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The Pizza Struggle is Real

Gainesville's Pizza War 9-23-15

It’s a real thing. The battle over Gainesville’s best pizza. This is the third best way to start a fight at a civilized party (after politics and religion).

Pizza preference is arbitrary. Every special little snowflake thinks their criteria and judgment is the most correct. So to be honest, this is just one special snowflake’s opinion. I’m not getting an in-depth review here. Just a suggestion list.

1) Best Deep Dish – Satchel’s
They make limited quantities, so call ahead to make sure they have it and will start baking it before you even get there. I recommend the garlic, basil, black olive combo of toppings. Satchel’s is cash only but they have an ATM in the building.

Satchel’s Pizza
1800 NE 23rd Ave
Gainesville, FL 32609
Phone: 352-335-7272
www.satchelspizza.com

2) Best Thin Pizza – Italian Gator
It’s a window between Gator City and Jimmy Johns in midtown. Parking options suck because of campus, and there’s limited choices in general. But just get the cheese pizza. It’s hands-down the best regular pizza in town. The crust / sauce / cheese balance is just right.

Italian Gator
1728 W. University Ave.
Gainesville, FL 32603
Phone: 352-367-4600
italiangator.com

3) Best Old Gainesville – Leonardo’s by the Pan
Leo’s hasn’t changed in as long as I can remember. The wooden shingles and faux-stained glass inside. The booths. The crossword on the wall. The sauce is chunky and mysterious. The garlic rolls are tasty, dense dough balls. The pizza is unmistakably handmade. They call it Chicago-style, but it’s old school Gainesville with a touch of hippie.

Leonardo’s Millhopper
4131 NW 16th blvd.
Gainesville, FL 32605
Phone: 352-376-2001
leonardosmillhopper.com

4) Best chain/franchise – Piesano’s
Not going to lie. I do get suckered into chains and franchises, and I’m not going to turn down decent pizza. I have to give props to Piesano’s because of the diversity of their selection and options.

Piesano’s Stone Fired Pizza
check their website for the three locations and contact info:
www.piesanostogo.com

5) Best Late Night Travesty – Five Star
Despite what I feel like the next day, there is nothing like being downtown when the bars are letting out, and catching one of the wandering Five Star guys for cash-for-hot-pizza. You have to sit in the doorway of a closed business and eat it right from the box with friends, burning the shit out of your mouth. If you hate this experience, you’re old and can stay home.

Five Star Downtown
210 SW 2nd Ave
Gainesville, FL 32601
Phone: 352-375-5600
http://www.gatorpizza.com

More you should know about:

Big Lou’s – I’ve had enough pizza here to say it’s hit or miss. When it’s good, it’s great. And when it’s bad, it’s not too bad. Plus it’s nice to sit on the patio downtown and people watch.

Big Lou’s NY Style Pizzeria
5 SE 2nd Ave
Gainesville, FL 32601
Phone: 352-335-7123
www.biglouspizzeria.com

Leonardo’s by the Slice – Part of the Leonard’s 706 & Bistro1245 family, Leo’s by the Slice is a cornerstone of Gainesville pizza, and an integral part of the college experience. Parking is atrocious, and the place is kind of grubby, but the pizza is good and quick. I’ve lived in town long enough to know people who worked there, and have some hesitation about the state of the kitchen. But that’s hearsay for now. I’ll still eat there for old time’s sake.

Leonardo’s by the Slice
1245 W University Ave
Gainesville, FL 32601
Phone: 352-375-2007
www.leonardosgainesville.com

A Perfect Pie – mad props for bringing options to Northeast G’ville. And this guy is from New York. He even has NY plates on his car. So as sketchy as this place might look when you pull up, take a chance to try a hidden NE gem. If you remember Lisa pizza in the mall back in the 90s, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Just a little less greasy.

A Perfect Pie
1818 NE Waldo Rd.
Gainesville, FL 32609
Phone: 352-745-7898
www.aperfectpie.com

Huge note: I have not food-trucked it so I can’t have an opinion about Humble Pie or Ameraucana Wood Fire. Yet.

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A Perfect Pie

Half cheese, half garlic pizza
Half cheese, half garlic pizza
Half cheese, half garlic pizza

Update: A Perfect Pie has left the NE side of town and taken up space in the Oaks Mall. We haven’t been for pizza since (because really, the mall?!), so we can’t tell if they’ve changed much. Boo for loosing one more NE business.

The pizza snobbery in Gainesville is lovely and astounding. We have such a loyalty to our favorite places, and we actually feel proud of our pizza options.  And what makes a pizza good is totally arbitrary, unique to each individual. Yes, I’ll get into the best pizza places in town in a different post.

For the moment, let’s talk about a sketchy little option in the NE part of town.

Wait, I do get grumpy about Northeast Gainesville because it’s the older, poorer side. We have gross roads, few dining options, bad schools, and the atrocity called Wal-mart. It’s straight up working class. The people are blue collar. They’re hard working. They’re diverse. They stretch their dollars from paycheck to paycheck.  And they are largely overlooked. (Putting soap box away.)

Back to Waldo road, between Tacachale and Wal-mart, a few blocks south of UF’s Eastside Campus.  Kind of nestled among the barber shops and the bail bonds offices. And it’s sketchy as shit. No, seriously.

A Perfect Pie. When you drive in, note the cars with New York plates. The hand painted and economy printed signs. The often-renovated building painted with a solid coat of non-descript red and white. My sister and I used to call a place like this a front—a place that inexplicably exists for years, likely because it facilitates other types of business. Not that it’s true of this place. Really.

Short story, you want to try this pizza. It’s good pizza made by people that don’t just toss a pie from a freezer to an oven. My folks are from Philly and this is the kind of place we would go to on our Jersey beach trips. The menu encompasses the kind of stuff you imagine it would (wings, salads, pasta, subs, burgers, deep fried stuff). They even do big sheet pizzas for parties and groups.

The less-short story. The crust is basic. I kind of want it to be more hand tossed. But it’s thin and supports itself. The cheese is mostly real and nicely bubbly and stretchy when it’s hot. The two wins are the sauce and the balance. I’m picky about sauce, and it’s right between sweet and tangy. And balance—the right quantity of crust to sauce to cheese.

It’s big. It reheats well. It’s even good cold with coffee the next day. It’s not going to blow your flip flops off, but you’re going to have a happy belly. Plus it’s a great location on our side of town.

A Perfect Pie
1818 NE Waldo Rd.
Gainesville, FL 32609

Phone: 352-745-7898 / 352-745-7897 / 352-745-7896

www.aperfectpie.com
Jump to menu…
Email: info@aperfectpie.com

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Ginger Brown Sugar Simple Syrup

Ginger Brown Sugar Simple Syrup

You can go to a store and buy simple syrup. I won’t complain. You can even go buy some fancy stuff that’s more than just the basic model.

But…. if you want to save a stupid amount of money and make something really tasty in less time than it takes to boil water, keep reading.

This is the part where I write stuff that’s happy and homey to convince you that I know how to put on an apron or mix a drink. Consider my job done and we’ll move on. I like to drink our house ‘panty dropper’ on occasion, and I’m just not going to buy simple syrup to make it. Here’s how you, too, can do it for yourself.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup brown (or light brown) sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 thumbs worth of fresh ginger
Ginger Brown Sugar Simple Syrup
Ginger Brown Sugar Simple Syrup

Put the sugar and the water in a small sauce pan on medium heat and stir just a little bit.

Peel the ginger and chop it into long, thin slivers, like fat matchsticks. Or however you want. Thin slices lets the good stuff out of the ginger, and longer slices means its easier to keep tabs on the things floating around.

Toss the ginger into a glass jar (I have a stash of Mason jars and pasta and peanut butter jars for these kinds of things).

Bring the water and sugar to heat but not to a boil. It doesn’t have to get super hot. Just enough to dissolve the sugar. Seriously, this should take like 5 minutes and you’re done.

This is HOT still, so let it cool a little, then pour it into the jar with the ginger. Let that cool to the point you can touch it before putting the lid on and putting it in the fridge. Leave it over night for best results so the ginger and the sugar can get all romantic.

I usually leave the ginger in there for the duration of use because it taste better every day. And I also use the ginger for a second round of simple syrup if it’s still fresh enough.

Yes, you can get super creative here and add black peppercorns, orange peel, cranberries, or anything that sounds fun. I love ginger and brown sugar for the drinks I mix. Go wild and have fun!