Pizza

[hobbsyoyo]

What styles do you like? What are your favorite toppings? Any restaurants you prefer?


I am a huge fan of St. Louis and Chicago style pizzas and make them regularly at home. Last night I made a St. Louis Style pie but the special cheese it requires was only available from Amazon by a single brand and it wasn't very good. Plus, I cheaped out on the crust and paid for it when the crust remained doughy while the cheese scorched.

Chicago style is a bit more involved to make but is definitely worth it if you want to have great leftovers for the week ahead.

I've never been to Detroit or NYC so I'm not sure I've had genuine examples of those styles. What are they like?

Pepperoni and bacon are my go-to toppings if I make the pizza at home but I'm partial to plain cheese as well.

One thing that sucks about the LA area is there is no LA style pizza. I've been to a few places that claim they are LA style but as far as I can tell the only thing unifying them was the fact that they just throw on random (and usually pricey) toppings. There is no consistency in crust, sauce or anything else to suggest their pizzas are a 'style' as opposed to an assortment of random toppings that hipster foodies would like.

For restaurants I have not found a good local chain besides Imo's which is only in the St. Louis region. I'm fine with Domino's, Papa Johns and Pizza Hut though. Pizza buffets are also one of my favorite things but they tend to have restrictive hours when the buffet is actually open. And most buffets are pretty low quality anyways, excluding Pizza Hut.

 

[Synobun]

I'm pretty basic when it comes to pizzas. Ever since moving to the west coast the most I see are people trying to be fancy with it, and it's all gross and expensive.

I don't want to pay $50 for a small cauliflower kale pizza with white sauce. Go away.

I usually prefer the chain pizzas, or slices from by-the-slice shops. Domino's is my favourite of the chains here in Vancouver. I did try Fresh Slice for the first time on Christmas and it was... average. Very average.

I'm not sure what the style would be called. I don't like deep dish, and thin crust is super lame. Thick crust is my jam.

 

[sophie]

California-style uses very thin crust, chicken, and leafy greens. NY style pizza is really good. Chicago-style is good, but also is not actually pizza in my book.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

California-style uses very thin crust, chicken, and leafy greens. NY style pizza is really good. Chicago-style is good, but also is not actually pizza in my book.

So basically it's the chicken and spinach pizza from California Pizza Kitchen? Would you say that brand is representative of the they style in general?

I haven't really encountered any consistent style since coming here. Sure leafy greens and chicken are an ingredient in a lot of concoctions here but I've never actually seen very thin crust or anything else consistent with the local pizzas.

Sometimes I think of Chicago style as a bread-lasagna. It definitely pushes the boundaries of what constitutes a pizza.

 

[Berzerker]

papa murphys take and bake

chicken and bacon stuffed w/garlic sauce

 

[hobbsyoyo]

What is chicken and bacon stuffed? Like a calzone?

Anyone ever made a stuffed-crust pizza from scratch?

 

[Berzerker]

a 2nd layer of dough with more toppings on it... I just really like garlic sauce

edty

 

[Synobun]

Anyone ever made a stuffed-crust pizza from scratch?

Yeah. It didn't go well. I mean, it worked, but it didn't really taste so great. But I think this about stuffed crust pizzas from restaurants as well.

I did once have a pizza that had a garlic bread center to the crust, though. That was good.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Yeah. It didn't go well. I mean, it worked, but it didn't really taste so great. But I think this about stuffed crust pizzas from restaurants as well.

I did once have a pizza that had a garlic bread center to the crust, though. That was good.

Pizza Hut had this awesome crust where it had these little knots and inside the knots were pools of cheese. So good
You can also make some really interesting combinations with all the flavored crust and sauce options.

a 2nd layer of dough with more toppings on it... I just really like garlic sause

Sounds kind of like a chicago style pizza.

Papa Johns has amazing garlic sauce though I've heard their quality has been tanking lately.

 

[Zkribbler]

I've never been to Detroit or NYC so I'm not sure I've had genuine examples of those styles. What are they like?

...
One thing that sucks about the LA area is there is no LA style pizza.

.

I've never heard of Detroit pizza.
NY is thin crust, few if any toppings.
I lived in LA almost my entire life. This is the first I've heard of LA-style pizza. What you're describing is California Pizza Kitchen pizza, i.e. frou-frou pizza, I used to like their Southwest Burrito pizza, which used refried beans instead of pizza sauce, but they discontinued it.

 

[Berzerker]

I have to cut down, no, I have to quit. Its not good for reflux

and tomorrow is their weekly discount

must...resist...

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Little Caesars deep dish is considered Detroit style. I don't know how faithful it is to the actual style.

On LA-style, that's what I mean - some restaurant claim they are LA-style pizza but it's all disparate garbage. It's not really a style, just a tendency to throw avocado and kale on top and call it gourmet.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

There is no such thing as "LA style" anything. There just aren't enough LA natives with ancestral roots. So my LA style, even though I am a native, is closely related to the Chicago style of my parents, while the kids I grew up next door to have an "LA style" that is some sort of cowboy/New Mexico thing they got from their parents. Part of LA's charm is that we say "we'll take you and your style" to pretty much everyone, and make it all fit together.

 

[Broken_Erika]

Pizza pie?

 

[FriendlyFire]

I have to cut down, no, I have to quit. Its not good for reflux
and tomorrow is their weekly discount must...resist...

I normally pick up store made pizza when its discounted as well. $2.50 aud for a whole pizza
How much is it in Washington ?

 

[sophie]

There is no LA-style. There is, however, a California-style which I described earlier, whose roots come principally from NorCal.

 

[Perfection]

 

[onejayhawk]

My wife is Italian from St Louis. She can make the authentic stuff, if we can get the right cheese.

I am somewhat partial to Sam's bake at home. Get the fire blazing and cut the suggested time in half. Serve with Tobasco chipotle style.

Who else does it on the grill?

J

 

[Arwon]

Ham and pineapple is the default here and is pretty good. I also like the various iterations on meat + barbeque sauce, or a basic cheese or cheese+basil one.

Downstairs from my flat is a halal place that does "beef rashers" in lieu of bacon or ham and they're probably actually better.

There's a chain here called Crust that do some really good ones, like a chicken peri peri one that has chicken, caramelised onion, roast capsicum and a peri peri sauce which is I guess like a chilli mayo. And a Vietnamese chilli one with chicken, shallots, an appropriately compatible coleslaw, a sweet chilli type base and coriander aioli. Good stuff.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Thick crust, all veggie including artichoke hearts, light on the black olives.