Pizza Box Bike Rack [PBBR]

Myself, Andy and my roommate Evan are big fans of two things:  Pizza and bikes.  Personally, I can’t think of a better way to spend a day than to ride around the city and grab a couple of awesome slices at a legit pizzeria.

But being a fan of pizza and bikes sometimes creates a conflict of interest.  What if we want an entire pie?  Surely I don’t want to pay a driver five bucks to bring it to my door, and I cannot very easily carry a large, hot pizza whilst riding my bike.  The possibility that I will drop the pizza is too great a chance to take.

Earlier this week, I posted a review of my experience at Valentino’s.  Hanging out with my bud and blogee Andy, riding bikes through the city and grabbing a couple slices was great.  But how were we supposed to get our left-over slices home safely?  Put em on Andy’s bike basket!

As you can see from this high quality image, the pizza boxes only fit vertically, creating a disastrous situation for any pizza.  We didn’t much care either way, our slices were already cooled and fairly solid.  But how many times are we forced to drive our cars through the congested city to pick up a large pizza?  I find it quite annoying, since it usually takes longer to drive around Richmond than it does to ride a bike.  Especially when you’re as fast as we are.

We also simply love riding.  Such a simple tool for transportation and enjoyment.  What better way to combine these two joyous things in our lives than to build a bike rack that will hold a large pizza for safe transportation?

Evan and I work at a place that houses a fairly large and extensive workshop, and our fellow co-worker listened to our ideas and took us back to the shop this afternoon to go over the materials we would need to build such a thing.

We will work out the kinks and get these things built as soon as we can.  Maybe we’ll build a few for our readers?  Stay saucy, Richmond.

-gRant

Mamma Zu, Oregon Hill

I love the idea of being able to walk down the street to get great pizza.  As soon as I heard Mamma Zu had the same pizza as 8 1/2, I was immediately stoked to not have to drive through the busy city to pick it up.

The pizza is exactly the same, save for a different method of preparation used by a different group of employees.  Oh, and the pepperoni’s are huge!  Not that I’m a fan.  You see, more often than not, when you bite a piece of the huge pepperoni, the entire piece usually comes off with it.  I hate that.

Other than that, you can order these pizzas in different sizes at Mamma Zu.  Small, medium and large.  The medium size is the only size they will serve at 8 1/2, but that $9 pizza will run you $14 at Mamma Zu.  Not worth it at all.  The pizza is fucking fantastic as usual, but I’d rather save the extra $5 and just drive to 8 1/2.

If only I could pick up a pizza on a bike….

-gRant

The Pizza Place, Main St downtown

Sometimes to have a successful business, a pizza business, you just need a smart business model.  A perfect example of this is the Pizza Place on 17th and Main.

The pizza honestly tasted like toast with a little bit of cheese on top.  I appreciate a considerable amount of crisp and crunch in my pizza, but when the entire crust is cooked like this all the way through, it’s hardly enjoyable.  And the sauce?  What sauce?  There is hardly any sauce on this thing.

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PAMPARIUS AND CARYTOWN BICYCLE CO. PRESENT

Pizza crawl.  Friday November 6th @ 7PM.  Meet up at Carytown Bicycle Company.  Cruise through the fan and downtown and enjoy some of the best and worst pizza this city has to offer.  Slices from 8 1/2, Tarrantinos, Piccola Italy, Romanza and Mojos.  Bring your bike and lights.  Be ready to destroy some zah.

Valentino's Pizza, Grace St.

true dat!

Valentino’s on Grace St. is sometimes a bit too intimidating to check out.  The building nor the area are very inviting, but the pizza is pretty damn good.

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DaVinci's, Brooklyn Park

Just when we think we’re running out of new pizza parlors to visit, we get the word of promising pie joints.  Sometimes in not so promising areas.

A friend of mine hints at a place she’s heard people talking about in a particularly crummy area of Northside along Brooklyn Park called DaVinci’s.  The place is a take-out only, traditional pizza and subs, hole in the wall type of pizza joint.

The pizza?  Pretty damn on point.

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Boathouse at Rockett's Landing, Pie news

The Boathouse at Rockett’s Landing apparently has a wood fired pizza oven, according to the Times Dispatch, but the Times makes no mention of the quality of the pizza that they ordered.  Judging from some pictures I’ve seen on the net, the Boathouse looks like a swanky enough place to eat, but I’m typically weary of upscale places that serve pizza.  I’ll be checking this place out soon enough.

Also, Pie, the pizza place taking over the Si Tapas buiding, seems to have purchased a domain for their website.  However, no one is picking up their phones yet, so no news on when they open.

Eat Pizza! Booyah!

-gRant

Dominos $5.99 Deal until Oct. 25

It’s customer appreciated week at Dominos Pizza, and until Oct. 25 you can pick up a large, 1-topping pizza for $5.99.  Thin crust or regular crust.  Your choice.  Carry-out only.

Personally this pizza should never cost more than $5.99 in the first place, but I happen to think their thin crust pizzas aren’t half bad.  Check em out.

-gRant

Hipsters beware, PBR on the rise

My freaky friend Phil, aka Bukkake on Lapland Metal linked me to this tonight.  As a fan of PBR, I really hope it doesn’t get too expensive, but in all reality, beer has been getting more expensive in the last couple of years anyway, regardless of the brand.

“Pabst’s success actually comes from years before the recession.

Pabst managed to pull of a strangely effective word-of-mouth campaign that made the long-declining brand an “ironic downscale chic choice for bike messengers and other younger drinkers who viewed the beer as a statement of non-mainstream taste,” reports Crain’s.”

Read the article on NBC Los Angeles.

-gRant

Monday Night Pizza Deals

Monday nights at Extreme Pizza on Broad St., $1 slices and $1 cups of PBR.  Also, pitchers of PBR are $5.  The pizza ain’t half bad either.

Check it out.

Extreme Pizza is a pretty decent pizza joint, offering lots of different specialty pizzas and cooking them in their own style.  They’ve got beer on tap too.  When I first moved to Richmond, this is the only place I knew where to get decent pizza.  I haven’t eaten there in well over a year, but their Monday night deal is a steal.

-gRant

Just a side note.  Extreme Pizza is a franchise, as it obviously appears.  But it happens to be the only one on the East Coast.  The first time I ate Extreme Pizza was at the Pike in Long Beach, CA.  The location was almost identical in style and feel to the one in Richmond and their pizza was dead on.  I remember being really excited with the portions.  They have a really different crust from most chain pizza places.  Different is always a good thing.  Their slices are an awesome way to get a lot of food for your money.  They actually freshly cook slices every time.  They also serve beer which is uncommon at most other chain pizza places.  For a long time I wanted to franchise one in Florida.

-Andy