…is not Italian. An interesting history.
I was never impressed with the pizza at Shakey’s, but that’s because we had Luigi’s in Flint.
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…is not Italian. An interesting history.
I was never impressed with the pizza at Shakey’s, but that’s because we had Luigi’s in Flint.
Comments are closed.
I have yet to experience good Chicago-style deep-dish pizza since I graduated from UIUC and moved away. I don’t miss the student-budget Pilsner beer tho.
I’ve had “authentic” Italian pizza, both in the Naples area and in Tuscany. It’s quite different to what Americans think of as pizza. It’s a very thin crust , and it’s very plain; some sauce, plus maybe some cheese. I was not impressed.
Italy has some of the world’s best food, though IMHO, pizza is not amongst it. (and even in Italy, the overwhelming majority of pizza I see is American-style, not Neoplolitan.)
The closest to real Neapolitan pizza is new york style… thin, almost cracker crust, sauce (which may be good, or not), cheese.
Not a fan of deep-dish….
But I do like a nice thick-ish crust, a good sauce, good cheese (sliced, more than shredded) and a goodly amount of toppings…
Rather not from a national chain, there are usually good local places around.
Wait until they find out about “Chinese” food in American restaurants.
So true. My dad had a Taiwanese friend who invited us to their home for dinner. We sat on cushions on the floor around a fine mahogany dining room table that sat about 18 inches high. The food was excellent, but it bore absolutely no resemblance to anything I’ve eaten in a chinese restaurant.
The food served in most Chinese restaurants in the US are Americanized recipes. Different ingredients, different preparation, different customers. I eaten in restaurants in Beijing and really didn’t care for it. China is a large country and the food people commonly eat varies a great deal.
Same goes with the pizza I tried in Rome. It wasn’t very good.
On the other hand, I’ve eaten in a lot of local restaurants in Tokyo, and the authentic Japanese cuisine is absolutely exquisite – but very similar to that available in the US.
Back to the subject article, I remember all of the pizza placed mentioned, and didn’t realize what the backstory was. I particularly like knowing what the origin of the name “Shakey’s” is.
When I started as an undergrad at Purdue, in 1976, I was walking down the main drag in W. Lafayette one afternoon, and saw a “Help Wanted” sign on the door of The Pizza Keg, a one-off pizza restaurant. I went in, got a job, and it paid my rent and more than half of my food bill (we got one free meal per shift, and I knew how to make a sub that could last a day). It also got me in to some interesting situations delivering to girls’ dorms…but that’s another story.
I’ve been back a few times since then, and Pizza Keg has long since ceased to exist – so sad, but even some of the innovative, upscale pizza places that sprung up along the main drag have disappeared (one pizza-by-the-slice place that was my favorite is gone).
The one eatery on that main drag that I loved the best, though, is still there – the Triple X, which still has the best grill I’ve ever known. My wife and I (she, too, is a Purdue alum) were back in West Laff City in February of 2020, and I insisted that we have one breakfast at XXX. She had never eaten there, but liked it as much as I do. I recommend it to anyone who visits that town.
I’ve had pizza in Rome, and I’ve had it in Napoli. The latter had very slightly thicker dough than the Roman one. I liked both of them.
And I also like the much heavier pizzas from my favorite pizzeria here in MA.
My dad first tasted pizza in the ’40s after WWII and he and a friend had to drive from Boston to Worcester to a place that served it. A novelty then.
Do you know the name of the place? My parents were from Brighton and Newton (Upper Falls) and talked about having their first pizzas in Worcester (Woostah). I doubt they ever took me to it. We moved away to Utah when I was about 4 years old (in 1954).
A California friend and I met for a business conference in Chicago, and went out of the famous local pizza. His comment, “I think I prefer real pizza.” I agreed, but my third wife is from Chicago, so I keep quite about it. Back in the day, I was involved with business interests worldwide. A client from Sicily served me what he said was an authentic Sicilian pizza one night. It had an entire fish inside it.