In Sheboygan.
Can't believe I forgot Great Plains Sauce & Dough Company in Ames, IA!
Taste of Chicago in Sparta, WI has their shit together.
Frozen pizza... I'm a fan of the cheap ass Party Pizza. I forget the name brand but I've eaten 500 of those fuckers in my 50 years.
@Henry posted:Not a fan of Chicago style but definitely dig Detroit style.
The only chain I like is Papa Murphys (not fuckstick, sugar sweet sauce Papa Johns). Davanni's is decent but they're a local "chain" I guess.
If you're ever in the Twin Cities south metro I recommend Ole Piper Inn. Top notch pizza and grub.
Fuck you Hank you pinko commie, you're saying there's a possibility we could have been in the same bar at the same time. Their pizza is very good, just not delivered.
1776
@Maynard posted:Frozen: Portesi Original with the crust around the edge. I get them anytime I come back to Wisconsin. They must put crack in that crust.
Take out: Plainfield Bowling Alley pizza in Plainfield, WI and Two Lakes pizza in Almond WI. Simply the best to me.
Two Lakes is always an amazing visit. Classic Supper Club!
And I 2nd the Original Portesi. I miss that stuff.
@skully posted:
Well what used to be lakes... barely swampy now. When I visit my sis in Whisky Rapids she always insists we go there... that or Pinewood in Mosinee.
Maybe we need a Supper Club thread!
@Cavetoad posted:Well what used to be lakes... barely swampy now. When I visit my sis in Whisky Rapids she always insists we go there... that or Pinewood in Mosinee.
Maybe we need a Supper Club thread!
My favorite restaurant anywhere. I grew up less than 9 miles as the crow flies from Two Lakes. I can remember when there were lakes, but when the number of center pivot irrigation systems increased in the late 70s and early 80s the lakes turned into swamps.
@MichiganPacker2 posted:My favorite restaurant anywhere. I grew up less than 9 miles as the crow flies from Two Lakes. I can remember when there were lakes, but when the number of center pivot irrigation systems increased in the late 70s and early 80s the lakes turned into swamps.
Ah, I gotta call bullshit on that guys. Both lakes at Two Lakes are currently the highest they have ever been. They were up on the roads last fall. They had to get the DNR in and have a berm built to save the lower level of the place from major flooding last year. If it wasn't dark right now I'd go take a pic for you. 
Well I shouldn't save ever. They have been completely empty and completely full multiple times each in the last hundred years.
@FreeSafety posted:Ah, I gotta call bullshit on that guys. Both lakes at Two Lakes are currently the highest they have ever been. They were up on the roads last fall. They had to get the DNR in and have a berm built to save the lower level of the place from major flooding last year. If it wasn't dark right now I'd go take a pic for you.
Good to know! I didn't make it last summer due to being on the road for work and my sis being afraid of the plandemic.
The year before one lake was ok but the other was barely visible and basically swamp.
By the way, I'd like to add Brianno's Deli Italia in Eagan MN. Little hole in the wall Deli hidden just off of Cliff Rd and 35E. They'll parbake for you to finish at home or they do have frozen you can buy (and must thaw before cooking), but if the weather is good and you can sit outside to chow (no seating inside, it's tiny) the pizza is DIVINE.
@FreeSafety posted:Ah, I gotta call bullshit on that guys. Both lakes at Two Lakes are currently the highest they have ever been. They were up on the roads last fall. They had to get the DNR in and have a berm built to save the lower level of the place from major flooding last year. If it wasn't dark right now I'd go take a pic for you.
I haven't been back in about 4 years, so that higher water is recent. The last time I was there during the day, the lake to the West had no water visible but the lake to the East (which you can see out of the back room) did look like a lake.
Yeah 2012-2015 was probably the lowest point. Funny thing is barbed wire fences became visible because they used to graze cattle in there when they were empty swamps back in the early 1900s.
I just love the old school of having your reservation, it's early, tons of tables open, but you won't get seated until you have a drink or two at the bar factor.
Tomaso’s in Cedarburg when I was in WI. Loved that place. I miss that place badly.
Frozen. Motor City Pizza Co. makes a pretty solid Detroit style available at Costco. 2 pack. Nothing like making it yourself but pretty good for frozen.
Is Tomaso's a chain? They had (maybe still have?) one or two of them in Cedar Rapids. They made a great Detroit style.
Tomasos WI had 3 locations in 04. Think it was only Cedarburg by the end of 13. Cedar Rapids was a different Tomasos. Yes, they were well known for their Detroit style.
And making a Detroit style at home is a great pie. Buy the dough from a local place you like. Buy the Lloyd anodized aluminum Detroit pan on Amazon. It’s maybe $35. Works great for an Italian sausage/beef Deep lasagna pan as well.
The water is down a little from where it was all of last year. It was darn near even with the county road level. The sign was sticking out of water until recently.
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Food and Wine rates the states.
Wisconsin
There are some terrific, widely reported stories about the evolution of pizza cheese in America, and how the distinctive mozzarella you find on a New York slice came about when mafia dons Al Capone and Joseph Bonanno began pressuring pizzerias into buying the cheaper, more processed cheese produced with milk from mobbed-up dairy farms in Wisconsin's idyllic heartland. There's less pizza-related mystery and intrigue swirling around the state these days, at least as far as we know—there are, on the other hand, a few very clear truths, one of which is that around here, thin is in. Call it what you like—bar pie, tavern pie, pub pizza—but these are some of the slightest creatures around, and very few people have mastered the craft like Maria's in Milwaukee, dating back to 1957. Today, the cash-only, no-liquor establishment (decorated with more Jesus and Elvis-related paraphernalia than you might have expected to find) still thrives under the ownership of Bonnie Crivello, founder Maria Traxel's daughter. Normally, you will find Crivello tending to the dining room where customers wait as long as it takes for the massive, square-cut rectangular pies, the flaky crust shaped by a dough sheeter, and usually too generously-sized to be contained by the trays they're delivered on. On your first visit, order double what you think you'll need—these are not so much pizzas to be eaten, as inhaled. Super-thin round pies, also typically bar-cut, are the norm around Wisconsin. They're served on lace paper doilies at Wells Brothers, a fixture in Racine since the Roaring Twenties; back in Milwaukee, Zaffiro's has been a firm favorite for even longer than Maria's.
I thought there were a bunch of mob houses around Green Lake at one time.
But I can't think of any good pizza in Green Lake, so I am probably wrong
What were they using before Wisconsin mob cheese?
@"We"-Ka-Bong posted:I forgot to mention Casey's pizza. The dough is doughy and bland. The sauce is odd, a little spicy, but odd. Cheese is boring cheese and super thick.
I will eat it weekly. I feel like I consumed a bowling ball when finished, but I will dive right back in a couple days later.
They make a bacon cheeseburger pizza where the sauce is half ketchup, half mustard. Get it with extra pickles
Try the beef if you are going with 1 topping. Casey's breakfast pizza is good as well.
@PackOly posted:Happy Joe's corporate is based out of Bettendorf. Happy Joe Whitty managed a Shakey's Pizza before founding Happy Joe's. Dubuque is a franchise owned by locals.
I probably just knew the franchise owner’s wife. This was a million years ago. I don’t even remember her name.
Yeah, finally got one in Eau Claire. We'd eat that a couple times when we'd go to South Dakota pheasant hunting.
I have to go by geography:
Madison - Glass Nickel is a small chain and is pretty good. Nice crust and sauce.
Minneapolis - Red Wagon in South Minneapolis. They have a good basic pizza and a lot of creative options. Place is always busy even in the pandemic.
Manco and Manco - South Jersey chain. Classic East Coast pies.
@Goalline posted:I probably just knew the franchise owner’s wife. This was a million years ago. I don’t even remember her name.
I bet she remembers you!
@"We"-Ka-Bong posted:In Wisconsin? Heinies Pizza in Horicon is in an old brothel, doesn't get better than that.
Cripes, El. That's not far from me! Went there a lot when I was in HS. Had a crush on the owner's son - watched him make the pizza in the back. And...that's as far as it got. (PS. Heine's is actually in Minnesota Junction.)
My kids' favorite is my homemade pizza. I don't know why because to me it's nothing special. Maybe because I use lotsa mozza. I cheat and use Newman's pasta sauce, whatever kind is on my pantry shelf. I do up my own Italian sausage, which has less salt because we're all getting old. Daughter and grandson said the worst pizza they ever had was in Italy. Forgot the name of the town - it was along the coast.