In Defense of St. Louis-Style Pizza

serious eats ^

[mylife]

We all know the two great pizza quotes, right? The first is Sam Sifton's Pizza Cognition Theory, which goes like this: "The first slice of pizza a child sees and tastes...becomes, for him, pizza." The second is the old chestnut about pizza and sex: even when it's bad, it's still pretty good.

Then we get to the St. Louis-style pizza made popular by their local chain, Imo's , which seems to buck both of these statements. Of the myriad styles of pizza we've got in this country, it's got to be the most maligned.* Its thin, unleavened cracker crust bears no resemblance to the real dough that great pizza is built on. It gets loaded high with toppings that span all the way from edge to edge. It's so unbalanced that it has to be cut into squares just to be able to support its own weight. And let's not get started on that Provel cheese—if it can even be called cheese, am I right?

And yet, ever since tasting it for the first time, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. And I've finally figured out why I love it so much. St. Louis-style pizza is not pizza. It's a big, pizza-flavored nacho. Hear me out.

My wife Adri and I ate a lot of things last summer when we were driving from New York to San Francisco. A LOT of things. Many of them hyper-regional,

[Flying Circus]

The first pizza my mother would give me would have been a hunk of bread with a little sauce, sausage and cheese on top. She always loved thick crust, but for me, St Louis style thin crust is pizza. Bread is OK but I like the greasy, salty, sticky yumminess on top best.

Of course it has been over a year since I ate any kind of pizza, and that is better for my health. But the next time I do cheat and eat some pizza, it will be when I am in town and can get St. Louis style, be it Imo’s or some mom and pop place on The Hill.

[mylife]

and dont go cray cray on the toppings. 2 or 3 is good, more tends to make it soggy
veg undah the cheese and meat on da top

[llevrok]

Ditto for bagels made outside of the North East. Out west where I now live, bagels are just round dinner rolls.

[mylife]

Amen

[eldoradude]

I’ve said it before, the worst pizzas I ever ate were in Rome and Tokyo.

Worst pizza for me - London, Rome & St. Louis in that order.

[mylife]

Rome shocked me.

[Harpotoo]

If you want real food, pizza or otherwise you must go to northern Italy!

[mylife]

[dearolddad]

And I want sex, even bad sex.

It's been so long since I've had any sex (good or bad) I can't remember who gets tied up first.

[Viking2002]

Wow. Italians are well-known for their culinary pride and want to make sure it’s as good as good as can be. I just can’t picture a bad pizza in Rome.

[mylife]

the girls in France suck but the food is amazing, Italy as usual does the opposite...

[eldoradude]

Wolf-nippple chips... from Colorado? Ha

[Boogieman]

Besides the Provel cheese, St. Louis pizza is just a knock off of Chicago-style thin crust pizza.

[mylife]

It’s true.
they say Naples is the fountainhead for what we call pizza

[mylife]

Chicago-style thin crust pizza is just retarded.
stick with yer deep dish.

[BarbM]

Happy New Year. I’ve been sober for 33 years. I’m still glad to wake up knowing where I am. And what city I am in.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

I like it. It’s different.

[Repealthe17thAmendment]

When I moved to St Louis more than 30 years ago, I didn’t understand why they called it pizza. I’ll eat it today, but it’s not pizza. I can sort of handle the crust now, but I will never like provel cheese.

[logi_cal869]

For what it’s worth:

My first experience with pizza predated Dominos, Digiorno and Totinos:
Shakey’s Pizza. It was THE pizza back in the day and a benchmark hard to beat. The local Italian joints had good pizza, but they were HEAVY on the crust and I never cared for the thick, doughy base and the 2” crust edges (lousy bread). Another came & went in the 70s with ‘ok’ pizza: Organ Grinder.

I’ve since had ALL the rest - NY, Chicago, etc., even Godfather’s...the latter not in the same family, imho - and regardless the name, it comes down to preference.

Figaro’s? Fuggetaboutit. Papa Murphy’s? Best dough around and cooks best if you have a pizza oven. Little Caesar’s? GMAFB. Pizza Hut (crap). Abbey’s (so-so). Pietros? The latter is still holding out as a good pizza, but most in the state are now closed and I have to plan ahead anytime I consider getting Pietros (long drive).

Since Shakey’s, there are only 3 standouts in my region plus one I’ve yet to try:

Tino’s (an Italian restaurant, now closed)
Joey’s Pizza
Flying Pie Pizza
and (pending)
Juliano’s Pizza

All 4 above meet my criteria for pizza: Crispy base of yeasty dough, generous but not too heaping of toppings, real mozzarella cheese and REAL Italian sausage (good sauce is a given to make the list). The exception: Flying Pie is more a NY style and though a decent pizza, I won’t make a special trip.

I’ve sampled most other pizza joints in the region: The rest suck, despite good ratings (don’t get me started on ratings; I know).

In the interim, 2 other standout pizzas came & went:

Thatsa My Mama’s Pizza, a concoction unique at the time and never experienced since: The pizza was made in a square cooking pan (like a cookie sheet), decent dough base (about 1/2” cooked, ZERO crust edge) and - get this - no less than 2” of toppings. As a 13 y/o getting this for the first time sans the parents, it was incredible. The limit was 2 pieces even for us teenagers, they were so massive. (closed long ago)

Mama Maria’s. I was taken to lunch by my managers with the rest of the service department at age 18. It was my first time in a bar (absent sneaking in to grab a pack of smokes out of the machine elsewhere). The pizza that hit the table was a thin, bubbly, cracker-like crust and toppings to perfection (pepperoni, Italian sausage, olives & hot pepperoncini, perfect with beer).

I never knew the latter was ‘St Louis style’; now I know. Those two joints - coupled with my memory of Shakey’s - set the bar for my future preferences.

In the absence of a very good yeast dough (rare, in my experience at age >50), I’ve preferred a ‘generous topping’ pizza on a thin crust for years. But today’s favorite - Joey’s - doesn’t meet the ‘cracker-like’ criteria of St Louis (it’s yeast-rich and crispy only on the Semolina bottom).

It’s a hybrid the rest of us who gather regularly appreciate specifically for ONE thing:

It hasn’t changed in 20+ years, is family owned and the father/son team now operating it continue to maintain a very, very loyal customer base. The son’s kids are still quite young, but I hope they continue the tradition.

Favorite pizza these days: Thin yeasty, crispy-bottom crust made in my own pizza oven on a pizza stone at 7-750 deg F, cooked in 3 1/2 minutes flat. Pepperoni, Italian sausage, Olives & fresh mushrooms (not the canned crap). Hands down, it’s pizza unlike anything I can buy anywhere.

If it’s “St. Louis-style”, so be it.

[tet68]

I’m still fighting my sugar addiction.