The Venue
73 16th Avenue Southwest
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| Venue |
(319) 364-5271
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| Oven |
,+Hawaiian+($19.99).jpg) |
| Large (16"), Hawaiian ($19.99) |
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| Large (16"), Supreme ($19.99) |
Since the great flood of 2008, the Sykora Bakery reopened,
continuing their legacy of serving the Cedar Rapids, IA community with fresh
baked goods for over 80 years! Recently,
after perfecting their pizza dough recipe, they decided to start selling pizza
on Friday and Saturday evenings after 5pm, or you may be able to call a day in
advance if you plan on ordering a pizza at another time. The bakery itself is not very large, it has around
10 tables that seat roughly 20-26 people.
The pizza attempt marked an important departure of the Wissinks, one of
the couples who have participated in well over two years (24 events) of pizza attempts
with us. Since time is limited, the
owner of the bakery, John, sent his workers home, and worked himself so he
could stay open on Thursday night from 5:30-7:30 for our attempt. This kind act of hospitality alone earned the
Sykora Bakery to have the #1 venue of the 33 places that we have tried so
far. Aside from the pizza, they sold
bread loaves, cookies, pastries, ice cream, post cards, books, magnets, bottled
water, pop, etc... They had one high chair
which was well used with three little ones, and had napkins, red pepper, and
cheese on each table-ready to go for us!
The Pizza
Chicago Style: No
Crust Thickness: Thick
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| Large (16"), Pepperoni ($16.99) |
Our group consisted of 13 (1 of which, was a watcher) participants;
so we ordered 4 large pizzas. They currently serve four specialty pizzas,
so we ordered one of each except for the Veggie. Each pizza only came with only one crust,
Sykora's thick, delicious homemade bready crust. We ordered them in the large 16"
size; they also have a 14" medium. Each
pizza costs roughly $20. The pizzas
were:
Supreme - Pepperoni,
sausage, beef, onions, mushrooms, with mozzarella cheese ($19.99 for the 16" large)
Taco - Seasoned ground beef, green peppers, refried
beans, lettuce, onions, topped with tortilla
chips covered with mozzarella cheese ($19.99
for the 16" large)
Hawaiian - Canadian
bacon, pineapple, and mozzarella cheese ($19.99 for the 16" large)
Pepperoni - Pepperoni
and mozzarella ($16.99 for the 16" large)
The Verdict
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| Large (16"), Taco ($19.99) |
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| Large (16"), Hawaiian ($19.99) |
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| Taco and Supreme Slice |
The pizzas were cut into
triangular-shaped pieces. The crust was
on the thick and bready side (DELICIOUS!).
One drawback about the bakery is the price of a large pizza will set you
back $20; however, if you factor in all of the bready goodness you are getting
from it, it is almost as if you are getting two pizzas because the crust make
the pie filling. The sauce was prepared
well, in house, one gallon at a time. Since
they are relatively new in the pizza business, they do not have the large scale
demand to make a lot of sauce and have it keep, therefore they make them in
smaller increments. Their bready
delicious crust is what sets this apart from the other places in town, as John
pointed out to me. The topping
consistency was average, not as plentiful as some other venue's but not as scarce
as others. The favorite pizza of the
group was the Hawaiian. Half of the
Hawaiian had sauerkraut whereas the other half did not. I must admit that although I voted for the
Supreme, the Hawaiian was the best Hawaiian pizza that I have ever had. I
would even consider ordering it standalone next time, as it fills up my wife,
son, and myself quite well. It may not be the first place to consider on
getting a pizza, but when you are in the Czech Village in Cedar Rapids, give
the Sykora Bakery a try along with your next batches of Kolaches. If you call in advance, they may even make your pizza on an off day (Sunday-Thursday),
like they did for myself! I would defiantly
give this place if you are like me, and enjoy a thick, bready crust!!!
Here are our ratings,
where 1 = worst and 10 = best.
Overall 8.73
Overall 8.73
Cheese 8.91
Sauce 8.09
Topping 8.91
Crust 9.09
Venue 9.55
