482813 Thu Jan 24 19:47:40 -0800 2008 33 8 Midwest 0 3330303 We're moving to STL in June and are about to make our third pre-moving visit and I am beginning to despair of ever finding what I consider "real" pizza there. I am in no way, shape or form interested in ever again consuming STL style pizza. I don't want any pizza masquerading as NY style that's made with provel or anything but mozzarella. I want an actual pizza crust, hand tossed, soft and chewy. Thin crust is good but no cracker style, no matzo style, none of that. I'm from Philly. I know pizza. I love pizza. Tomato sauce runs in my veins. Surely there has to be some PIZZA pizza in STL? Any other transplanted Easterners have a tip for me? Thu Jan 24 19:47:40 -0800 2008 43571 ladydisdain 1 3330503 Talayna's http://www.talaynas.net/ Thu Jan 24 20:47:25 -0800 2008 3330303 80289 lwoerther 1 3330639 Oh my never fear. Imo's isn't the only thing poor old Lou has to offer. To try: La Pizza (on Delmar in U City) AWESOME Farotto's - Rock Hill (good stuff other than pizza too) Black Thorn in the city - a bar but the BEST deep dish pizza to be found in these parts Dewey's Pizza - also in U City/Clayton area - near-ish La Pizza - Dewey's is more upscale-ish but good Fortel's Pizza Den - various locations. Good thin crust and ALL handmade. Definitely about 200% better than Imo's for thin crust Pizza World - a chain but I don't think it is everywhere. They are also upscale-ish, including a white pizza that is out of this world Talayna's as lwoerther said is also good - various locations Racanelli's - U City and I believe somewhere south We also have the Chicago Uno - I can think of two locations - one in Kirkwood one out in Chesterfield. You can also buy smaller Uno pizzas at a few of the stores. A really great good research source for you all would be Sauce Magazine which covers not just restaurants but the whole food and wine scene here in St. L. Hopefully you won't go running back to Philly in despair. And try Imo's once or so- you might like it. They actually DO offer regular cheese as an option :> Thu Jan 24 21:57:06 -0800 2008 3330303 83423 TwoPointers 2 3330710 Good list, TwoPointers. Add Napoli Pizza in St. Peter and Frank's Jersey style (a slightly thicker crust and slightly sweeter sauce than a typical NY pie.) Dewey's is a small chain out of Cincinnati; actually very good with good beer, too. Racanelli's is pretty good but would be average in NYC; there four of them. La Pizza, along with Napoli, are my two favorites. Ooops.. almost forgot Il Vicino in Clayton! Wood oven and excellent! Add them to LaPizza and Napoli! As for STL "pizza", I'm a Boston native -- I find that other than the crust, sauce, and cheese STL pizza's not bad... Thu Jan 24 22:35:35 -0800 2008 3330639 95291 Richard 16 2 3332355 As a transplanted Rhode Islander, Imo's will never taste remotely good to me. Ever. Regardless of cheese. The one time I went to the Talayna's on DeBallivere, I was not impressed. I do enjoy Vito's on Olive, and Ferraro's in Soulard. Fri Jan 25 11:16:58 -0800 2008 3330639 153062 robotarms 3 3380732 There are a few locals that can't stand the stuff either, so it's not just a problem for transplants! Sat Feb 09 12:53:47 -0800 2008 3332355 19113 Pylon 2 3332503 La Pizza is your best option. Dough is made fresh daily. Pizzas are tossed to order. They're NYC transplants. Father and Son own it. The father used to work for Racanelli's in St. Louis until he felt they stopped caring about quality and had to quit and go off on his own. Fri Jan 25 11:54:39 -0800 2008 3330639 29144 bobzemuda 3 3333320 I am glad to hear your affirmation that Racanelli's isn't what it used to be. We haven't been in a year or two because the CWE store's pizza had definitely gone downhill. I'm sad, because it was very good. Haven't had a chance to try LaPizza yet. We usually go to Il Vicino in Clayton. p.j. Fri Jan 25 14:59:06 -0800 2008 3332503 13038 p.j. 1 3330981 I grew up on Long Island in a town with a large Italian population. Here in St. Louis, the closest I have come to a New York style pizza is the Taylana's on DeBallivere, just north of the History Museum. They give you a choice of St. Louis, Chicago, Boston, or New York style pizzas. I cannot vouch for any of the other Taylana's locations, but this location served a pizza that tasted very close to the pizza I had as a teenager in the 1960's on Long Island. Also worth investigating, if you are driving southwest on I-44: Alex's House of Pizza in Rolla, Missouri. It is not New York style, but it is yummy. Fri Jan 25 04:59:54 -0800 2008 3330303 12584 Doug 2 3331511 I also like Ami's in Rock Hill. I can't really vouch for the authenticity of their NY style pizza, but it tastes good to me. Fri Jan 25 08:10:02 -0800 2008 3330981 34801 shannoninstlouis 3 3720373 Ami's used to be a Talayna's. I think it is still owned by the same people. Sun May 25 20:50:50 -0700 2008 3331511 11826 Phaedrus 1 3333899 You're all awesome. Thank you. We'll be back for a week in March (before moving for good in June or July) and we'll definitely try Taylana's and probably somewhere else. Fri Jan 25 18:11:46 -0800 2008 3330303 43571 ladydisdain 1 3376026 The Westport Pizza Co at the Westport Plaza has "New York style pizza." I don't know how authentic it is, but I like it. I second the Dewey's suggestions, and also recommend Cicero's in U City. Thu Feb 07 22:31:56 -0800 2008 3330303 164223 edc5u 1 3381732 ok-not in st louis proper, but this will be pizza worth driving for.Roma's Pizza in Bethalto Illinois(about 25- 30 minutes from downtown st louis). Owned by the Pizzo family, from Sicily. Moved there in the early 70's. It was the first pizza I ever had and I am glad to report after living in Chicago and spending time on the east coast I still loved it when I moved back to the area. Plain stuff here....no pesto or artichokes or artisan olives but kick butt sausage and not a bit of crappy provel in sight. In St. Louis, I am fond of Vitos as welll as Dewey's good luck. Keep hitting the food message boards there are lots of foodies here that will help you out. Sat Feb 09 20:38:07 -0800 2008 3330303 83780 jardin32 1 3381950 you're going to get a LOT of conflicting opinions - just means there are a lot of choices out there. I like the outdoor place with bocce across from Amighetti's on the Hill (I forget the name) STL style, but not Imo's provel style (which I actually like, but if you didn't have it as a 4 YO...) Talayna's and Cicero's are good as others noted. but it's really all word of mouth and ranks right up there with "so what high school did you go to?" Sat Feb 09 23:13:39 -0800 2008 3330303 163722 hill food 2 3382178 The bocce place is called Milo's. They also have indoor, albeit smoky, seating. Sun Feb 10 06:03:27 -0800 2008 3381950 49486 marymac 3 3384736 Milo's yes! I Iike the dive-y indoor part as well. Mon Feb 11 03:49:34 -0800 2008 3382178 163722 hill food 4 3400137 Let's not forget "The Wall" at Milo's may it rest in peace. Fri Feb 15 07:05:24 -0800 2008 3384736 14012 DetectDave 5 3400258 DD, that was before my time. What is "The Wall" por favor? Fri Feb 15 07:39:15 -0800 2008 3400137 49486 marymac 6 3403946 It was a list of drink combinations, I believe some 14 in all that if you drank every drink in the combination in order w/ out losing it, you got them all for free. I think there were about 10 drinks in each set. There was no rhyme or reason to it either. One minute you would have a margaraita next you would have a Rusty Nail or something equally rough as a followup. There werer quite a few people that had their names up there...mine wasn't but not for lack of ambition but intestinal fortitude so to say..LOL It;s been years since they had it due to the lack of sobriety on the winners.... and losers. After doing further research, I see that Milo's had its last name printed on "The Wall" on May 13, 1999. Sat Feb 16 08:58:06 -0800 2008 3400258 14012 DetectDave 1 3398973 Boy oh boy...entering the great St. Louis pizza debate from the Philly-New Jersey perspective. For true East Coast pizza: --Feraro's Jersey-Style Pizza in the Soulard neighborhood. Very good overall. --Racanelli's (multiple locations; best is on Delmar Blvd. in University City) -- can be greasy. Good crust. Can be overloaded with cheese at times, but perfect at other times. Depends on who makes the pies. --La Pizza (also on Delmar Blvd. in University City, about 2 miles west of Racanelli's) -- owned by ex-New Yorkers. Pretty solid. Honorable mention might go to Il Vicino, in Clayton. Not terrible for a yuppie place that is convenient if you are nearby. Fresh ingredients, but they could work more on the sauce and crust. As mentioned earlier, check out Sauce Magazine -- a free weekly newspaper devoted to the food scene. Thu Feb 14 17:20:53 -0800 2008 3330303 109692 Dedicated Fresser 1 3403549 Without a doubt, Pizza-a-Go-Go on Scanlan in SW City: http://www.pizzaagogo.blogspot.com/ Sat Feb 16 06:24:16 -0800 2008 3330303 15704 Matthew 1 3464803 You need to try Balducci's Wine Fest in Maryland Heights. Wed Mar 05 21:59:24 -0800 2008 3330303 85208 pixelbender 1 3466730 We're here for a week, and we tried La Pizza last night. It was fantastic. We plan to try some of the others but we are no longer afraid of STL being a pizza wasteland. We just bought a house in U City off Delmar, so La Pizza will do quite nicely. The sauce was good, the cheese was real, and sausage was delicious, and the thin hand-tossed crust had that nice bite reminiscent of how marshmallows crunch after you toast them. Thumbs way up for La Pizza! We also tried Katie's Pizzeria in Clayton, which is apparently very new, and thought it was excellent. Her pizza is more of the gourmet kind, though - mine had proscuitto, brie, and apples, and I loved it. Great crust. Thu Mar 06 12:36:23 -0800 2008 3330303 43571 ladydisdain 2 3468083 Good for you! I think you lucked out with Katie's just opening - lots of good talk about the place. Thu Mar 06 18:52:17 -0800 2008 3466730 83423 TwoPointers 2 3472207 I am really glad you found some places that you liked! I know how it is to move and worry that you won't be able to have any of your favorites anymore. You will love U-city. great community. Sat Mar 08 06:55:47 -0800 2008 3466730 83780 jardin32 3 3473046 best central location in the area IMHO (unless you can afford a place on Portland and Lake), enjoy! Sat Mar 08 12:27:35 -0800 2008 3472207 163722 hill food 1 3720331 We're just back from a very brief final pre-moving visit (less than a month to go now!) and we tried Feraro's Jersey Style Pizza. Although I'm thrilled that they serve pork roll (Taylor ham) I wasn't overly impressed by the pizza. It was serviceable, I suppose, but La Pizza blows it out of the water (and La Pizza is less than five minutes from our house). I found Feraro's to be overly cheesy, which makes the crust overly wet. When I pick up a piece of pizza I don't mind if the front tip sags, but when the whole front half just flops down? Too wet for me. The sauce was nice, but the meatballs were spiced far too much. Nice flavor to the crust but just too wet. My husband liked it better (and wants to try the stromboli) so we'll go back, but I think I'll stick to a pork roll sandwich and save the room in my tummy reserved for pizza for La Pizza when I'm missing home. Sun May 25 20:25:00 -0700 2008 3330303 43571 ladydisdain 2 3720379 I don't know if they are still open, but Blackthorn's by the Botanical Gardens used to be awesome. Racanelli's was my savior while I lived there. New York Pizza people are actually better off than the Chicago pizza fans, its pretty dismal for a deep dish pizza. Sun May 25 20:54:04 -0700 2008 3720331 11826 Phaedrus 1 3723128 I always wondered why they called provel "provel" and not plain ol American cheese. STL'ians put it on everything and it's horrbile. I never understood it. NYC style pizza in STL is hard to find. Talyana's is New York style, but at it's worst. Tue May 27 06:52:07 -0700 2008 3330303 192261 50west77th 2 3723193 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provel From Wikipedia. The source is mostly Joe Bonwicjh, your intrepid food writer for the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Tue May 27 07:12:56 -0700 2008 3723128 11826 Phaedrus 3 3723432 Got it ... but I still don't get it. Not only do the pizza's taste horrible, but some of STL's so called Italian restaurants use this cheese on their dishes too. STL has a lot going for it ... I lived there for about 5 years. The STL Zoo is the best in the nation and the entire Forest Park rivals any other in the nation, including Central Park. BBQ is great and so is the asian food ... but that provel cheese really eeeked me. Tue May 27 08:31:30 -0700 2008 3723193 192261 50west77th 4 3723549 Preaching to the choir. I lived there for 13 years and I was never ever able to get into it. My St. Louis friends think I am crazy for wanting some decent cheese. of course I am limited in my cheese intake now so its all moot. The most disgusting application of provel is in the pizza but the second most is when they put it in salads. Tue May 27 09:07:25 -0700 2008 3723432 11826 Phaedrus 5 3723664 Zackly. Well luckly I'm back in NYC now and have a Ray's on my block and about 20 pizza shops within short walking distance, so luckily I don't have to live with that anymore. Now if we could just get some real BBQ in Manhattan life would be good. However last word about that Imo's pizza ... it's the only pizza where I can eat an entire large pizza all on my own. That pizza is by far the worst I ever had on the planet. Even worst then Ellio's ... while still frozen. Worst then a piece of toast with cheap no name ketchup. Tue May 27 09:34:50 -0700 2008 3723549 192261 50west77th