"St. Louis" Style Pizza
gort
few weeks ago and were treated to some of the best thin crust pizza by our
lake-house hosts.
Is there anywhere in Houston that makes that cracker crust pizza? I seem
to remember a place called Panjo's on San Felipe and Winrock when I was a
teenager. Sadly it closed many years ago.
./hungry for pizza.
Albert Nurick
The closest I know of is Austin Pizza Garden, near the Y in Oak Hill
outside of Austin.
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V onroach
If your trip from KC to lake took you anywhere remotely close to St Louis, you
followed a bizarre path. St Louis like many towns with large Italian
populations has many different types of pizza. New Jerseyand Chicago have the
biggest variety I've seen. Have been through St Louie many time but never heard
of a 'St Louis' style. Pizza resembles chili and barbecue, the 'style' is pretty
unique to the preparer. Never heard of a crust made from crackers? Perhaps you
just mean 'thin crust' - a well-known type available at most pizzerias
V onroach
>The closest I know of is Austin Pizza Garden, near the Y in Oak Hill
>outside of Austin.
Incidentally, Al, this group is Houston Eats.
April McCart
> My family and I were driving from K.C. down to the Lake of the Ozarks a
> few weeks ago and were treated to some of the best thin crust pizza by our
> lake-house hosts.
Gort, where was it you ate? Seeing as I lived/grew up in KC and have
family in the Ozarks, this caught my eye.
april
MTV
We actually like gasp: Dominoes thin crust.
Marv
Albert Nurick
Yep. And that's still the closest place I know of that serves St.
Louis-style pizza.
gort
It was a little place in a town named Cole Camp. I can't remember the
name of the joint. But it sure brought back memories. Oh btw, just
because I call it "St. Louis" style pizza, doesn't mean I ate it in St.
Louis.
> april
April McCart
to be closer to St. Louis than KC.
april
gort
Well it only took up 2.5 hrs to get to the house from Overland Park.
Wingman
wrote:
>If your trip from KC to lake took you anywhere remotely close to St Louis, you
>followed a bizarre path. St Louis like many towns with large Italian
>populations has many different types of pizza. New Jerseyand Chicago have the
>biggest variety I've seen. Have been through St Louie many time but never heard
>of a 'St Louis' style. Pizza resembles chili and barbecue, the 'style' is pretty
>unique to the preparer. Never heard of a crust made from crackers? Perhaps you
>just mean 'thin crust' - a well-known type available at most pizzerias
Actually, there is a St. Louis Style Pizza. It is a very thin crust
pizza that is almost crackery in its crunch and has no raised edge.
It is quite a bit different than a normal "thin" crust. It has
toppings that go all the way to the edge of the pizza. The tomato
sauce is very sweet and is prominent mostly for the fennel and
oregano. The primary cheese is one called provel (which is NOT short
for Provelone) that is something like a combo of cheddar, colby and
mozzerella. The main chains that started with this variety of pizza
are places like Emo's and Monical's, neither of which has made it to
Houston. The last place I remember that served a St. Louis Style
Pizza in Houston was Mia's Pizza on Westheimer and Willcrest but it
has been gone for more than 10 years.
The pizza places in the primarilly Italian are of St. Louis (the PC'ed
name for this area is now called "The Hill") are more like a typical
Neopolitan pizza.
Wingman
Bob Andrews
See, there's the reason I normally ignore vonroach. He's wrong again, he's
almost ALWAYS wrong. Wingman's description is on the $$$. Mia Pizza was
owned and operated by Sam Kelner, a native of St Louis who's been a friend
of mine for more than 35 years. One of the reasons Sam was unable to make a
go of it with Mia Pizza was his insistance on producing a genuine St Louis
style pizza. The cheese was very expensive to obtain in this area for
example. The primary problem, however, was the simple fact that his product
was just too 'different' for many folks used to the 'usual pizza suspects'.
He had a loyal customer base but it was just too small.
btw vonroach..... A simple Google search turns up lots of info. Try it
sometime.
http://www.answers.com/topic/st-louis-style-pizza
--
Bob Andrews
April McCart
april
tom spillman
>
> See, there's the reason I normally ignore vonroach. He's wrong again, he's
> almost ALWAYS wrong. Wingman's description is on the $$$. Mia Pizza was
> owned and operated by Sam Kelner, a native of St Louis who's been a friend
> of mine for more than 35 years. One of the reasons Sam was unable to make a
> go of it with Mia Pizza was his insistance on producing a genuine St Louis
> style pizza. The cheese was very expensive to obtain in this area for
> example. The primary problem, however, was the simple fact that his product
> was just too 'different' for many folks used to the 'usual pizza suspects'.
> He had a loyal customer base but it was just too small.
>
> btw vonroach..... A simple Google search turns up lots of info. Try it
> sometime.
>
> http://www.answers.com/topic/st-louis-style-pizza
>
>
I find this whole discussion interesting. FWIW, I was born and raised
in St. Louis and one of its suburbs.
Perhaps, I remember too much of the way it WAS and it may not really be
applicable any more, since I left the St. Louis area in 1961 with my
family when I was transferred to NYC. I've only been back once since
then (for my 50th HS reunion).
The St. Louis style pizza must have developed AFTER I left. The usual
story about pizza is that it became popular after WWII when returning
GI's brought a taste for it back from Italy. I don't remember having
any pizza in St. Louis before around 1950. Of course, pizza had been
available in Italian neighborhoods since about 1900. I remember when we
got to the NYC area that we were disappointed with the pizza -- it
didn't taste like St. Louis pizza. I've since formed the opinion that
the pizza that tastes best is the one you grew up with, where ever you are.
The pizza I remember from my days in St. Louis were NOT "St. Louis
style", as described. Perhaps, it's because the majority of the pizza I
ate was from two sources, first, a place in a basement in mid-St. Louis,
and second, a place on "the hill". One of the waiters from the first
place, who became a good friend of ours, opened his own place up on "The
Hill" (to use the PC name). We were some of his first customers and he
always treated us well.
The pizza I had in St. Louis then was all Neapolitan style pizza, which
I still prefer. For me, the pizza of Naples is still the best, even
though I enjoy the pizza of Rome and Sicily.
Some day, I'll have to try "St. Louis Style" pizza!
Regards...
Tom
gort
> The pizza places in the primarily Italian are of St. Louis (the PC'ed
> name for this area is now called "The Hill") are more like a typical
> Neopolitan pizza.
>
> Wingman
This is the style of pizza I was trying to convey. Thank you Wingman.
When I visited St Louis some 8 years ago, I had some from an Emo's. The
pie was cut not in triangles but in square slices akin to a checkerboard.
The cheese was different and the sauce did have an overabundance of
oregano. The crust was cracker thin and very crispy, just on the verge of
being burnt.
Man I miss it already.