MOVING IN!

So some people probably knew, but we recently purchased a domain to make this whole thing official. We have some add-ons we want to install like galleries and pizza fart smells that you can check out through your webcam so all that will be coming in the next few weeks.

Caught some VERY VERY exciting pizza over the weekend. Piccolos, (not to be confused with the last place winner of the pizza crawl) located on Holland Rd. in Virginia Beach had the pleasure of serving me this weekend. I can without a doubt say it is some of the best pizza I have had this entire year. Thinish crust, acceptably sweet sauce and HUGE portions defined their cheese slices. $2.00 a piece and these things dwarfed my head, which I know for a fact is huge. That deal alone is worth swearing undying loyalty.

Even better was the specialty pizza my buddy ordered. Artichokes, mushrooms, whole tomato slices, onions and basil. This was some of the freshest tasting pizza I could have ever imagined. The place is mostly takeout/delivery and family owned. Word is they have family owned places in Richmond and DC under different names. My honest opinion, if someone in Richmond is replicating this stuff, I am really surprised we haven’t found it yet. Top notch.

The Crazy Greek

One of the things I often think about is all the places this blog has taken Grant and I. As soon as you decide to start writing about pizza for the rest of the world to read, you are suddenly exposed to tons of suggestions and recommendations. Everyone has their favorites and personal experiences that they want you to see for yourself. It results in mixed reviews and seriously questioning your friends taste buds sometimes. Other times it’s fairly rewarding.

My good man Joel tipped me off to The Crazy Greek, located on Staples Mill and Broad. This place looks pretty rad in a real shitty way from the outside. They have a sweet sign with a dude wearing a pizza for a hat. I’m into it. The pizza is good too.

9.75 for a large cheese, decent sized slices and the best thing about this pizza is the cheese. It is the first thing you notice and it almost overshadows the rest of a decent pizza. There was something almost buttery about it. It was really smooth.

The crust was soft and chewy but firm enough that the slices weren’t falling over on themselves. There were some weird undercooked thin areas on the underside but nothing disappointing for the price we paid. The sauce was there, but nothing amazing. Grant killed his half, I saved mine to eat cold. It was just as good out of the fridge.

We talked to the “guy in charge” at the register. He let us know they had been open 35 years. We have to respect that kind of legacy. As for the cheese, he told us the trick was low moisture mozzarella. It’s a little more expensive, but it doesn’t get soggy. Who would have thought? Apparently low moisture mozzarella is standard in the U.S. food industry. What is the real secret to The Crazy Greek cheese?

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I’ll second everything Andy said.  The cheese was some of the most delicious stuff I’ve ever had on a pizza.

-g

What it is, what it is

Word on the street (or word on RVA Foodie) is Aziza’s on Main is building a new addition to their restaurant which will include a completely wood-fired oven for baking pizza’s and bread.

I spoke with one of their own on the phone and they told me they’d be serving up delicious wood-fired pizzas by January 2010.

I have no idea if Pie on Lombardy will be doing completely wood-fired stuff, but they still won’t answer their phones.  At least they’ve got their awning up over their door.

Progress is progress.  Pizza is pizza.

-g

Heavy Duty Pizza Bike Rack

Looks like we’ve got some catching up to do. Bike Hacks has word on a pizza delivery box for bikes, but it looks too heavy to be totally practical.  We’re working on using mesh cage material to make it as light weight as we can.

Looks legit enough!

-g

Death by Zah

Anybody who loves pizza knows its hard to get it fundamentally wrong. Sure we slam a lot of pizza places on here. That doesn’t mean we don’t like eating pizza at their place, it just means their pizza really sucks ass.

Aside from some really bottom of the barrel places that make you shit your pants while eating your second slice, not many people run into dangerous situations involving pizza. There is no sense of urgency that at any given moment, eating pizza could result in disastrous consequences. There really should be. Pizza is next level, and anytime you deal with something that intense, some next level shit is bound to happen to you.

Here’s five examples of people who messed with pizza and it got the better of them.

5. Food critic is a panzy who can’t hold his pizza.

http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2007/01/food_critic_poisoned.php

Ok I will give this guy credit, there is something about eating reheated food that is out being breathed on all day that can make one worry about food born illness, but seriously? Pizza has been reheated for quite some time now and I can’t recall a single time when I have ever had to ferociously vomit or unload my drawers after a few slices. Either way, this guy did. He spent much of his evening hurling on I-95 and doing serious damage to his shitter, about 8 hours worth.

4. Idiot cop chokes on pizza while driving and wrecks a mailbox.

http://www.record-eagle.com/breakingnews/local_story_333145856.html

I can partially sympathize with this guy as I have eaten pizza on the open road more than once. On the other hand I think as an officer of the law, he set a terrible example for the pizza community. After blacking out while choking on a slice, this guy tanked his cruiser through a mailbox and ended up at the hospital for minor injuries. The real injury? He probably never finished that slice.

3. Deadbeat parent uses pizza as a weapon.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2071751/florida_girl_assaulted_with_pizza_slice.html?cat=9

What a total clown this guy must be. I hear it is really tough to get a job with a felony. This guy should probably check out slingin’ pie for dominos. It might be the only gig that pays minimum wage and utilizes his pizza throwing abilities. Apparently the man became frustrated and threw a piece of pizza at his daughter, striking her in the neck against her will. What a waste of pie.

2. Man gets beat furiously after woman cuts him in line for pizza.

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/4215140/detail.html

This is what is wrong with the world. This guy gets cut in line at a pizza shop and comments about it on his cell phone. In turn, the woman who cut in front of him proceeded to make a scene, spit in a managers face and call in her own personal muscle to kick the dudes ass. The dude who assaulted our pizzaless friend got four years in prison.

1. Pizza delivery man gets blown the fuck up.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,96109,00.html

Okay so this guy wasn’t eating pizza when he got rocked, but he was making a pizza delivery. Apparently this guy was on a pizza delivery and later ended up ‘robbing a bank’ with a bomb strapped to his neck. As bomb squad arrived he tried to convince them he had no part in the bomb and needed it removed. The police carefully waited for him to explode.

Commonwealth Times posts us up!

Check out the full article here.

-g

Pizza and Football in Charlotte, NC

Prepare for war, Charlotte.  The Falcons are gonna steamroll your asses for a second time and I’m here to make sure Matty Ice hears me.  I’ll also try to hit up a couple pizza places while I’m here, there has gotta be something good in this town…

Rumor Mill, Pizza Place on Morris

So I keep hearing more and more things through the grapevine about a mysterious pizza place opening up across the street from Crossroads in the Fan.  As more details trickle in, I become more intrigued.  Get this.

A girl I know met the dudes at Crossroads.  Apparently they are older gentlemen from New York, or at least with said accent.  She told me they’d be making “nepalese lava pizza.”  What the hell is that?  A Google search didn’t yield any worthwhile results other than a sketchy Chinese grill that cooks with lava rock.

Lava rock oven pizza?  That sounds more realistic.  Anyways, the place is supposed to open on Morris St. where Cuppa Tea Co. used to be.  That sounds a bit more legit.

-g

Romanza, the New Feel Good Hit

Last Friday we embarked on our first ever Pizza Crawl with the dudes from Carytown Bicycle Company, and while 8 1/2 stole the show, Romanza in the Jackson Ward was definately the surprise hit of the evening.

So last night I was on a cheap pizza kick and didn’t want to bother with Chanello’s or Asante’s Pizza, so Romanza was the logical choice.

And it’s better than those two.

Continue reading »

Thank You, Vets

Veteran’s Day seems like a holiday that too many of us tend to forget. It doesn’t provide the majority of us with a day off of work, and it doesn’t look like too many of my friend’s classes are canceled (and if they are, it’s probably more due to the shit weather we’ve been having in Richmond as of late). But that doesn’t mean it is any less of a holiday than the commercial spectacles we often celebrate.

Veteran’s Day 2009 is the first ever where we don’t have any surviving veterans of World War I with us. William Stone, Henry Allingham and Harry Patch, all died this year.

So with that, I bid thanks to those who gave their lives. Most of us will never know who you are, but I know my late grandfathers both served proudly, as well as my father and brother who is currently serving. I would never have the balls…

Taking a cue from Slice, apparently order pizza for those serving in the Gulf.  GI Pizza will tell you more.

Peace

-g