Little Star Pizza

It's a beautiful room. Lots of fine wood paneling. It was easy to get a beer, and we were seated within 10 minutes of getting there on a busy Friday night. The wiatress was very attentive, and the service was overall good. Everyone is young with the traditional uniform of the day i.e., tight pants. None of them will be there in 6 months.

Just before we left I saw one of the workers cough into his hand, and then give a patron their pizza. "Enjoy your pie, and here's a little extra Chairman Mao flu to go along with it, no charge, on the house." Nothing pisses me off more than restaurant staff coughing into their hands, nothing. Who the fuck is training these people? Answer, no one.  But I digress.

The first problem came when we ordered our meal. We decided what we wanted, and then I told the waitress, "We'll have a large plain Neapolitan pizza." She looked at me like as if I had 3 heads, and was talking a foreign language and then replied, "I don't know what you're talking about." Of course you don't dear. Once I realized we were speaking a different language I knew I was in trouble. It reminded me of the time when I was at Noah's Bagels, another place I won't frequent again, and I asked the wait person if they had any Challah bread, and got the reply "What's Challah bread." I should have asked her if Sarah was Jewish.

Let's start with the Chicago deep dish pizza. It is worth going there if you live in the area. But if you want the real deal make the trip to Zachary's Pizza on College Ave. in Rockridge. This deep dish is a single dough deep dish. Zachary's is a double crust. The outer crust of this pie was beautifully cooked, crispy and flaky. The blend of tomato sauce topping was sweet and savory, with a little spice to it.

Chicago deep dish, worth the trip

Charles Mack Hagan

(notice the horizontal lines and the even cooking circile marks on this thin crust pizza)

I ordered anchovies on the side and got a ramekin full of lovely fat fillets. There was no grated cheese, oregano or crushed red peppers on the table, another bad sign.

We ordered a mixed green salad which was very good, with a couple of dressings on the side, vinaigrette and blue cheese.

Let's get into the real problem here. The Neapolitan pizza was nothing close to authentic NY style thin crust pizza. There were no bubbles, no charcoal carbon marks on the outer crust, and it looked like it came out of a dough processing machine. I worked for Pizza Hut (long story) back in 83', in Mountain View California, and this pie reminds of that pizza. This is not a hand tossed /rolled pizza. You can't see the kitchen from the dining room floor here. I have no idea what kind of pizza oven is being used to cook these pies, not that it matters that much. I took pictures of the bottom of the crust, and it looks factory made to me. I could be wrong.

To rap it up. 1) decent deep dish Chicago pizza, worth the visit. 2) Neapolitan pie is mediocre, and that's being generous. 2) good service, but uneducated and untrained in the culinary art of pizza, not to mention basic health code procedures. 3) The ambience is nice, but you don't get that pizza joint feeling at all. 4) Pricing is reasonable.

I won't go back, and if you do go my advise is to stay away the thin crust pizza, and then get the deep dish, and the free Chairman Mao flu bug to go. Also watch your language when visiting this establishment. Don't use words like Sicilian or Neapolitan because you'll just get that blank stare from the wait staff.

I give Little Star Pizza a one thin little joint rating. This is not a pizzeria in the classic sense. This is corporate pizza.

After further examination of the crust I can tell it was cooked in a pan with the "little" holes all over. It's all too even. If you look closely you can see horizontal lines on it. Those look like the same lines we had in the pies we made, from the pizza making machine, at Pizza Slut back in 83'.  Again, I could be wrong, and if I am someone please re-educate me.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Food Consumption Today:

Breakfast: small bowl of cereal

Lunch: Fried chicken sandwich with cole slaw.

Dinner: A friends birthday party...there will be good food at this gathering.

Exercise today: not much, 1.5 miles