Attempt #106 - Tomaso's 7th Ave., Marion, IA

Venue

The Venue
1111 7th Ave,
Marion, IA 52302

(319) 377-6102

Due to COVID-19, only my immediate family was able to partake in this month’s pizza attempt.  We ordered take out from Tomaso’s Pizza World in Marion, Iowa.

The Pizza

Chicago Style: No

Crust Thick

ness: Average

Menu: See photo

Half Pepperoni Half Sausage Detroit Crust Large

Participants: 3

Pizza Ordered:  1

Sizes Offered/Ordered: 1 Large

Crusts Offered/Ordered: New York Thin, Detroit, Chicago / Detroit

Pieces Cut: Triangular

½ Pepperoni , ½ Sausage

The Verdict

Sauce: The sauce was excellent, very tasty – but a little light, I would have liked more.

Cheese: Great caramelization along the edge of the crust.  Loved it.

Crust: Firm and bready – excellent!

Toppings: The toppings were plenty, average consistency.

Slices

Final Comments/Considerations:  How did it hold up compared to last time?  Very well, and consistent!  This came in at #4, underneath the last time we rated Tomasos.  My seven year old son who only eats cheese actually enjoyed the pepperoni, so that alone was a huge win for us. 

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

Overall 9.17

Cheese 9.69

Topping 9.00

Sauce 8.33

Crust 9.33

Venue 0.00

Favorite: Pepperoni

Re-Attempt #3 - Miguel's Bar and Grill

Venue Inside

The Venue
175 Jacolyn Dr NW
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52405

(319) 396-3434

Still the same bar it was nine years ago.  For more details, check out my original blog post from 2011: http://iowanpizzachronicles.blogspot.com/2011/03/attempt-3-miguels.html

The Pizza

Chicago Style: No

Crust Thickness: Average

Menu: See photo

Participants: 6 (plus 4 children)

Pizza Ordered:  3

Menu

Sizes Offered/Ordered: Small, (10”), Medium (13”), Large (16”) / 1 Medium, 2 Large

Crusts Offered/Ordered: Original / All three

Pieces Cut: Triangular, then Rectangular upon request

Pepperoni – Medium  ($13.88)

Combination – Large ($20.49)

Taco - Large ($20.49)

The Verdict

Sauce: The sauce was a little bland.

Cheese: Average.

Crust: The crust was not soggy like I expected, given the larger size of the pizza.

Combination, Large, $20.49

Toppings: The toppings were plenty, average consistency.

Final Comments/Considerations:  After 104 pizza attempt, my memory of Miguel’s Bar and Grill was much better than it actually was.  For a bar, the pizza was great.  For a pizza place, it was nothing special. The restraint had changed very little in nine years.  The front of the restaurant had changed the layout slightly.  The bar now spans the entire area right when you walk in.  Something didn’t change however, the staff was extremely friendly and helpful.  Kids are allowed in the bar until 11pm.  If you are in the area and want beer + pizza, check them out.  However, if you are strictly wanting great pizza, I would head elsewhere.

Taco, Large $20.49

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

Overall 6.93

Cheese 7.17

Topping 7.50

Sauce 6.67

Crust 6.17

Venue 6. 17

Favorite: Taco / Combo Tie

Pepperoni Medium, $13.88

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

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

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

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