So what has your ever faithful pizza lover been up to lately? That dirty word called yard work. That and assorted Birthdays and the Easter holidays have had us pretty busy.
We last visited Antonella's in downtown Davenport. Seems this time of year is always kinda busy with springy good weather,gardening,graduations and what not.
As always we are plotting roadtrips,visits,towns and people that usually we end up not doing half as much as we want too. I still gotta work to pay for this pizza fetish we have.
So. The blog might be slow as it always seems to be this time of year. Sher and I are planning a few visits.
We have tried to not do repeat visits because there are so many joints we haven't got around to. All in good time my faithful readers.
A few thoughts. With good weather here,we want to drive. We have a good friend in Peru Illinois that brags up some pie there.And then we have The Onion Grove in Clarence Ia that gets good props. And Bombfire in Sabula.
Like Robert Cray says. So Many Pizza's ,So Little Time!
As always.
Scott
Saturday, April 8, 2017
Why am I starting out a Quad City Pizza Blog update with a Journey song you ask? For one thing Journey just got inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. The harmonies of Greg Rollie and Steve Perry are to me unmatched. And well this song kicks ass and at least not overplayed.
That said. The song title is People And Places. And we got our share of people watching and seeing old familiar places being changed for the better.
We have heard good things about Antonella's in downtown Davenport for quite awhile now,so what better time when the weather is better and people are out and about? And people were filling the sidewalks of downtown Dport today. So glad to see things happening downtown too.
Okay. On with the pizza. As ever your faithful host. Rum seems to taste better when temps rise!
Enjoying a few downtown shots.
The menu.
So Scotty ,you ask.What did you order? Well Antonella's has a pretty good deal for pizza. Order a X-Large pizza and get a small one topping for free. So that's what we did. A X-Large double sausage and a small pepperoni. Moll got some chicken Alfredo and it was as good as Vinny V's in Dubuque.
The XL.
The small pepperoni.
Moll's salad and pasta.
So how was the food? I give the pizza an 8.5 on the Scotty scale of pizza goodness. The crust was the star of this show with the sausage coming in second. What held this from being a totally kick ass pizza was the sauce. If the sauce had more kick this pizza would have been the bomb. Moll's Chicken Alfredo was quite delish. Antonella's does have pan and deep dish crusts so we will be back to try those out and some point in time.
Well worth the visit for the food and well the whole downtown vibe was pretty damn cool! That said. There was a well known QC radio DJ eating when we walked in. I didn't want to be a total dope,cause I would have probably made an ass of myself. but He did have my son and his band on the other morning so there is that.
Leaving and walking around I took a few shots of the downtown and well things were hopping! And Sheri waxed poetic cruising past good ole Davenport Central.
Lucy could smell the leftovers too.
As always faithful readers. We do this because we love pizza and we hope you do too!
Scotty
Saturday, March 25, 2017
Don't we all need some silliness in our lives? Silliness has been in short supply with our last few QC Pizza blog outings. Matter of fact the last three postings have been about as bottom of the barrel as I will tolerate.
That said and I hope crappy pizza is in our rear view mirror for a while. We were thinking of traveling for a pizza and tossed around a few places to go. We decided Wig and Pen Pizza in Iowa City was the place today. Some Cedar Rapids pizza joints are on our radar,but we stayed a wee bit closer to home. Plus it gave me an excuse to hit up Fin & Feather also!
On with the show. The Wig & Pen I have been by quite a few times although circumstances never really worked out for a visit until now. Truth be told it will most "def" not the last time we go there.
Yours truly drinking my fave minus the rum. Way too early in the day for the Sailor.
The Wig & Pen. Located on the Coralville Strip right next to The Vine.
A few crappy indoor shots. It was pretty dark inside and well my camera sucks too. After the horror of Van's Pizza's bathroom, I couldn't bring myself to document the restrooms. The Wig could not have been near as gross as Van's.
The pizza menu.
The pizza. A large thin crust double sausage and red onion. Moll got a chicken strip basket cause she's a kid.
I can finally say that we have finally had a decent,no I daresay "awesome" pizza. The crust was thin and had a nice malty crunch to it. The sausage was chunky and just the right amount of spice to it. The red onions,cheese and sauce nicely complimented the meat and crust. My pizza jones has always been more towards a crunchy thin crust. The wife likes her deep dish and we did see some deep dishes coming out of the kitchen that would have looked good in my belly.
I'm going to give this pizza a 9.5 on the Scotty scale. It was that good and I will be going back at some point.
Bye Wig & Pen. I'll see you again.
Oh. And I forgot. Some leftover zza. It won't survive Saturday night!
As always. The wife and I do this for our love of pizza and ,well it's fun too! Days like today the Pizza God's smile on us.
Cheers
Scotty
Saturday, March 18, 2017
What does this song have to do with my pizza blog? Other than we had some pizza at Van's, not much. I figured some of you had never heard of this craptastic 70's cheese, but I digress. Enjoy the tune. Lol.
I wish I could say our experience was better than the song,but alas it was not to be. I seem to be in a pizza rut.
So we went to Van's Pizza in Davenport right by Duck Creek. I have been by there a zillion times,but for some reason we decided today of all days was a good time to check it out. The worn out and crappy sign was a harbinger of things to come.
The menu and a few other pics. They did have The Candymakers playing on stage which did drag up our visit a wee bit
As for the pizza? A small taco and a large sausage and cup and char pepperoni. The pizza's were the best part of our visit. And the pizza would be the only thing to bring me back. For all of my pessimism the pizza was good.
The service sucked. Our waitress took our order and did a fade. Said her car got hit in the parking lot. I don't doubt her story. Van's building and the bathrooms were just truly sucky. I am a steelworker so I can overlook a lot of suckitude.But seeing this dude wandering the parking lot for cans just truly cemented my thoughts about Van's.
Final thoughts. Save your money and go elsewhere. I could read some other patrons body language. They were as grossed as I was.
Yeah.It's been a while since the last blog update. I wish I had a little more enthusiasm for this post.Alas. For reasons that are not in my control. We are going to Dubuque for pizza tonite.
The wife and her sisters wanted to visit Vinnie Vannuci's in Dubuque.We have dined at both Vinnie locations. Galena and Dubuque have rather interesting restaurants.
On with the show. Yours truly getting in the mood.
Lucy,not so much.
Bob Dylan doesn't have shit on us. Neither does Gene Stillmunke.Whoever he is. But on up north we go by his farm all the time,I digress.
Some downtown Dubuque pictures. Let me just say.I love Dubuque.I could live in that town.My sister does.I love her too.
Okay.On with the Vinnie pics!
The pizza.
The only good picture I took.Do not waste your money getting a pizza at Vinnie Vannuci's. The sausage was good. The cheese rocked.alas the crust was limp and there was no sauce taste at all.
I should have listened to my cousin Terri Carter. Although the pasta at Vinnie's is awesome!
Hopefully your's truly will get out and start eating some kick ass pizza.Tonite wasn't it.
