The Good Pie
Dec 12, 2008 St. Louis, missouri
It’s once again that time where a restaurant opens anew and wows us with a website astonishingly void of information such as phone numbers and sample menus. Though at least the address is there.
So, when next you’re making dinner plans and pizza is on your mind, here’s the info you’ll need to decide if The Good Pie is a worthy recipient of your hard-earned recession dollars.
The Good Pie
3137 Olive Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63103
314.289.9391
(it’s less than one block West of Pappy’s)
As Neapolitan style pizza is a definite St. Louis void in need of filling, I have high hopes for The Good Pie. I do hope, however, that they play it a little less safe in the future because nothing on this menu is really pushing the pounds of what a Neapolitan style pizza can be. Oh, and to the owner, you misspelled “Romano”.
Thanks to Jeff Stettner for the menu (which you can click).
Tags: Pizza, The Good Pie
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December 12th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
I can only hope that neopolitan is synonomous with provel
It seems as though a lot of business owners don’t understand what kind of impression a sh1tty website leaves. Amazing.
December 13th, 2008 at 12:35 am
I ate lunch there today. I think they may have just gotten the phone, it sounded like they were working on it this afternoon.
I enjoyed it very much. The space is pretty cool, worn wood and metal. It actually reminds me of Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix. The place smelled of oak from the wood-burning oven, which was wonderful. Small bar with four wines from Italy and four beers (5-Day and Smoked Porter from O’Fallon and ESB and another from Schlafly that I couldn’t read from the front of the restaurant–the Schafly wasn’t hooked up yet).
I had a lunch version of the salumi with the mista salad. One of my pet peeves is overdressed salad, but this was very lightly dressed. It was pretty heavy on the gorgonzola too.
The pizzas are cooked very quickly (I heard someone say 90 seconds) at about 800 degrees. The crust was chewy with a nice char (from the Italian 00 flour) and the sauce was robust with good tomato. The salumi was good quality, I meant to ask where they got it.
Someone (seemed like the owner) came over and asked what I thought, specifically asking if I had any criticisms. I had half a mouthful of pizza, so I didn’t say much. I wouldn’t have complained about anything anyway, and I appreciated him asking. We talked about how the area may become a dining destination (which I’ll write more about on the forum soon). I should have mentioned the website, but it didn’t come to mind.
Unfortunately, no provel, Mac. I do hope they get a little more adventurous, maybe that would come in the summer when they’ve got access to better produce.
They also misspelled Caesar.
December 15th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
isn’t il vicino’s neopolitan style? I remember really liking the pizza there.
December 15th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
I went to the good pie over the weekend. I loved the food it was well made and tasty. I got the Mastunciola pizza. The pancetta was thick cut and crispy. I also liked the margherita pizza. The tomato sauce was so fresh and I asked the owner, Mike, what was in it. He said it’s just san marzano tomatoes and salt. Loves!
December 15th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Neapolitan pizza is pretty simple and straightforward-as well as being spelled out fairly specifically in the organization that certifies neapolitan pizzerias what sort of pizza you can make and call it “neapolitan”. Probably not going to get too outside of that as it seems that the owners are fairly serious about the authenticity. I am looking forward to giving it a try. I have heard good things.
December 16th, 2008 at 8:36 am
The # is (314) 289-9391
December 18th, 2008 at 1:25 am
I frequent Pi and Katie’s and really enjoy both, but this place is hands down the best of the “new” pizza explosion in St. Louis. Great quality olive oil and other ingredients, simple and expertly prepared.
December 18th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Nice place, they have a lunch special, so people who work down there might want to check it out during the week.
It seems like they are doing a good job of ironing out kinks like fixing typos on the menu, and taking in constructive criticisms. It will be interesting to see if they expand the scope of the menu.
December 18th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Interesting… I would have offered constructive criticism had anybody actually paid us notice on their second night when we were one of two tables later in the evening. I liked the food (the pizza is excellent, as are the salads) but felt completely ignored by the management (they seemed to be enjoying each others company at the bar). Bad luck? Maybe… Bad form? for us it was.
December 19th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Someone listened, Bill. The website is completely different. It looks like a work in progress, but they now have menu options, and an “impact” section, which discusses their gardening and composting efforts.
December 19th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Seems like there are a bunch of misspellings… talleggio spelled differently twice as well as a few strange errors… iiiii I hope the pay as much attention to their pizza as they pay to their menu. There’s no excuse to overlook these details. Design should not be overlooked on a menu (simplicity is always good) and there’s no excuse to at least throw a pdf on a website.
In my opinion, there’s no reason why they couldn’t pilfer the exact same pizzas as from one of the great Neapolitan pizza places. I’ve been lucky to eat pizza in Naples and the variety is fairly large. No need to dumb it down for us – Neapolitan pizza isn’t that complex to begin with!
December 19th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Taleggio is correct.
December 20th, 2008 at 10:14 am
in naples you get 2 choices
Eating Pizza in Naples
Monday May 12, 2008
Naples is known as the birthplace of pizza and is still often heralded as having the best pizza in Italy. Our neighbor Angelo, who’s from Naples, told us that the best place for pizza is Quartiere Forcella da Michele. Here one can try pure, simple pizza as it was originally made – only two kinds, margherita and marinara. But for those who have to have toppings on a pizza, go to the nearby Trianon, where they make lots of different pizzas.
December 22nd, 2008 at 10:58 am
That website is atrocious, and the misspellings are rampant. Horrendous flash animation, and unflattering food photography. Yikes.
December 27th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Another change has been made to the website. Now there’s a menu on the front page, and clicking on it leads you to a Google Map. They’ve also updated some spellings and added a market pizza.
Thanks for listening, The Good Pie. I give you lots of credit for being responsive.
December 29th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
As long as website cover’s location, hours, and menu – I am a happy visitor.
I enjoyed the pizza and their service.
For variety, check out the chalkboard for the specials.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Ugh, people and their provel. I won’t go to any pizza place that uses provel, so I’m glad to see another pizza place in STL that uses real cheese.
March 28th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
For 7 years, I worked in southern Italy, near Naples (Maratea), and I came to know and love Neopolitan pizza. Since moving back to the US, I have been on a desparate search for real neopolitan pizza, as I am going through withdrawel. Real neopolitan pizza is very difficult to find in the US. Many claim to have the real thing but most don’t come close. The Good Pie however comes very close, within 95% of being a real Neopolitan pizza (Imo’s being 10%, Il Vicino 40%, California Pizza Co. 40%, Olive Garden 5% the real thing). The Good Pie chef has done an excellent job trying to duplicate the Neopolitan pizza, which is difficult to do. You have to have the right type of wheat, right preparation of the dough, mineral content of the water, a super hot oven, and many other things. The Good Pie chef has probably spent some time in Italy to learn the proper technique, as all chefs who claim to make real Neopolitan pizza should do.
I have also been searching for real gelato. The Good Pie misses the mark here – too icy, not enough creaminess. For some reason, people in the US think that gelato is icy (and bland). The Good Pie’s icy espresso ‘gelato’ is closer to something called granita’. The various gelaterie in St. Louis are in the right direction but miss the mark too. Believe it or not, Ted Drew’s probably comes the closest to real gelato – as gelato is custard based. Ted must have had an Italian grandmother.
I am still looking for authentic Italian food in St. Louis. It’s very midwestified – heavy in beef/pork – not light or vegetable-based as on the Mediterranean coast. My Italian-American coworkers here in St. Louis say they just cook at home using their grandmother’s recipes instead of going out.
Elsewhere in the US. “Naples” restaurant at Downtown Disneyland, in Anaheim, Ca. is very close to real Neopolitan Pizza, 95% real. Katie’s Pizza on Clayton Blvd. in St. Louis is good too, 80% real.
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