Day Two - Primo Joe's Pizza, Dixon IL

Day Two

We arrived in Dixon, IL on May 22. After joining up with some of my extended family, we began the decision process of which pizza place we would sample for dinner. Dixon has a few independent pizza parlors and they have all been around since the 1960's. We settled on Primo Joe's (or just Joe's) Pizza. I may have eaten there once or twice before, but if I had, it had close to 3 decades, so the memories were all faded.

Arriving in the parking lot in back, we were greeted by a wonderful painting on the back outer wall of the restaurant. Heading in through the side (dining) entrance, we were told we could sit wherever we wanted. Pulling a few tables together, we sat down and began to check out the wares. I looked around and felt another wave of nostalgia, just like at Bordenaro's. Red plastic tablecloths, a juke box, brick arched doorways, old stackable chairs for seats - I loved it! After pulling a few tables together and putting in our drink order and a few things to sample, we chatted and waited the usual 20-25 minutes for our pizzas to arrive.

In addition to my prerequisite choice of Italian sausage and mushrooms, we also ordered an Italian sausage with green peppers, green peppers with onions, and a plain cheese pizza. As you can see from the photo, these were traditional Midwestern party (square-cut) pizzas. I was immediately transported back to Bordenaro's in Iowa upon seeing the pies. And also, to a certain extent, in tasting them. The crust was similar in terms of its biscuit/cracker texture, but perhaps just a little less flavor than Bordenaro's. The sauce was very different: much more the traditional sweeter pizza sauce with little heat and more of a little herby zest to it (probably mostly oregano). The cheese was once again abundant and appeared to be a typical Wisconsin mozzarella type. Also, once again, my Italian sausage turned out to be pork sausage, which disappointed me again. I was wondering whatever happened to the Germanic and Italian brethren that headed west from Chicago. The mushrooms were once again the canned variety. Everyone seemed to enjoy their pizzas and thought it was a good meal.

As I was paying the bill I was able to get a look at the kitchen. Typical equipment you would expect in a place that's been around since the mid-60's: big Hobart mixer, sheeter, Blodgett deck ovens. I couldn't see much else from where I stood.

Overall, I thought Joe's Pizza was another good choice. It didn't carry the flavor(s) I had been looking for, and it was even slightly more disappointing than Bordenaro's. So, I give Joe's Pizza in Dixon IL 3 ½ out of 5 pizzas. Still good, and I wouldn't mind going back, but I would like to try a couple of the other mom-and-pop places in town before returning here.

Day One - Bordenaro's Pizza, Des Moines, IA

On May 21, 2009, I took the family on a trek from our home in suburban Kansas City back to the land of my father and mother: Dixon, Illinois. This was to be a rather somber family occasion over the Memorial Day weekend, with some added stops thrown in. To add more fun to the 6-day trip, I proposed the following: we eat at different pizza restaurant in every town that we make a major stop.

The rules were stated in my previous post.

The cities we would be stopping at stretched across the Midwestern corn-belt from Des Moines, IA all the way up to Milwaukee, WI. I chose a different pizza restaurant from each city. The basic toppings would be my go-to standards, 1 meat and 1 non-meat item: Italian sausage and mushrooms. Beyond that, other pizzas could be selected but were not required for the purposes of this trip. By the end of the trip, I planned on ranking the 6 places of their delectable delights that we sampled. As an aside, you will probably notice that most of the pizza restaurants we tried served a particular style of pizza pie. I call this version a Midwestern bar pizza style. Some people refer to it as south-side Chicago style, but the style expands well beyond the windy city. It is typified by the following:

1) thin crust (but not necessarily paper-thin or cracker-style),

2) lots of cheese using predominantly mozzarella, but often incorporating a blend of cheeses,

3) a fair amount of toppings, and 4) party-cut (that is, cut in squares instead of slices).

This style seems to have gotten its start or became very popular first in bars as something to eat while guzzling down pints of brew. It later expanded to more family-style pizza parlors where beer was still an oft seen and mentioned accompaniment, but was served well with other beverages and typical Italian-American restaurant fare like garlic bread, salads, and spaghetti with meatballs.

Our first stop was in Des Moines on May 21. The place: Bordenaro’s Pizza As they say on the Chicago Pizza club blog, where it went down: http://www.bordenaros.com/

As for the pizza, as you might be able to tell from the pictures, it is a standard Midwestern party cut pizza. The crust was on the crunchy side, but not as crunchy or as dry like a cracker. I suspect some form of fat in the way of shortening, butter, or oil. As you can probably see from the turned over square/slice, they use pizza screens. I saw a few deck ovens going hot and heavy in back with restaurant, take-out, and delivery orders.

Overall the taste of the crust was good, but more like a biscuity texture than a cracker. I had asked for Italian sausage but the flavor was not quite what I was expecting. I suspect they use pork sausage lightly seasoned to pass as Italian sausage or they simply make their sausage without fennel. The mushrooms looked like the canned variety. The sauce was good but after a few bites, both my wife and I detected some added heat. It tasted to me like some form of pepper. I noticed on the menu they offer a milder sauce, which I would like to try if I ever make it back.Overall, the flavors mixed together well and I generally liked this pizza quite a bit. As for our daughter, well, she had her own ideas as to the flavor and what would make it taste better.

The house salads were unremarkable - the bagged variety.

Their cheesey garlic bread was very good - plenty of cheese and greasey flavor.

Overall, I am going to be generous and give Bordenaro's in Des Moines 4 out of 5. They made the 4th pizza-star by a hair, but it was our first stop, it was getting late, and our hunger probably added to my judgement. I would say it is certainly worth a stop if you are in the Des Moines area. You can see these and other pictures on my Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/38582842@N07/

Next stop ... Dixon, Illinois

Pizza Pilgrimage and Family Trip

During the Memorial Day weekend 2009, I took the family back to the Mother- and Father-land: Illinois. We also added some days and went up to Wisconsin to visit some friends. Along the way, to add some fun to the trip, we decided to visit a different pizza place in every town we stopped in. That would mean roughly 6 different pizza places in 6 different Midwestern cities/towns over 6 days. Starting with Des Moines, IA, we chose our sites carefully and set a few basic rules:

1. No pizza places that we would be able to find in the Kansas City area, and preferably, mom-and-pop places.

2. No repeats.

3. Pick the same toppings for at least 1 pizza in order to make a comparison

4. Have fun

In the coming days, I will be posting the places we visited on our journey from Shawnee, KS up to Milwaukee, WI and back and give some reviews and photos of pizza from the Heartland along the way. Stay tuned.