Attempt #7 - Zoey's Pizzeria

The Venue

690 10th St

Marion, IA 52302-3433

(319) 377-2840

Zoey's is famous in the Eastern Iowa Corridor, because it only has one location, in Marion, Iowa with ridiculously good pizza!  They almost always have a wait, so it's best to order carry out.  The Pizzas take about 40 minutes to cook, so be prepared for a wait if you do decide to dine in.
 

The Pizza

We ordered 1 large pepperoni pizza, and 1 zoey pizza (pizza with everything on it). 

Some of the comments that we made by our group were:  oily crust, kind of tasteless, delicious cheese and toppings, and sauce with “chunks ‘O’ tomato” in it. 

 

 

The Verdict

Personally, I loved it; however, our overall views were mixed.  It was Chicago Style, with a nice hearty, thick crust.  Although I do recall it being a bit oily this attempt, I’m convinced it had something to do with the topping combinations, as previous pizzas were not as oily.  Also, this pizza isn’t cheap by any means, you’ll be paying around $26-28 for a large zoey pizza. 

Here are our ratings...1 = worst and 10 = best.

Overall = 8.5

Cheese = 10

Toppings = 9

Sauce = 8

Crust = 4

A Pepperoni Chicago Style Pizza!

Up Close and Personal!

The Zoey Special - All toppings!

Cross Section of the Zoey

The "Zookie", a warm chocolate chip cookie for my Birthday!

Attempt #6 - Leo's Pizzeria Pastaria

The Venue

588 Boyson Rd NE,

Cedar Rapids, IA

(319) 393-4161

Leo’s is a relatively modern pizza joint that offers a pizza lunch buffet (not Chicago style).  In addition to classic and Chicago style pizza they offer salads, hot & cold sandwiches, ½ gallon pasta specials, gyros, calzones, and three desserts—cheesecake, dessert pizza, and an apple calzone.  We ordered a ½ pepperoni, ½ sausage Large Chicago style pizza that was 14”…it came out to ten slices, which worked well for a group of six.  One of the things that I am still shocked about (other than the sauce!), was how reasonably priced the pies were.  It came out to $14.25 for a large Chicago style pizza with one topping ($1.25 per topping). 

The Pizza

One Large (14") 1/2 Pepperoni, 1/2 Sausage Pizza

Coming into this, I was expecting a thick, super cheesy, pizza with a little sauce and a few toppings.  I was wrong.  The pizza had a sweet crust, which drew a some slight criticism from some of the group members.  The thickness of the pizza was not that of Sam’s.  Instead, it reminded me of that of a self-rising DiGiorno pizza.  The rim was a little crunchy, but still had the consistency of bread.  The sauce was my personal favorite.  It was well seasoned, with a little spicy kick.  In my opinion, the cheese was perfect for this pie…not too much, but not too little.  There was a little bit of grease

Open up!  This Chicago Style Pizza wasn't as thick as I expected

The Verdict

For someone looking to get into the thicker style of pizza’s I would highly suggest this place.  I was a little disappointed by the bottom crust of the pizza…I wished for it to be a little thicker.  I would probably rate this as my second/third favorite pizza. 

For the first time, I had everyone in the group participated in rating this pizza attempt:

A cross section of the pizza

1-Worst / 10-Best

Overall            5.6

Cheese            7.8

Toppings         6.0

Sauce               5.6

Crust                6.4

Attempt #5 - Naso's

The Sicilian pizza

The Venue

453 7th Avenue,

Marion, IA

(319) 377-9066

Naso’s has a very laid back atmosphere, with dim lighting, a bar, and some tables packed around every which way.  If you go, you better go early, because Tuesdays are ½ price pizza nights.  So a large one-topping pie is roughly $5…not bad.

The Pizza

A closeup of the Sicilian pizza slice.

This pizza reminded me a lot of the pizza from Sip ‘N Stir.  It was thin crisp crust (with an exception of the pepperoni…that was soggy from all the grease).  The sauce was sweat, maybe a bit too sweat for some.  The cheese slid off the pieces so you had to be extra careful.  One plus about Naso’s was they had a large assortment of topping combinations to choose from.  We ordered a pepper (pepperoni, with red and green peppers) pizza, one called the Sicilian Mafia (sausage, artichoke hearts, onion, tomatoes, etc…), and a plain pepperoni.  My personal favorite of the

The Verdict

The Spicy "Peppers" pizza!

Pepperoni pizza

Although this pizza is thin (as I’ve noticed this is how a lot of Iowans prefer their pizzas), the price is very reasonable on Tuesday nights.  I would suggest going then and giving it a try before committing to the full price.  From my personal preference as a thick crust kind-of-guy, I would look elsewhere.

Attempt #4 - Tomaso's Pizza World

The Venue

Tomaso's Pizza World
1111 7th Avenue

Marion, IA

(319) 377-6102

 
Tomaso’s pizza is the self proclaimed best pizza in town.  They are confident enough that if you don’t agree, you can tell them and they will return your money.  Although they offer just pizza, they certainly do a good job at it.  They have a small dining area where you can serve yourself a soft drink while waiting 20-30 minutes for your pizza to cook.  They offer Parmesan cheese and red pepper to garish your pizza, along with salt and pepper.  You’ll be picking up a Styrofoam plate, and a plastic cup also for your dining in experience.  Also, they did offer a cookie square that had Easter M & M’s in the crust.  Yum.

1 Large Sausage

1 Large Pepperoni

The Pizza

They offer three types of crusts—New York (thin), Chicago (thick), and Detroit (cornmeal, fat-free crust with no-lip [the cheese is caramelized to the edge of the pizza]).  We ordered a large sausage pizza with Chicago crust, and a Pepperoni with the Detroit crust.  The actual thicknesses of the pizzas were similar, with the only difference being that the Chicago had a lip around the edge.  I enjoyed the breadiness of the lip; however, the center of the sausage pizza was soggy.  The pepperoni’s crust was a bit crispier than the Chicago’s, which made it much better (in my opinion).  The sauce for both of these pizzas was served lightly on top of the cheese, so the pizza was mainly a piece of cheese bread.  Naturally, being from Wisconsin, my wife LOVED that part of the pie.   Out of the 5 attendee’s we were pretty divided on which pizza was the victor in this case.  The sauce was good…a hint of spice with a rich tomato flavor.   My only complaint is that there wasn’t more of it!   

The "Chicago" crust sausage

The "Detroit" crust pepperoni

The Verdict

The total cost was $47 for five pop’s ($2 each), and two large pizza’s.  We had a $5 coupon, so that helped a bit.  They frequency mail those to your house, if you sign up for their mailing list. 

Tomaso’s Detroit style pizza still remains my personal favorite “classic” style of pizza in town.  My personal view if that the crust and cheese combination is simply wonderful! 

The "Detroit" Pepperoni (Left) and the "Chicago" Sausage (Right)

Attempt #3 - Miguels

The Venue

Miguels

175 Jacolyn Dr.
Cedar Rapids, IA 52405-4201
(319) 396-3434

It takes a local to find this place, as it is tucked in a strip mall hosted by an anchor store, the Dollar General on the west side of Cedar Rapids.  No doubt, this is how we found the venue, through some machinists at work.  We ordered an appetizer of fried Chicken Gizzards, not the greatest choice since they were very chewy and tough.  Coke products are $2, and have free refills…not too bad of a deal. 

The Pizza

The pizza wasn’t Chicago style, but they did an excellent job of having an even spread of cheese and toppings.  The sauce was a little thin; I felt more would have helped bring out a little more flavor to the pizza.  The dough was made earlier that morning in house, and most of the ingredients were purchased from Sam’s Club.  The thing that stood out was how the cheese had a nice layer consistently around both of our pizzas…it was a mixture of mozzarella (primary) and cheddar (secondary).  The crust had an average thickness; however, it had the consistency of a thick pita that was baked on the bottom.  It did not rise, to give a noticeable spongy breaded texture where the crust and sauce meet—this is somewhat common for some pizzas.  Another benefit was that no grease leaked through the crust, so it was firm and crisp.  For a 16” (large) pizza, the individual pieces were cut a bit larger than you might except.  Our table had five of us and we finished off all but three pieces from two 16” pizzas and felt satisfied. 

The Verdict

For me, this pizza is of better quality than Sip ‘n Stir’s pizza; however, the 16” cheese pizza was $12 and the 16 all meat pizza was $15.  If you are in the area, Miguel’s is not a bad place to stop by and try a pie.  Otherwise, if you are crazing that thick, deep dish pizza, then Miguel’s isn’t your place.  One special bonus about Miguel’s, the staff was very helpful and they provided excellent service.  So far, this is the best place in terms of service that we have received.

Note:  Their Taco pizza is their most popular among patrons.  We did not try this pizza, as most of us are not fond of this style of pizza.