The Iowan Pizza Chronicles: Attempt #13

Friday, April 27, 2012

Attempt #13 - The Flamgino

A nice view outside

The room serves as a nice banquet hall

The Venue

1211 Ellis Boulevard Northwest

Cedar Rapids, IA 52405

(319) 365-1534

The Flamingo is a catering company/banquet hall that is open to the public on Friday nights, starting at 4 PM. Each week, they put a $3 off coupon in the Pennysaver for a pizza, which is good up to 5 pizzas, according to the waiter ($3 off each pizza, with a limit of five pizzas). Although this business was badly affected by the Flood of 2008, it got back up to speed, and it looks better than ever! The place looks great, with new furniture, and remodeled woodwork. Their brick baked pizza recipe has been around since 1953…

Beef, Black Olive, Green Pepper, Onion 13 Inch

The Pizza

Chicago Style: No

Crust Thickness: Thin

Our group consisted of 6 participants; so we ordered three medium 13” pizzas. We chose: Flamingo Conglomeration ($19.50: Italian sausage, mushrooms, pepperoni, Canadian Bacon, black olives, green peppers, onion); a pepperoni and cheese pizza, and a ground beef, green peppers, and onion pizza. The topping selection minimal, and the combo pizzas were a bit expensive. In fact, there were only two specialty pizzas to choose from, the Flamingo Conglomeration, and George’s Gourmet Special ($14.00: Italian sausage, green peppers, and onion, no substitutes!). The crust was cracker thin, with a nice snap, after biting into it, and the sauce was sweet, as if they used sun dried tomatoes or sugar additives. Overall, this pizza was one of the thinnest we’ve encountered in the Cedar Rapids area. The toppings were a little lacking, even on the Conglomeration where it was supposedly overloaded.

The Verdict

Flamingo Conglomeration 13 Inch

The pizza was cut into traditional slices with evenly distributed, toppings. The pizza selection was very small, and the crust resembled that of cracker consistency. Given the high price for these pies, I doubt we will be going here just for the pizza in the near future. The venue was very nice inside, with a helpful staff, a full service bar, and a clean fancy dining area. In a way it felt odd to be eating pizza at this place…it seemed like the kind of place where you would have a 3-6 course meal at. My one final word is, if you like thin pizza, this may just be your niche.