Who makes the best pizza pie in Jacksonville? (construction, gym)

[agreatlife]

I have never gotten a boxed pizza home from Rennas without it being a soggy mess. I just cannot get enough of their pizza eating it in store, but I stopped ordering it for take out.

Riveree, I will have to try your method of par baking it, thanks for the tip. I used to do that for some pizza I bought in NYC to take it back to Pennsylvania, and it was always wonderful.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by agreatlife

Riveree, I will have to try your method of par baking it, thanks for the tip. I used to do that for some pizza I bought in NYC to take it back to Pennsylvania, and it was always wonderful.

That was Karla's tip, actually, she gets all the credit for that one!

[bg2ntst]

I travel the country a lot with my job and have eaten pizza everywhere I go. In fact, I consider myself somewhat of a pizza expert! As far as pizza in Jax, I like Picasso's quite a bit, but their homemade sausage (at least when I had it) was "flat" - it lacked enough salt. Which was too bad, because homemade sausage, if made correctly (salt and fennel seed are "musts"), is the bomb over commercially made stuff. I've had Brooklyn Pizza on San Jose - very good - nice owner - he was testing garlic knots the night I stopped in and he gave me some for free, they were great, but I haven't been back lately, so don't know if they made it on to the menu (BTW - he told me the Brooklyn on Baymeadows is his first franchisee). I've had Vinny's on Beach Blvd - new owner (Vinny went back to NY) - but it's also very good - their slices are big and only $2 for cheese. Al's is good - used to be my favorite, but I went into the Beach Blvd location once and wanted bacon on my pie, they didn't have any and I thought to myself; why doesn't the mgr just run to the grocery store and buy some? At the time there was a Winn-Dixie in the same plaza!! That kind of made me question their ...commitment, I guess...maybe getting too big for their britches possibly. Well, anyways. There's Paulie's Pizza on Monument, I think it is, back behind the Regency Mall, across from the Hess gas station that has Godfather's in it. Paulie's is GOOD pizza (especially for pizza baked in a conveyor type oven) and their garlic knots are awesome - swimming in garlic butter - not low fat, but freakin' good. I also heard that Paulie's has opened another location over in the Merrill/Rogero area. I've been to the Renna's on Baymeadows and it's not bad, but like was said earlier in this thread, you need to eat the pizza there (or do that par bake thing). When they put slices in a box - fuggedaboudit - they turn soft and floppy (they stretch the dough a little thin, I think). My current favorite in Jax...drum roll...Paulie's (Vinny's is a close second).

I'm here from San Antonio working and plan to try several more pizza places that I've never been to, so I will report if possible. If anyone is going to San Antonio, let me know - we have several very good pizzerias there I can direct you to (Big Lou's, Florio's, Rome's, just to name a few).

My alltime favorite pizza - Lou Malnati's (deep dish) in Chicago. Another good Chicago pizza that is not deep dish is Home Run Inn, particularly the location on the southside behind the outfield of the old Comiskey Park (hence the name). Also, I really like Fortel's Pizza Den in the St. Louis area, the original one in Affton. If you're ever in Bloomington, IL - Lucca Grill downtown - awesome. And finally, two "hometown" favorites: O'Scugnizzo on Bleeker Street in Utica, NY and Capri Pizza on Utica St. in Oriskany, NY (a suburb of Utica). Capri makes a very unusual style of pizza called, well, "Capri Pizza". They take a couple pies worth of dough, put it in a rectangular pan, let it rise, cover it with grated mozzarella, then mash the mozzarella down into the dough, cover with some sauce, sprinkle some oregano and parmesan on top and bake until done - very unique - give it a try if you like to bake pizza at home.

[vdecapio]

I've been getting my calzones from Brooklyn Pizza on Baymeadows and my slices from Angelo's on Baymeadows.

[jimbo13]

bgsntst: lou malnati's is good stuff. it took me a few times eating it, but it's become my favorite here in chicsgo as well. matter of fact, i know what dinner's gonna be now.

[bg2ntst]

Originally Posted by vdecapio

I've been getting my calzones from Brooklyn Pizza on Baymeadows and my slices from Angelo's on Baymeadows.

Where on Baymeadows is Angelo's? I'll give it a shot at lunch.

[bg2ntst]

Oh yeah, my mistake on Home Run Inn being near Comiskey Park. That was some other joint. Home Run got it's name when some local kid playing baseball out in front in the street hit the ball through the front window as the owner's were getting ready to open for business. Read it today on their website.

[bg2ntst]

I forgot to mention Luigi's on University. Their pizza is pretty good, too. Their pasta, though...they give you huge portions and their sauce, meatballs and sausage are pretty good, too, but they told me they pre-boil the macaroni and then finish it off when you order, so it's kinda soft and a little mushy. I like pasta "al dente".

[jazzie]

Al's Pizza definitely. They also sell by the slice and sell Sicilian style pizzas and thin crusts.

[vdecapio]

I don't like Al's because they don't know what fresh mozzarella is. They think when you order fresh mozzarella as an additional topping that you just ordered extra cheese. They have no idea that fresh mozzarella is entirely different texture/flavor than your traditional american mozzarella.

I just can't get over it Al's pizza.