MSP - Pizza Options on the North Side

[kevin47]

Papa's Pizza and Pasta

Met a friend for happy hour this evening at the North Minneapolis pizza emporium. The place has a nice, homey feel, as well as an ample patio of which we ought to have taken advantage. There is a deli and sorbet counter in the front, which is just peaches.

From 5-7, they offer $7 small cheese pizzas. I ordered the tomato pie, and sprung for sausage. The crust is great. Light and flaky, a cross between traditional pan and Neapolitan style. The sausage had a nice kick to it, and the crushed tomatoes were light and refreshing (if not, presumably, fresh). Overall, a very solid pie.

Beer and wine were half off. $2.75 cans of Surly are worth a trip by themselves. My only beef was the party of 15 that sat the kids at one end of the table while the adults sucked beers and ignored them. Kids are kids, and I certainly don't begrudge their presence at a pizza place, but it's not Chuck E. Cheese. Inside voices...

Scoreboard Pizza

Is it fair to say this is located in downtown Brooklyn Center? Heck, Scoreboard might BE downtown Brooklyn Center. The interior is a charming throwback to the days when people gathered around the TV at the local pub to watch the Twins game. Fortunately, the prices are a charming throwback as well.

Wife and I went last week. We started with a salad, which was a salad in name only. A tablespoon of lettuce, nestled on a bed of pepperoni, topped with a heaping portion of real bacon crumbles and mozzarella.

We ordered the hawaiian, which is my least favorite kind of pizza. Aha, the famed "cracker crust" style. Normally, I'm not a fan, since cracker crust is usually slang for flavorless, dry and maybe burnt.

Not the case here. The crust was perfectly done, and I think this is the style for which the Hawaiian was invented. It was smothered in cheese, which is key for a crispy pizza, and for neutralizing the acidity pineapple. As an added bonus, the pizza reheated exceptionally well the next day.

So there you have it. Neither place is going to crack my top five, but each is more than competent, reasonably priced, and a great excuse to support local business in a region that has so few of them.