Toby suggested we go to lunch at La Luna in Boca Raton the other day. I have never been to this pizza place, which is located on 5030 Champion Blvd in Boca Raton, 561.997.1165. They seem to advertise quite a bit in the local pennysavers, but I never thought to go and try it since it just seemed like the type of place that caters to more of the early bird crowd.
Steve’s Pizza is legendary in North Miami / Aventura. This was one of the first places I tried down in Florida when I moved here. A friend of mine told me that Steve’s even used to taste better before I moved here, but I find that hard to believe. During my first visit to Steve’s Pizza, I remember thinking to myself that Florida pizza wasn’t so bad, and that perhaps I wouldn’t grow to miss the New York pizza I grew up eating. Obviously Steve’s in an anomaly when it comes to this.
Thanks to ER Gagit from Gagit.net for the great review! The Gagits are joined by the Marcbeths to visit the best inexpensive Italian restaurant in Miami and also one of the entrants in Pizza Crawl, We take Marc’s pickup truck to the Wynwood area since it is not the best area at night but they do have protected parking in this new, cool, hip , spot. We enter Joey’s Pizza located on 2506 NW 2nd Ave 305.438.0388 are taken right away to our table amongst the nice cool crowd, with background music playing. Our server Ivan smiling above comes over and takes our drink order a reasonable Malbec from the rather mediocre wine selection.
Another amazing post from our friends at Portland Pizza.
Why didn’t anyone ever tell me that Gladstone located on 3813 SE (503)-775-1537 Gladstone St is totally weird? Not only is Gladstone Pizza actually The Gladstone Coffee, magically transformed from bins-furniture cafe into bins-furniture pizza place after 5 PM, but some friends and I felt like we had been plopped into Inland Empire while waiting for our bumbling waiter to stop fishing for non-sequiturs and take our order. There was a woman a few picnic tables behind us who couldn’t stop plunging her hands into her tank top to show off her new, full chest tattoo. There was a smoking patch of ground (yes, smoking, and yes, substantially) about a stone’s throw from our table that was the prime entertainment for bantering barflys at the Gladstone Pub next door. There was a group of kids trying to run cars off of 39th with a basketball. And there was a long, long wait for our pizza.
After receiving a tip from a reader about Amici’s Pizza in Coconut creek, I decided to pass by and see what it was all about. Amici’s is kind of hidden on the south side of Hillsboro Road, 4800 W. Hillsboro Blvd, Coconut Creek 954.428.4911. Although you might think you are in Deerfield Beach, you are actually in Coconut Creek. I am sure all the swingers who frequent the Swingers club down the block are well aware of this place. Only so much swinging you can do before you need some food.
When we first found Amici’s, we weren’t even sure if they were open. The shopping center was as quiet as a movie theater watching a Ben Affleck comedy.
Thank you to Stuart from Third Coast Cusine for this great review. The town of Crestview, Florida is not really a destination in and of itself. Sure it is the seat of Okaloosa County, but it is primarily a jumping off point to more interesting locals like Destin, Ft. Walton Beach or DeFuniak Springs. Heck, the sheriff’s department isn’t even located there. The preponderance of business in this tiny Emerald Coast hamlet has migrated from the old city center where State Hwy. 80 and US Hwy. 90 intersect to the junction of Ferdon Blvd. with Interstate 10. There you will find all of the typical monuments to corporate ambiguity.
However, back on (not so much anymore) Main St. in downtown Crestview you will find The Hideaway Pizza. Aptly named because though it resides at 326 N Main St, the pizza joint (and Main St. itself for that matter) are a little hard to find. Ah progress. A descent GPS should save you a few minutes of zigzagging and confusion with quite the payoff at the end.
You will not find much in the way of a wine list at Hideaway nor is there an extensive selection of craft-brewed ales. What you will find are good old Italian/American standbys like Stromboli, pasta, salads & subs, and of course pizza. And what pizza. For toppings they have all the usual suspects and they use a “1950’s New York Pizza Recipe” which means no artificial ingredients, 100% mozzarella and everything made from scratch.
But the eye-catcher on the menu is a pizza called “the Hideaway.” A 15″ pizza with eight huge slices and each slice is covered in a different topping – one slice of pepperoni, one of sausage, one of mushroom, you get the picture. It looks amazing with such a colorful display. The most surprising slice of the set? One totally covered in black olives, unbelievable. There were so many you couldn’t even see the crust and the flavor was so robust it hurt.
If you are visiting the beautiful sugar white sands of the Florida panhandle and need a reprieve from all of the incredible seafood to be had there then tell Tom Tom to lead the way to The Hideaway Pizza. You’ll thank me later.
Hideaway Pizza gets 5 out of 8 slices
It is easy for anyone to misjudge how amazing an upside down pizza tastes right out of the oven. Normally, one would have to go to Brooklyn to enjoy a fresh, hot out of the oven, upside down Sicilian slice. This is no longer the case.
Nino’s of Boca Raton located on 7120 Beracasa Way, Boca Raton, FL – (561) 392-9075 is testing out this upside down Sicilian style pies (also known as Red Pies) for anyone who walks in and asks for one of these special pies, saying they are friends of Lapp or WorstPizza.com. These pies cost a couple of dollars more then the regular Sicilian pies there (which are still very well priced for the quality and taste).
This is different then the other upside down pies you might have had with me, if we have had the opportunity to meet and eat there together. The other kind that I previously had at Nino’s was an upside down grandma style pizza. This is regular, thick Sicilian style crust that has sliced mozzarella cheese melted into the dough, on top of a tasty coating of extra virgin olive oil. On top of the cheese, can be found a layer of sweet sauce that meets the roof of your mouth, so smooth, and hot, that it is unlike any pizza you have previously encountered.
Many might argue that this pizza was originated in Detroit, but that is a fight that they will have to battle out with the New Yorkers. Places like Spumoni Gardens, Rosas’s and numerous others have been serving this style pizza for decades. Others refer to this as cheesebread with sauce on top (Mr. Waffle), but once you taste it, I think you will find it hard to classify as anything but delicions.
Nino’s will not be offering this pie for long. They will test it out on my readers and ask for honest reactions. If you all think it is worthy of the menu, then they will include it. This is crowdsourcing for Pizza. And what a great pizza to try it out on. Also, the owner, Marco, would love to hear what you think he should call this pie after you eat it.
Nino’s gets 7 out of 8 slices for this remarkable pizza.
<a href=”http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/12/771613/restaurant/Miami/Jons-Place-Boca-Raton”><img alt=”Jon’s Place on Urbanspoon” src=”http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/771613/minilogo.gif” style=”border:none;width:104px;height:15px” /></a>
Since Spris in Coral Gables was so gracious to us the other night, during our PizzaTweetup, I thought I would take some time to highlight some of the specials they are running. If you tasted what I tasted the other night, you are probably very likely to return to Spris. In hopes of getting you back sooner then later, the owner Julio is running some pretty decent specials.
You can now Beat The Clock at Spris. The price you pay depends on the time you place your order on certain items. So if you go into Spris betwen 5:00pm – 6:30pm anyday of the week, you will pay what time it is. This special is only good on:
Pizza Margherita – Pizza Diavola – Pizza Rustica – Spaghetti Pomodoro – Penne alla Vodka
Please note that this amazing special is limited to one per guest with NO SUBSTITUTIONS. If you modify any of these pizzas you will be charged regular price. This special only pertains to eat in orders, and is not applicable to take-out.
Also, Spris now has weekly specials as well!
Monday & Tuesday: you can get any pizza on the menu or Spaghetti Pomodoro or Penne alla Vodka with a glass of house wine, draft beer, or fountain drink for only $10.95.
Wednesday: Wine Lover Night. 1/2 off on ALL bottles of wine!
Thursday: Risotto Night. You get homeade risotto and a glass of house win for $17.95
And until the 21st of July, if you mention pizzatweetup to the owner Julio, you can get 20% off any non-special meal!
These specials are only available at Spris Coral Gables.
Last night over 60 pizza lovers converged onto Spris in Coral Gables, for some amazing thin crust pizza. Spris Pizza is located in the heart of Coral Gables just a block or so north of the famous Miracle Mile. Based upon the RSVP’s we received on www.pizzatweetup.com, we had expected only 50, but were delighted to see roughly 64 if I counted accurately.
Upon entering Spris before the event, I was greeted by the charming owner Julio, and the extremely outgoing server Eddie. We went over the way I like to see these events operate, and they proceeded to show me the drink specials they would be offering this evening. Being around Julio, you cannot help but notice how passionate he is about his food, and the experience a customer has when dining there. He took me around back to show me the different pizzas that the chef was making, and the different toppings that went onto them, and the quality of these toppings. Eddie, seemed like a firecracker that couldn’t wait to get started, and used the opportunity to make some new friends, as well as loyal customers.
By 7:30, most people had arrived and ordered drinks. I suggest that we start cooking up some pizza! Julio decided to give us 3 pies with different toppings and 2 plain ones to start. For the record, this was above and beyond what I requested from him, all I asked for was plain pizza, so here is another example of how far he goes to make sure everyone is happy. When the pies came out of the oven they started to deliver them 5 at a time to the table. Seems as fast as they put a pie down, it disappeared. From the looks of it, our pizza lovers really seemed to enjoy the food they were being served.
Based upon the way the pies were cut, and the amount of pizzas that Julio served, we had enough pizzas to give each attendee 4-5 slices. Seems like many enjoyed several of slices past this, since some people were left with only 1-2. But whatever pizza they had tasted great. Spris is known for their thin crust, European style pies. You cannot get slices at this establishment, only individual pies. They use a sparing amount of sauce (which I like) and a delicious blend of cheese, that bakes just perfectly. The crust is crisp and sometimes a bit well done, which makes the first bite into it, a splendid experience.
The night seemed to fizzle out at about 10:30pm, and even the last pizza that was brought out, was devoured. Everyone seemed to do right by the servers, who brought the free pizza to the tables. Personally, I wish it was a bit cooler in there. At times it seemed like I was in a sauna, and not a pizza place, but maybe it was because of the amount of people that were there. After everyone left, it certainly cooled down.
Julio had such a nice time, that he is offering 20% off your bill at the location in Coral Gables, if you mention pizzatweetup to the server! That is all you have to do, just say pizzatweetup and save 20% off of some amazing tasting food. This special only runs until the 21st of July. See you all next month. Place yet to be determined.
You can follow me on twitter @worstpizza or on @pizzatweetup
Zuccarelli’s Italian Kitchen. A Family Tradition Since 1981. 1937 N.
Military Trail, West Palm Beach, FL 33409 www.zuccarellis.com (561)
686-7739.
One of the great things about being on staff here at Worst Pizza is the
ability to call in to the home office for a recommendation. “Where should I
eat on Okeechobee in West Palm?”