14497 Fri Jul 08 02:59:47 -0700 2005 18 4 Pacific Northwest 0 34524 Recently I've read about Apizza Scholls and got interested. Is their pizza good??? Fri Jul 08 02:59:47 -0700 2005 0 Hanako 1 34525 Yes, it's very, very good. Unfortunately, when I had a friend in town visiting this week, they were closed due to a power issue on Wednesday, so he was unable to find out how wonderful it truly can be. You have to like really thin, crispy crust pizza, though, not Chicago style or something else. Fri Jul 08 11:14:06 -0700 2005 34524 0 Chris Heinonen 2 34568 The pizza is very good but the place is not very accommodating. You shouldn't have to plan a week in advance to grab a decent slice of pizza. They are only open 25-30 hours a week, don't allow takeout and once you're inside there are a bunch of house 'rules' you must abide by. Our waitress used the word 'rules' about three times during out meal. One of the rules is that if you are waiting at the bar and decide to order at the bar, you can not later switch to a table if one is to become available. On my first visit, I arrived at 9:53 and they would not sit myself and my girlfriend. Although their hours state they are open until 10pm they close their kitchen at 9:45 pm. And this was the day, they were listed in the Cheap Eats section. That took some serious gumption to turn down business during stated hours on a day that a review had just been printed. Plus, the door was open and people were eating. But that is par for the course in this town where very few businesses will go out of their way to serve you...and (gasp!) make some extra money! The pizza stands up nicely to good New York pizza or good Italian pizza but getting pizza in New York is a lot simpler and ironically enough comes with a lot nicer attitude. That's not to say the staff isn't nice, it's just that the place is definitely creating a certain type of dining atmosphere that for me doesn't jive with pizza-eating culture. For me, pizza eating is a relaxed, casual, unpretentious affair. Apizza Scholls creates more of a 'scene' which I'm sure is part of the draw for a lot of people. I'm not saying what is right or wrong, just what I prefer. It seems they've definitely planned how their atmosphere will be rather than going with the flow and seeing what the customers make of it. I'm sure they'll continue to do well because they make great pizza but once a real New York pizza place opens with great pizza where I can walk in and grab a slice whenever I want (within reason), I for one will have no need to patronize Apizza Scholls. Sat Jul 09 19:13:22 -0700 2005 34525 0 Jb 1 34529 Note: they're only open Wed - Sun, 5-10pm and can get quite busy at times. No reservations, delivery, takeout orders, or call-in orders. I recommend the margherita or the tartufo bianco, though they use nice quality meats on the meated pies. Fri Jul 08 11:48:33 -0700 2005 34524 0 extramsg 1 34534 It's the best pizza in Portland but that doesn't say much. It would be average if you were in New York City. It's worth checking out though. Fri Jul 08 13:02:54 -0700 2005 34524 0 truthserum 2 34538 I find it interesting that you say that it would only be average in NY. I lived in NY and ate some of the best and worst pizza that I have ever had and I would put Apizza Scholls in the same caliber as Patsy's (Harlem location), DiFara's and Grimaldi's (Brooklyn location), which are my favorites. I was recently back in NY and ate a lot of pizza at my favorite spots and I would say that Apizza is in the same class, but they all have slight differences. I know several chefs in PDX that used to work in NY and they all concur that Apizza Scholls is as good, if not better, than most pizzerias in NY. Fri Jul 08 13:58:42 -0700 2005 34534 0 pizzalover 3 34539 Another native NY'er here (from Bensonhurst in Brooklyn, actually) and I agree. I think that it is as good or better than most back there. I only wish Brian would do some sicilian pies...sigh... Fri Jul 08 14:08:55 -0700 2005 34538 0 Jill-O 3 34543 Well for the record I grew up in NYC. I would add Joe's pizza on Carmine St. to your list next time you are in town. Anyway, whatever dough they are using is not anything like the great pizza joints in New York. It has the consistency and taste of what I would describe as wheaty sweet tasting bread. This is not what pizza crust is supposed to taste like. I also noticed the crust has been borderline burnt the several times I ate there both at the old place and their current location. Fri Jul 08 15:24:45 -0700 2005 34538 0 truthserum 4 34544 You mean burnt, like this picture of Grimaldi's pizza in the link below? I have to ask them, usually, to get it a little extra like that. Or perhaps you mean burnt like this picture from Lombardi's on sliceny.com: http://www.sliceny.com/archives/000378.php PS: Don't change your moniker. Changing monikers and subjects on Chowhound is frowned upon. Link: http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2004/08/18/grimaldis_pizza_step_by_step.php Fri Jul 08 15:33:26 -0700 2005 34543 0 extramsg 5 34545 Or check out this link... especially the pictues of Patsy's http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=35551 One of the weak points of most pizzerias, including my favs in NY, is that they use cheap, bromated & bleached hight-gluten flour and mix it do death, which oxidizes the flour and strips it of color and flavor. If you want to know what the original pizza dough is supposed to taste like, then you should go to Italy where they use type 00 flour and mix entirely by hand. Apizza Scholls uses non-bleached, non-bromated low protein (closer to type 00) flour, mix it entirely by hand and let it proof slowly at room temperature to invoke the taste of the wheat... wheat is what flour is made from. The reason it tastes odd it you is because you are used to extensive mixing, short fermentations with low grade flour. It is a matter of opinion and taste, as which you prefer, but don't start telling people what pizza dough is "supposed to taste like" if you only know one type. Fri Jul 08 15:51:02 -0700 2005 34544 0 pizzalover 6 34546 Apizza Scholls now has pics on their website (as have I on extramsg.com for a while now). The pizzas look eerily similar to those pics of DiFara's, Grimaldi's, and Patsy's. See link. btw, I think truthserum may prefer Escape from NY, if they haven't tried it already, given their preferences as stated. Link: http://apizzascholls.com/ApizzaPictures.htm Fri Jul 08 15:58:59 -0700 2005 34545 0 extramsg 6 34559 How do you know all of this stuff about flour and short mixing and fermentation? Are you a baker? What is type 00? Where can I get some? Thanks in advance. Sat Jul 09 02:19:21 -0700 2005 34545 0 stan, your average consumer 7 34572 "00" flour is available from King Arthur. Expensive though to get it shipped. You can do OK with an unbleached all-purpose product The baker's lingo is right on. Slow is the word, with minimal mixing, to bring out the hearty taste of the wheat. Use of preferment, commonly referred to as sourdough starter, is another key to great taste in any wheat flour based item. The helluvit is that the process is neither terribly complicated nor time consuming once you have a routine down. I'm surprised more pizza joints haven't worked on their dough formulas. I suppose the theory is that most consumers are pretty complacent about their pizza. (This would explain Pizza Hut and other such abominations.) Sun Jul 10 02:48:06 -0700 2005 34559 0 mczlaw 5 34557 Went there tonight for the first time, and it was really great pizza. Definitely the best in Portland, but as Truth Serum intimates, that isn't really saying that much. The only think that bothers me about APS is the (to quote some local source - I think it's the WWeek) "soup Nazi" quality of the place. One size pizza only, no to-go, you pay dearly for slight variations that veer off the menu, no ice tea -- that kind of stuff. None of this is a problem if you know about it in advance and are ready to deal with it all. If you can handle it, and are lucky enough to not have to wait too long for a table (the way you must also at Pepes or Sally's in New Haven), you will be rewarded with great pizza, a most excellent beer selection, and a decent though small, selection of wines. Sat Jul 09 00:56:47 -0700 2005 34544 0 MichaelG 6 34561 I think the soup Nazi comparison shows a problem in our culture. It implies that uncompromising standards are a bad thing. Clients are always asking if I can do this or that. I always say yes, but then repeat something told to me by a project manager: "I can do it fast. I can do it good. I can do it cheap. Now pick two." Apizza Scholls has chosen to put quality above everything. I wish there were more places that did and I wish our expectations were such that it wasn't seen as a bad thing. You admit that it's great pizza. Now ask yourself why that isn't enough. I think the answer is probably that as Americans we have come to expect the unattainable: to have our pizza and eat it, too -- to have pizza that's cheap, fast, *and* good. Truth is, we normally settle for the first two at the expense of the third. The success of every chain out there is insuring the first two with just enough of the third to slide by. I find myself with these unrealistic expectations as well and have to check myself all the time. Sat Jul 09 03:02:01 -0700 2005 34557 0 extramsg 2 34541 It's quite common on many web boards to put some or all of the content of your message in the Subject field, but we ask that you not do that here on Chowhound. Because many of our users follow along in Hotposts (try it, it's great), which is not threaded, they're unable to follow the topic twists and turns that result from changing subject lines. Unless the actual subject of the discussion has drifted far away from the original thread title, please just leave the Subject line as is, and put your comments in the body of the message. Link: http://www.chowhound.com/hotpost/hotpost2.html Fri Jul 08 14:22:17 -0700 2005 34534 2 The Chowhound Team 1 34549 Yes, very. Best pizza in the west (and that includes Bianco's in Phoenix- which to me is mediocre). Fri Jul 08 17:55:38 -0700 2005 34524 0 Snort 1 34578 Is it good probably depends on your taste in pizza. Uf you like a thin, crispy crust, that's point one. Their margerita is worthy of pizzas I had in Rome. Plain sauce and simple good toppings. If you like thick, doughy crusts, pineapple (and other non-Italian toppings) you may not like this. Here's a link on margerita style pizzas. Link: http://zuppa-toscana.com/recipes/florentine-pizza-margerita.html Sun Jul 10 08:48:58 -0700 2005 34524 0 Calabrese 1 35842 Soup Nazi? These guys make the Soup Nazi seem tolerable. They tell you how many kinds of meat you can have on your pizza, They snobishly limit their toppings, what toppings they do offer are a doled out my the miligram. We ordered Extra mushooms and got about ten paper thin slices probably not amounting to a single mushrooms. "When were out of dough, were out of dough"? What the hell kind of thing is that to put on your website? Make enough dough then dunces! It's called business planning. Unless you really dont care about your customers,Get your aristocrat nose out of the clouds and show them that they are why you are in business. People should watch this place carefully to see if they start to respect their customers more in the future.Another thing they are famous for is busy signals or recordings saying they are gone for the day. I would rather travel to New York for my pizza. Sun Aug 21 23:37:28 -0700 2005 34524 0 greg