The Iowan Pizza Chronicles

Saturday, February 15, 2020

Attempt #105 - Godfather's Pizza

Venue Outside

The Venue
3647 1^st Ave SE,
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402

(319) 363-2127

Godfather's Pizza is a privately owned restaurant chain headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, that operates fast casual Italian franchises. Chain eatery specializing in thick-crust pizzas, also offering calzones, sides & desserts. Plenty of seating with tables and booths alike. There is even a back room that can be rented out for events. The restraint doesn’t take normal Godfathers coupons from the corporate headquarters, since they are locally owned and operated. There is a lot of old school arcade games for the kids, which brought back a lot of memories, along with candy machines, etc. This location is a older version of Happy Joes (with better pizza too, in my opinion)!

Venue Inside

The Pizza

Chicago Style: No

Crust Thickness: Average/Thin

Menu: https://postmates.com/merchant/godfathers-pizza-cedar-rapids?client=customer.web&version=3.0.0

Participants: 7 (plus 3 children)

Pizza Ordered: 3

Sizes Offered/Ordered: Mini, Small, Medium, Large, Jumbo / 1 Medium, 2 Large

Crusts Offered/Ordered: Thin, Golden, Original / All three

Pieces Cut: Triangular, then Rectangular upon request

Super Hawaiian – Ham, Bacon Bits, Pineapple, Green Peppers & Mozzarella Cheese, Medium, Original Crust $21.74.

Half Bacon Cheeseburger – Beef, Bacon Bits, Onions, Pickles, Cheddar Cheese & Mozzarella Cheese, Large, Thin Crust $23.75

Half Taco – Beef, Onions, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Tortilla Chips, Taco Sauce, Cheddar Cheese & Mozzarella Cheese, Large, Thin Crust $23.75

Menu

Half Humble Pie – Pepperoni, Italian Sausage, Onions, Green Peppers & Mozzarella Cheese, Large, Golden Crust $23.75

Half Hot Stuff – Pepperoni, Beef, Italian Sausage, Onions, Jalapeno Peppers & Mozzarella Cheese, Large, Golden Crust $23.75

The Verdict

Sauce: Meh – Average.

Cheese: The cheese cooled a little quickly and hardened slightly. Probably the worst part in my experience.

Crust: I enjoyed the original crust the best. The Thin wasn’t bad either, it held up both the Taco and the Bacon Cheeseburger just fine without the sogginess.

Taco/Bacon Cheeseburger - Large Thin Crust $23.75

Toppings: The toppings were average quality, with the beef added to a lot of the pizzas, it seemed a little bland. Traditionally German-Iowan taste buds. However, the Hot Stuff didn’t disappoint.

Final Comments/Considerations: Growing up, I was pre-dispositioned to hate Pizza Hut/Godfathers, etc… and we usually ordered from local Italian places. However, this pizza wasn’t that bad. It sits in the middle of the road for me, better than most chains, but not better than the truly local places who are really trying to make it out there. Although the Hot Stuff was my personal favorite, the Humber Pie won the vote for the favorite pizza of the group. It seemed to be a meat’ish/deluxe kind of pizza. Overall, I would maybe consider stopping in for lunch, but I would likely pass on it for dinner and hit up another place, especially since the price wasn’t cheap!

Humble Pie/Hot Stuff - Large Golden Crust $23.75

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

Overall 6.93

Cheese 6.71

Topping 7.71

Sauce 7.14

Crust 6.00

Venue 7.86

Favorite: Humble Pie

Super Hawaiian - Medium Original Crust $21.75

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Attempt #104 - Pizza World

Baja Taco, Large

Venue - Outside

The Venue

4201 42nd St NE #140,
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402

(319) 393-2000

Pizza World is a chain based out of Branson, MO. They have several locations across the country and they allow each franchise to run its own business with a degree of leniency. The Cedar Rapids location was the first to market the Baja Taco pizza, which is as no surprise, since Taco Pizza is often credited as being originated from Iowa. The staff was friendly and helpful. The seating consisted of table seating only with a self serve pop machine and silverware. Plastic plates were used to dine on, and the atmosphere was fresh and new, since this place opened up recently.

Venue - Inside

The Pizza

Chicago Style: No

Crust Thickness: Average/Thin

Menu: https://www.pizzaworldonline.com/pizza

Participants: 15 (plus 8 children)

Pizza Ordered: 8

Sizes Offered/Ordered: Small, Medium, Large, Family / 4 Medium, 3 Large, 1 Family Size

Crusts Offered/Ordered: Regular

Pieces Cut: Rectangular

Chicken, Bacon, Ranch, Medium

Caio Bella, Medium

1/2 Italian Sausage, 1/4 Canadian Bacon, 1/4 Hawaiian - (Family Size)

Meat Grande, Large

Pepperoni. Medium

Spicy Thai, Medium

Taste of Chicago, Large

Ciao Bella® - Fresh basil, tomatoes and garlic, with mozzarella and your choice of tomato sauce or olive oil glaze (Medium).

Chicken Bacon Ranch - Our own grilles chicken and bacon, sitting on a bed of creamy ranch dressing and mozzarella (Medium).

Taste of Chicago® - From the Windy City! Ricotta, chicken, spinach, bacon and tomatoes topped with mozzarella and pizza sauce (Medium).

Pepperoni - (Medium).

Spicy Thai - Taste of Thailand! A spicy Thai glaze topped with grilled chicken, marinated in our own spicy Thai sauce, served over a bed of mozzarella with red onions, green peppers, fresh basil and lightly topped with shaved carrots (Medium).

Meat Grande® Wow! - For meat lovers! Classic pizza sauce, mozzarella, loads of pepperoni, Italian sausage, ham, ground beef, bacon, salami, Canadian bacon and pork sausage (Large).

Baja Taco - NEW! - Light layer of refried beans, taco seasoned meat, mozzarella & cheddar cheese, cooked to perfection, topped with lettuce, diced tomatoes, crushed Doritos®, served with taco sauce on the side (Large).

1/2 Italian Sausage, 1/4 Canadian Bacon, 1/4 Hawaiian - (Family Size).

The Verdict

Sauce: I didn’t care for the Chicago pizza’s sauce … a bit bland; However, the taco’s sauce was great as well as the Spicy Thai – AWESOME.

Cheese: The cheese was average on the pizza. Taste was right on.

Crust: Easily the best part of the pizza was getting the rim of the bready crust, which tasted more like a bread stick rather than a pizza crust. Yum!

Toppings: The toppings were average quality, as I didn’t find them overpowering, nor bland.

Final Comments/Considerations: I loved the staff and restaurant. This place was a breath of fresh air compared to our last pizza attempt over at Sam’s Club! The pizza was #12 as the best out of 104, so its quite good, but doesn’t make our top 10. I would order it again, if we lived over by Edgewood Road. However, with so many pizza places in town, in my opinion, its not something to drive across town for. The pizza itself is affordable (especially the big family sized one), so it would be a great place for buying a pizza for a large team or work event.

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

Overall 8.67

Cheese 8.53

Topping 9.40

Sauce 8.13

Crust 8.87

Venue 9.13

Favorite: Spicy Thai / Meat Grande

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Attempt #103 - Sam's Club

The Venue

Menu

2605 Blairs Ferry Road NE,

Cedar Rapids, IA 52402

(319) 393-7746

Sam’s Club is known for selling bulk items of food, often as a discount. Similar to Costco, it has a low cost dining area near the front of the store, where patrons can order pizza, hot dogs, chicken strips, and similarly priced “concession” items. The seating consists of hard small 4-person picnic benches with a self-serve pop machine against the wall. The items are very reasonably priced; however, don’t be expected to be waited on.

The Pizza

Pizza Selection

Chicago Style: No

Crust Thickness: Average

Menu: See Photo

Participants: 6 (plus 3 children)

Pizza Ordered: 1 with several slices

Sizes Offered/Ordered: Large

Crusts Offered/Ordered: Regular

Pieces Cut: Triangular

Pepperoni – $8.99

2x Cheese Slice – $2.10

3x Supreme Slice - $2.10

3x All Meat Slice - $2.10

Large Pepperoni Pizza $8.99

The Verdict

Sauce: Bland. Aweful.

Cheese: There was plenty of cheese on the slices, this was probably the best part of the event.

Crust: The crust was not great. It was flat in the middle of the pie, and on the rim, it was decent and bready.

Toppings: Terrible. The supreme was actually decent, but the rest was bland and lacking

Final Comments/Considerations: Sam’s rated as the forth worst pizza. IF you are really desperate, be warned, DON’T let it get cold. Gross.

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

Overall 5.50

Slices

Cheese 5.50

Topping 5.83

Sauce 4.50

Crust 3.67

Venue 5.67

Favorite: Supreme

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Attempt #102 - Market Grille (Kids Pizza)

Venue

The Venue
5050 Edgewood Rd NE #6613,

Cedar Rapids, IA 52411

(319) 378-2945

Menu

The Market Grille is a restaurant inside of the larger, high end Hy-Vee grocery stores. It has a full-service bar, booth, and table seating along with a waitstaff. The Market Grille recently changed ownership and is now owned by Corporate instead of the local grocery store, thus the menu has changed. This nearly caused our pizza attempt to become a PIZZA FAILURE because the once famed flatbreads were not longer on the menu. Luckily, the kids menu had personal (4 slice) pizzas for $3 each, along with a side.

The Pizza

Chicago Style: No

Crust Thickness: Average

Menu: https://marketgrille.hy-vee.com/menu/location/

Participants: 6 (plus 4 children)

Pizza Ordered: 3

Cheese

Sizes Offered/Ordered: Kids Personal

Crusts Offered/Ordered: Regular

Pieces Cut: Triangular

Pepperoni

Slices

2x Pepperoni – $3

Cheese – $3

The Verdict

Sauce: The sauce was my favorite part, it was not overly sweet.

Cheese: Decent cheese, the highest rated subcategory at a 8.00.

Crust: Thicker than I expected which was actually pretty good, buttery.

Toppings: Bland toppings which is about right for kids.

Final Comments/Considerations: The kids pizza isn’t bad, but it isn’t good either. However, the $3 price is CHEAP, so if you have a little one, its worth the consideration.

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

Overall 5.60

Cheese 8.00

Topping 6.40

Sauce 6.00

Crust 6.00

Venue 7.60

Favorite: Pepperoni

Friday, October 18, 2019

Attempt #101 - Bobbers Grill

Venue Outside

The Venue
1850 Scales Bend Road NE

North Liberty, IA 52317

(319) 665-3474

Bobbers Grill is apart of Scales Pointe to supply campers, boaters, and walk-in visitors with food and beverages. They have a lively schedule during the summer months with races, bands, and other events down on the grounds. The restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating and a full-service bar.

Venue Inside

The Pizza

Chicago Style: No

Crust Thickness: Thin

Menu: https://scalespointe.com/files/2014/09/Bobbers-Menu-4-29-14.pdf

Participants: 6 (plus 3 children)

Pizza Ordered: 3

Sizes Offered/Ordered: 14” Large

Crusts Offered/Ordered: Thin

Pieces Cut: Rectangular

Venue Inside

Menu

Chicken Alfredo $19.95

Meat Lovers – Canadian bacon, pepperoni, sausage, and beef $19.95

Enchilada – Home-made sauce, taco meat, black olives, and a blend of cheese, topped with fresh jalapeños $19.95

Chicken Alfredo – Red onions and diced tomatoes $19.95

The Verdict

Sauce: The sauce was okay. I wasn’t too impressed, since I seemed ‘run of the mill’.

Cheese: The cheese cooled fast, and hardened. Nothing special here.

Crust: Thin, it seemed to be a frozen pre-made crust. Crispy though.

Toppings: Typical toppings which lacked flavor in my opinion.

Meat Lovers $19.95

Final Comments/Considerations: Each of our pizzas was distinctly different. The Enchilada had some spiciness to it, the meat lovers had a lot of excess grease, and the chicken alfredo was creamy, but disappointing. The view and restaurant was super cool, and the wait staff was terrific and helpful. However, if you are looking for good pizza, head elsewhere.

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

Overall 6.83

Cheese 7.83

Enchilada $19.95

Topping 6.33

Sauce 6.50

Crust 5.17

Venue 9.00

Favorite: Enchilada

Slices

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Attempt #100 - Bop's Pizza

The Venue

Venue Outside

921 Blairs Ferry Rd NE Suite 130

Cedar Rapids, IA 52402

(319) 862-1226

Bop’s Pizza is a new restaurant off of the busy Blairs Ferry Road near the Cedar Rapids, IA Target store on the North side of town. The owner, was the original owner of Ruby’s downtown prior to selling off his share of the business. Sadly, Ruby’s is no more, but the original owner re-purchased all of his equipment, and hauled it up town to start his new pizza place with his wife. Same great recipes as Ruby’s, some even claim that its better! Booth and table seating is present, they do not take reservations, so first come first serve.

Menu

The Pizza

Chicago Style: No

Crust Thickness: Average

Menu: https://bopspizza.com/menu

Participants: 18 (plus 12 children)

Pizza Ordered: 9

Sizes Offered/Ordered: 16” Large, 10” Medium, 7” Small

Crusts Offered/Ordered: Average

Pieces Cut: Triangular

Bacon Cheeseburger - Ground Beef, Bacon, Onion, Cheddar, Mozzarella, Diced Tomato & Pickle (Large, Detroit $25.75)

Taco - Seasoned Ground Beef, Refried Beans & Salsa Sauce, Cheddar Cheese, Shredded Lettuce, Diced Tomato, Onion, Nacho Chips & Sour Cream (Large, New York Thin $23.75)

Meatball - Bop's Homemade Meatball, Green Pepper & Onion (Large, Detroit $25.75)

Venue Inside

Mediterranean - Salami, Tomato, Artichoke, Spinach, Black Olive, Banana Pepper & Feta Cheese. Drizzled with Olive Oil (Large, Detroit $25.75)

Veggie - Mushroom, Onion, Green Pepper, Black & Green Olive, Tomato, Artichoke & Fresh Spinach (Large, Detroit $25.75)

Queen Margherita - Fresh Mozzarella, Roma Tomato and Fresh Basil (Large, New York Thin $23.75)

Bop's Combo - Pepperoni, Sausage, Mushroom, Onion, Black Olives and Green Peppers (Large, Detroit $25.75)

Pepperoni - (Large, Detroit $18.95)

Cheese - (Large, Detroit $18.95)

Large Detroit Crust Bacon Cheeseburger $25.75

The Verdict

Sauce: The sauce was great on the meatball, as well on the unique Bacon Cheeseburger. Sparingly, the ketchup and mustard taste went well together with the sauce and pickles.

Cheese: LOVED the caramelized cheese “crusts” on the Detroit style pizzas.

Crust: Bready, and doughy on the Detroit, the New York Thin was flexible, and chewy. It held the taco together well.

Toppings: High quality, the right amount.

Large Detroit Crust Bop's Combo $25.75

Final Comments/Considerations: Bop’s Pizza proved to me, to be exactly what Ruby’s had in store for its customers. A slightly better version of Tomaso’s with a bit cheaper price. Not to mention a great waitstaff who is flexible and accommodating. All the pizzas were warm, not soggy, and had plenty of flavor. The caramelized cheese crust was wonderful. So wonderful. Sadly, over the lunch hour, the only serve NY Thin, but if you can, I would be willing to call ahead and split a Detroit crust 1-topping pizza. Otherwise, try them out during dinner – personally, I liked the Bacon Cheeseburger, but the pepperoni always hits the spot as well.