The Iowan Pizza Chronicles: Attempt #54

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Attempt #54 - Need Pizza

Menu

The Venue

207 2^nd Ave SE #200

Cedar Rapids, IA 52401

(319) 362-6333

Need pizza is a new restaurant which opened up recently in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It is located at the heart of downtown located near the intersection of 2^nd Street and 2^nd Avenue. The restaurant had two ping pong tables, along with TVs, Lego's for the kids, and a black chalkboard for guests to write on behind one row of tables. The bar area had old refrigerators which had taps mounted on the doors, serving a wide variety of beer. During lunch, they do serve pizza by the slice, if you in the area.

You can check out their website at http://www.needcr.com/.

Pizza Fries

The Pizza

Chicago Style: No

Crust Thickness: Average

We had nine participants so we ordered four pizzas (3 large and 1 medium). The style is “New Haven”, which draws on the east coast for inspiration. The size comes in small, medium, and large. They did not offer any gourmet pre-configured pizza options; however, they did have a special of the day (Buffalo Chicken, only available in the medium size).

Buffalo Chicken Special, Medium

BBQ Chicken, Onion, Roasted Red Peppers, Large

Pepperoni, Sausage, Meatball, Bacon, Large

BBQ Chicken, Onion, Roasted Red Peppers, Large

Pepperoni, Large

The Verdict

The pizza was very good, chewy, large triangular slices (often the pizza didn't fit on my plate). The crust wasn't too thick, and the toppings were set on about right. Surprisingly, the meat pizza (Pepperoni, Sausage, Meatball, and Bacon was the crowd favorite earning five votes. The sauce was a little on the light side. For me, I prefer my pizza crust to have a little bit more bready thickness, but many don't. Although we loved Ruby's as our favorite place after 54 Pizza Attempts (located right around the corner from this place) , I can see a possibility where Need Pizza exists and Ruby's does not just by the fact that Need Pizza has such a unique offering (Ruby's is a lot like Tomaso's [another local favorite]). Stop on by if you want a slice of New Haven style pizza! Its probably the closest thing Cedar Rapids has to a New York Style pizza.