with a really good flavor. I had forgotten about them.

I know of a couple in the Dallas area, and I've run across a few in Arkansas. I don't know how wide-spread they still are, but it's a good cracker-crust pizza.

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Originally posted by McFan

As far as chains go my favorite pizza chains are regional ones, including the following:

Donato's (eastern US)
East of Chicago Pizza Co. (Ohio and Indiana, with one location each in Virginia and Florida)
LaRosa's (SW Ohio)
Rocky Rococo (mostly Wisconsin)

I betting that the cervix at Rocky Rococo is exceptional...

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Originally posted by TJ Jackson

CiCi's has also just opened in the Eastgate area of Cincinnati......

I've been to the one in Finneytown a couple of times and it's decent pizza at a good price. My only problem was that they didn't have any normal pizzas. Everything was taco or cheesburger or b-b-que or something. A good ol sausage pizza would be nice

quote:

Originally posted by tiki

quote:

Originally posted by Howard Baratz


Tiki and Bushie:
Although I like Hideaway very much, Mario's NY Style Pizzeria in Tulsa is the real deal, especially for displaced Northeasterners. Great thin crust pizza (by the slice or full pie) and thick Sicilian square pizza. Also, White Pizza topped with ricotta cheese and fresh tomato slices and great hot hero sandwiches (meatball parm, eggplant parm, and sausage, onions, and peppers). Truly worth a try!

Now were talkin!!---Mario's SOUNDS great!!!---where are they---i will be in Tulsa on sat---bass player and I are off to the opening weekend sale at the New Guitar Center!---and will OF COURSE need to eat!!---was thinking of Webers and a burger but would LOVE to try Mario's NY Style!--havent seen an eggplant parm sub in a while!!---do they sell slices?

Tiki:

Did you make it to Mario's? If so, I'm dying to know what you thought.

Pizza - I grew up about 50 miles north of NYC. There was one place in my small town back in the 50s and early 60s named "Bruno's" that made a typical NY pizza pie back when nothing about pizza was typical.
A typical NY pizza has a thin crust underneath with a thick outer ring of puffy crust. The sauce has a distinct spicy taste and the cheese is real and tastes real. Anything you order on top has lots of fresh distinct full taste.
There is not a single national chain I know of
that makes a pizza like that but it seems like no matter where you go within 100 miles of NYC you can get a pizza like that at almost any independent pizza shop.
It was always the first thing my kids wanted when we'd go visit the family every summer.
. . . but there's never been anything like Bruno's since.

Regarding the major chains, I would have to pick Papa Johns "works" pizza though the sauce and crust are sweeter than I'd prefer. Re the major chains, their toppings do taste fresher to me, especially the veggies. I also like the pepperoncinis and garlic butter they include. It's not prime pizza by any means, but when I'm in a hurry and just want to go home it works for me far better than Pizza Hut, Dominoes, or Little Caesars. Though, for the money, Little Caesars $5.99 large pepperoni pizza isn't bad if you're in a pinch. But, readers, I am in a small town in KY so there isn't much choice anyway!


Andrea

quote:

Originally posted by Howard Baratz

quote:

Originally posted by tiki

quote:

Originally posted by Howard Baratz


Tiki and Bushie:
Although I like Hideaway very much, Mario's NY Style Pizzeria in Tulsa is the real deal, especially for displaced Northeasterners. Great thin crust pizza (by the slice or full pie) and thick Sicilian square pizza. Also, White Pizza topped with ricotta cheese and fresh tomato slices and great hot hero sandwiches (meatball parm, eggplant parm, and sausage, onions, and peppers). Truly worth a try!

Now were talkin!!---Mario's SOUNDS great!!!---where are they---i will be in Tulsa on sat---bass player and I are off to the opening weekend sale at the New Guitar Center!---and will OF COURSE need to eat!!---was thinking of Webers and a burger but would LOVE to try Mario's NY Style!--havent seen an eggplant parm sub in a while!!---do they sell slices?

Tiki:

Did you make it to Mario's? If so, I'm dying to know what you thought.

Howard---didnt get there because my driver had other ideas---bugers and root beer!!!---BUT--we are headed up again to pick up some stuff we ordered and i already established the PIZZA at Mario's is Lunch!---will let you know how it goes.

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Originally posted by oneiron339

We have a relatively new chain in the ATL area which, in the 3 time I've been have had reasonably good pizza - CiCi's. They have taken the old Shakey's concept of pizza and salad buffet and brought it back. I went in with a pre-conceived notion that it would be awful, but was surprised. I still go to my neighborhood places first, and rely on Domino's for delivery, but I was surprised at CiCi's.

I ate there when I was in Dallas (That's where they started) not bad at all. About 20 or so kinds of pizza. All you can eat for $3.99 (Plus $1.25 for soft drinks).

I'd give them a thumbs up. (and two thumbs up for bang for the buck)

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Originally posted by Theedge

I actually really like Godfathers pizza.

About a quarter-century ago, Godfather's was IT as far as pizza goes. I have eaten pizza around the country, including most of the fabled joints, but I still say that as far as a proper deep-dish pizza goes, the old Godfather's combo was the ne plus ultra of the form.

Unfortunately, as ingredients became more expensive, Godfather's had to start cutting back both on quality and on amount: a large Godfather's combo as it was in 1980, when it probably cost about $13, would be pushing $40 today. (Frankly, I would still pay that for one, but that's just me.) As the ingredients worsened, the customers deserted the place, causing them to lower prices (and quality) even further. It became a death spiral.

When I left Albuquerque about three years ago, there was still a Godfather's there, on Montgomery. I would go in there once a year or so, hoping that things might have changed, but they never did.

quote:

Originally posted by Theedge

I actually really like Godfathers pizza. I don't eat it to often as the dough is very thick and makes me fat. Every few months though I get a half combination half taco, big big fan of the taco.

I worked at a Godfather's in the early 80's and I remember that the taco pizza had a small, but loyal following. We had a couple who were regular customers, and every Wednesday they'd order a large taco pizza. On one Wednesday, I had taken my break and gone to K-Mart to pick up a film order. They showed up while I was gone and ordered the usual. When I walked back into the restaurant, I saw them eating their pizza and realized that the only taco sauce we had in the make table had gone bad. (Maybe not bad, but it bubbled and there was a rush of gas that burned your eyes when you opened the container. Fermented maybe?) I asked the guy I was working with if he had made a fresh batch of sauce, but he was new and didn't know the difference between good and bad sauce. I started having visions of these people being rushed to the hospital with food poisoning and was trying to decide on a course of action when the guy motioned me to the counter. Expecting the worse, I was about to apologize for the mistake, but he started going on about how much better the pizza had been than normal. He and his wife both claimed that it had more of a bite and asked if we did anything different. I told him that the sauce might have been a little "old" and he asked me if I could keep around some "old" taco sauce for when they came in. It wasn't up to me, but I made sure that if it got near Wednesday and the taco sauce was getting a little "gassy", that a new batch was made and the old batch tucked away in the walk-in. To each his own, I guess.

Originally posted by Wallyum

Originally posted by Theedge

I worked at a Godfather's in the early 80's and I remember that the taco pizza had a small, but loyal following. We had a couple who were regular customers, and every Wednesday they'd order a large taco pizza. On one Wednesday, I had taken my break and gone to K-Mart to pick up a film order. They showed up while I was gone and ordered the usual. When I walked back into the restaurant, I saw them eating their pizza and realized that the only taco sauce we had in the make table had gone bad. ... I asked the guy I was working with if he had made a fresh batch of sauce, but he was new and didn't know the difference between good and bad sauce. I started having visions of these people being rushed to the hospital with food poisoning and was trying to decide on a course of action when the guy motioned me to the counter. Expecting the worse, I was about to apologize for the mistake, but he started going on about how much better the pizza had been than normal. He and his wife both claimed that it had more of a bite and asked if we did anything different.

I worked in a pizza parlor right after high school and when a schoolmate came in that I really didn't care for I made his pizza
personally, drizzling a layer of oil from the can of anchovies
that we kept in the cooler under the pizza prep table onto the
crust before spreading the sauce. Afterward he came by the counter and told me it was the best pizza he ever had, and he wasn't being sarcastic.

TSP

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Originally posted by tiki

Peachpie---i too LOVE Boboli!!! fast easy-tasty and best of all--i can cantrol the amount and quality of then toppings. They are actually my preferred pizza in this area of Oklahoma--my fall back "Default"

We had a couple of Boboli pizzas last Friday that turned out pretty decent. I bought some sun dried tomatoes for one and learned that the next time I'll probably use the whole jar of tomatoes. The pizza was sauceless. I just brushed the shell with extra virgin olive oil, arranged the tomoates, added some cheese and baked it on the pizza stone. I also brushed the bottom and sides of the shell before baking it. The other had fresh tomatoes and cheese. Both of them had a nice flavor, but like I said, the one could have used more sun dried tomatoes. Live and learn. It was the first time I tried them and I was afraid that they'd overpower the pizza. (Looking back, I'm not sure what I was thinking.)

We have just moved to Texas from Ohio and I have discovered Cici's, too. They were mostly in the Southwest for years but are opening chains in Ohio now. the magic of Cici's is sitting jnear the buffet where you can see which pizza has just come out of the oven. Only then do you dash up to the line and grab your favorite while it's only minutes old. Do the same with the garlic bread and the cinnamon rolls. I always add garlic powder, parmesan adn hot peppers to my pizza and salad.
Of course, I'm the kind that drives to Pappa John's and eats my pizza in the car.

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Originally posted by Wallyum

quote:

Originally posted by tiki
Peachpie---i too LOVE Boboli!!! fast easy-tasty and best of all--i can cantrol the amount and quality of then toppings. They are actually my preferred pizza in this area of Oklahoma--my fall back "Default"

We had a couple of Boboli pizzas last Friday that turned out pretty decent. I bought some sun dried tomatoes for one and learned that the next time I'll probably use the whole jar of tomatoes. The pizza was sauceless. I just brushed the shell with extra virgin olive oil, arranged the tomoates, added some cheese and baked it on the pizza stone. I also brushed the bottom and sides of the shell before baking it.

It's a Lenten Friday so we made individual pizzas at home tonight. There were 3 of us and since the small Boboli crusts come 2 per package I tried a 3-per-pack brand called "Mama Mary's" from Spartan Foods of Spartanburg SC and am quite happy with the results. I brushed them with oil prior to applying the toppings and they cooked up nice and crisp with good flavor.

Brad

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Originally posted by Bushie

Since I was a little kid, I've always liked the "Mom & Pop" places. Various reasons and long stories...

However, I'm not totally "anti-chain". Good food is good food...

I've NEVER found a national pizza chain, though, that I could recommend. As a young man, I LOVED Ken's Pizza, a regional chain out of Oklahoma. As an old man, I still stop at the one in Eufaula sometimes, because I still like the flavor.