The Biggest Loser: Ole Piper
There are tons of pizza places South of the River and yet all of them claim to have the best pizza. I have tried many and even dedicated entire posts to some but what I have never done is sat down and offered a side by side comparison so that you could get a better idea of what the best plain cheese pizza in the area happens to be. Well, following a suggestion from reader sui generis and the gracious offering of Mr. and Mrs. Marcos’ house as a test site, I assembled a group of 11 testers who were ready to answer the question, “who has the best pizza in the South Metro?”
sui generis, Thought Leader, and I put our heads together and came up with a list of the pizza places we thought should be compared. We decided to have a national brand, in this case Papa John’s, to give a point of reference in the analysis. We then chose 7 local pizzas: Brianno’s in Eagan, Ole Piper Inn and Goodfella’s in Lakeville, J’s Restaurant and LS Pizza Shack in Bursville, Red’s Savoy in Eagan (this one was suggested by bb stacker even though it’s not only available in the South Metro), and Pilot Knob Pizzeria in Farmington. While we certainly did not even come close to hitting all of the local places around town, we figured this would offer a pretty good cross section of some of the more popular places to get pizza South of the River. Pizza prices ran between $9.50 (J’s Restaurant) to $11.77 (Goodfellas) and averaged $10.35.
Next item on the agenda was to come up with the metrics to compare and the comparison process. First we decided that all the pizzas had to be cheese. This would eliminate the issues with additional toppings and their quality–yeah, most people don’t eat plain cheese pizzas but it’s just easier to judge that way and it brings it down to what the basics of a pizza are: crust, cheese, and sauce. Second we planned to judge the pizzas on general appearance, smell, crust, sauce, cheese, and taste. I employed the 5 point Likert scale and suggested that a rating of ’1′ is “Strongly Dislike” and ’5′ is “Strongly Prefer” with 3 being about middle of the road. Next we decided to do it all blind and assign the pizzas numbers (Thought Leader opted to forgo voting and did all the hard work of keeping track of the pizzas by number and cutting them up for everyone). Each person was to get a portion of the pie which included the crust and went about rating it as they saw fit. An additional comment box, suggested by sui generis, was provided so people could offer their thoughts on each pizza via the written word.
And here are the results in order from 1st to 8th:
| Restaurant | Appearance | Smell | Crust | Sauce | Cheese | Taste | Score | Percent |
| Goodfellas Bar and Grill | 3.73 | 3.18 | 3.73 | 3.91 | 3.91 | 4.00 | 22.45 | 74.85% |
| Papa John’s Pizza | 3.55 | 2.91 | 3.36 | 2.45 | 2.91 | 3.18 | 18.36 | 61.21% |
| Red’s Savoy Eagan | 2.91 | 2.82 | 2.55 | 2.82 | 3.36 | 3.27 | 17.73 | 59.09% |
| J’s Restaurant | 3.73 | 2.73 | 2.45 | 2.27 | 3.27 | 2.67 | 17.12 | 57.07% |
| Pilot Knob Pizzeria | 3.09 | 2.55 | 2.40 | 2.73 | 2.82 | 2.91 | 16.49 | 54.97% |
| LS Pizza Shack | 2.55 | 2.36 | 2.18 | 2.82 | 2.82 | 2.82 | 15.55 | 51.82% |
| Brianno’s | 2.64 | 2.00 | 1.91 | 2.18 | 2.55 | 2.73 | 14.00 | 46.67% |
| Ole Piper | 2.27 | 2.36 | 2.30 | 2.09 | 2.18 | 2.09 | 13.30 | 44.33% |
As you can see, all the hype surrounding Goodfellas in Lakeville is apparently true. Based on the pizzas we had tonight, Goodfellas ran away with the title scoring first in every single category (tied for 1st in “appearance”) ending up with a 22.45 out of a possible 30 points!
Of all the comments provided, only Brianno’s had consistent comments among the panel of taste testers. 5 of the 11 people scoring mentioned that Brianno’s was greasy and two of those noted nothing else for the other seven pizzas. So, if grease is something you like I’d suggest heading to Brianno’s for a pie right now.
So what do you think about our fun little pizza taste test and the results? Do you agree with how the pizzas stacked up? What was the biggest surprise for you? What other foods would you like to see us taste test in the South Metro (wings are already on the list so feel free to submit which restaurants you’d like to see participate)? Whatever you have to say about the South Metro Pizza Taste Test, go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts!
See all the pictures from the South Metro Pizza Taste Test on Flickr here.
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January 10th, 2010 at 8:13 am
We had a great time hosting, I didn’t partake in the voting part since I was in the kitchen working on other snacks while Thought Leader cut the pizzas.
Mr Marcos really enjoyed the “Goodfellas” pizza, I think I can talk him in to visiting for sit down service. I liked the Papa John’s Pizza….but that would be typical for me (typical, normal pizza, nothing fancy).
Thank you to everyone that participated, we enjoyed getting to know all of you a bit more!
Also, big thank you to the guest that gifted us with a bottle of wine!
January 10th, 2010 at 8:22 am
Heh… My two favorite ended up in the bottom half of the list. Guess I’ll be going out for pizza alone. Goodfellas was in my top 3 though, so I guess I’m not a total oddball. Well organized event Bill, and we had a decent cross section if ages evaluating from children on up.
January 10th, 2010 at 8:31 am
Lazy Lightning South Metro Pizza Taste Test: http://tinyurl.com/y86hrya
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
January 10th, 2010 at 8:34 am
Want to know the best pizza in the South Metro? RT @SouthMetroNews: Lazy Lightning South Metro Pizza Taste Test: http://tinyurl.com/y86hrya
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
January 10th, 2010 at 9:03 am
Papa Johns is #2? We’re you all drinking before you started doing this? Seriously, that’s the worst pizza on the plant, we typically would order “go hungry” before we’d order Papa Johns. Uhhhh.
Piper is pretty shiity too.. Sad to say I’ve never found Red’s Savoy to live up to the hype. Hey uh.. didn’t see Ramy’s on the list? The Sank Household has a difference of opinion on Ramy’s.. I love it, Mrs S thinks the sauce is too sweet.
I’ve never found a pizza as good as Round Table from California here the Midwest. RT was is chain but man do they do a good fully loaded pizza, not to mention it weighs about 10lb’s when all the shit is piled on.. Mmmmmm delicious. Also had the greatest ads in the history of Pizza.
“this is how the other guys make their dough…” new dolt voice.”Go the Freezer.. get the box…… I’m HELPING..”. still cracks me up and I use the quote in business all the time.
January 10th, 2010 at 9:05 am
Funny, Ole Piper is our family’s favorite pizza. But we’ve never tried any of the others. Now we have to go on a pizza tour!
January 10th, 2010 at 9:35 am
Thanks for this amazing public service, Bill (and Mr. and Mrs. Marcos and the rest of you). Sorry we couldn’t make it yesterday. Would have been great to see everyone and to taste all of these different pies. Off to Goodfellas…
January 10th, 2010 at 10:09 am
ummmm, another taste test on the horizon excluding the aforementioned establishments!
bb
January 10th, 2010 at 10:29 am
I love Red Savoy – no other place piles on the toppings like they do. Since most people do not get cheese pizza, I think that would have been a good item to compare. Maybe the next round could include a sausage & pepperoni pizza, or a mushroom & sausage. This would compare how some places skimp and others pile it on.
BTW – love the new logo.
January 10th, 2010 at 11:23 am
Depends on the toppings available. Am a huge fan of saurkraut and canadian bacon. Ole’ Piper does that one right. Savoy’s rocks. Will have to do the tour.
January 10th, 2010 at 11:51 am
I’ve never been a fan of savoy’s, and it finished toward the bottom for me. I simply hate their sauce. But that’s the thing, it is definately a unique sauce. There are others that will love it as much as I dislike it. And again, it appears I am in a small minority as to my opinions of what makes a good pizza. Then again, I like peanut butter on hotdogs!
January 10th, 2010 at 11:57 am
Wow. Thank you all for doing this. Definitely will check out Goodfellas when a friend comes to visit.
This particular post rates it’s own bookmark for now.
More pizza or hamburgers next…
January 10th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
For those of you who are interested in the locations of these pizza places, you can use this Google map to help.
January 10th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Looks like I have some pizza’s to try. That Goodfella’s picture instantly made my mouth water, I’ve gotta try that. I’ve had Ole Piper a couple times and couldn’t quite understand why that place is always packed to the walls because the pizza is terrible.
Future Taste tests I’d like to see: Burgers, Sushi, Mexican.
Great idea BTW.
January 10th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
Thanks for the taste test. I have only had 3 of the offerings on the menu. I detest Papa John’s, liked Red Savoy (the one with sauerkraut and eaten at the location in St. Paul after many cans of MHL) and Ole Piper is greasy and nothing special. This make me want to try Goodfellow’s! We recently had Broadway and I was sadly disappointed in both the garbage and pepperoni pies. Has anyone tried Panino Brothers? I have been wantong to give them a whirl.
January 10th, 2010 at 5:40 pm
Oops, can you delete one? It timed out and then there were two entries.
January 10th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
This is great! Since pizza is my favorite choice for any meal, I love this! Haven’t been to Goodfella’s but I see a date night in my future to this place! OR…how about a blogger meet up there? :)
January 10th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
I was laughing. I thought this exact thing. I like Ole Piper! Trying to decide if I should try some of the others or just accept that whatever gets high marks here I’ll hate and whatever is trashed I’ll love.
Just wanted to add my appreciation for taking the time and effort though!
January 10th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
We need an edit button! ha ha.. why didn’t my quote work?
January 10th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
Andrew, use < and > instead of [ and ].
January 10th, 2010 at 11:40 pm
This is great, sorry I couldn’t make it! I actually considered cancelling our plans for it. Oh well, next time…after all, there are other pizza places to conquer.
January 11th, 2010 at 8:41 am
I have a question for the testers…even though it was a blind taste test were you able to figure out what pizzas you were eating based on the crust, sauce, etc? I am just curious to find out if you could guess right.
January 11th, 2010 at 8:57 am
i couldn’t. there were either slices or squares and all looked similar. they could have been from anywhere.
bb
January 11th, 2010 at 9:10 am
[...] Roehl numerically compares the qualities of pizzas by Papa John’s against Goodfellas Bar and Grill against Brianno’s against Pilot Knob Pizzeria [...]
January 11th, 2010 at 9:16 am
Koszmo, the only one that stood out to me was Papa John’s but that wasn’t until after I had eaten it. The taste was immediately recognizable after taking into account the rest of the piece that I had in front of me.
Aside from Goodfellas, which looked similar to PJ’s, the rest of them were your typical Midwestern style pizza with cracker thin crusts, not enough sauce, and too much cheese. That made it a bit more difficult to discern which was which.
January 11th, 2010 at 9:34 am
Sounds like a wonderful experiment but I agree with Sank’s comment….Papa John’s was #2????? How the heck did that happen???
January 11th, 2010 at 9:59 am
Sank, you might want to journey over to Old World Pizza in Inver Grove Heights (5816 Blaine Ave), just off 52 by the Gerten’s complex.
Don’t do the lunch buffet or anything else. Go right for the “Top of the Line” pizza — not only is it good, but it sounds like your “fully loaded” style. The toppings are at least 2″ thick…it’s a monster. Add sauerkraut at your own risk.
I’d gladly help you eat it.
January 11th, 2010 at 10:09 am
Papa John’s was not my #2 on that list, it ranked towards the bottom along with Ole Piper, a big grease ball. PJ’s was the one pizza I knew right away. Someone needs to open a Cosetta’s in the south metro.
January 11th, 2010 at 10:12 am
I hadn’t had Cosetta’s in a few years but we were there recently for lunch. Not only was the bill insanely high (nearly $30 for two people for lunch) but the food was “meh” at best. You’re much better off going to the restaurant at the MN History Center and eating there. It’s cheaper, better for you, and actually tastes decent.
I’ll pass on a Cosetta’s in the South Metro TYVM.
January 11th, 2010 at 10:14 am
Blah, blah, blah is all I saw in there.
January 11th, 2010 at 10:16 am
Nils, if I remember correctly you always note how Little Caesar’s is the best value pizza around. For someone who is willing to pay $5 for an entire shitty pizza because it’s cheap, I have a hard time understanding how you can pay nearly $4 for a single slice of equally crappy pizza. I’m sorry but that just does not compute.
January 11th, 2010 at 10:18 am
The difference is I don’t consider LC as good pizza. My opinion is Cosetta’s is good, so I would pay more for good pizza. Your assuming my opinion is the same as yours.
January 11th, 2010 at 11:01 am
I LOVE Cossetta’s pizza!!
January 11th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
I hate pizza, but I think I would make an exception after looking at the pictures of Goodfellas cheese pizza. I might have to take the wife on down for date night sometime because she loves pizza.
Thanks guys & gals for taking the time to be of service!
My wife’s only follow-up question was if expecting Mrs. Roehl was a judge? How different was her top picks?
January 11th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Papa John’s, Red Savoy and Brianno’s are the only ones I’ve had from that list and I’m surprised to see Brianno’s score so low. Yes, due to the ton of cheese they pile on, it is greasy, but good. Papa John’s is not worth ordering and Red Savoy, I agree with another of the commenter’s, doesn’t live up to the hype. Umbria is our hands down favorite…any of their pizzas.
January 11th, 2010 at 12:09 pm
I am entirely shocked that Papa Johns finished so high. Other than that, no real reaction, as I dont eat Cheese Pizza.
I am pretty sure I could tell Papa Johns at first bite. That weird crust and awful sauce. I also think I could recognize Reds Savoy, as noted above they have a pretty distinctive sauce, with a different, almost spicy taste.
Cool review though.
January 11th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
She was. Her top choice was Goodfellas. She had a two way tie for second between Papa John’s and J’s and her bottom two were the same. Looks like she was in line w/the rest of the field.
January 11th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Thanks for this. My main complaint with Cossetta’s is too much salt. Otherwise I like the large NY-style type slice, like the dough, like the cheese they use and basically like the sauce. And like that they throw them up in the air! I’ve had homemade pizza with their dough, quite good.
January 11th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Chad wrote:
Dude, I tried. Seriously, what a waste of good pizza to not put any tasty toppings on it!
January 11th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Nils wrote:
January 11th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
According to Bill, all of our opinions about Cossetta’s are invalid. ;)
January 11th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Once when my in-laws were in town we went to Cossetta’s (they’re Italian and happen to love it…so their endorsement trumps Bill’s dislike). Anyway, it was really busy in there and I was wandering around checking out the freezer entrees while waiting for the cafeteria line to move forward. I saw something I didn’t recognize so I went over to where Mr Marcos and his parents were standing and asked his mom “What does ‘puttanesca’ mean?” Yikes, the look his mom gave me! Then she said “WHO CALLED YOU THAT?” and I got a little scared and said “Nobody called me that, I saw it on some frozen pasta sauce!” Then she started laughing…apparently ‘puttanesca’ is slang for whore! I thought my mother-in-law was going to start breaking knee caps until I told her I hadn’t been verbally insulted.
January 11th, 2010 at 3:29 pm
So Cosetta’s sells ‘whore sauce’?
January 11th, 2010 at 3:30 pm
Great story by the way.
January 11th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
And, nice to know that the mother in law has your back. :)
January 11th, 2010 at 5:40 pm
Puttanesca sauce is a classic Italian sauce for pasta.
January 11th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
Ole Piper happens to be the go-to pizza for delivery in the house hold. If we’re picking up, it’s Broadway Pizza, mostly because I like their Deep Dish sausage pizza, and the wife likes their pasta. I guess we’ll have to go on a tour to try some other places. The one thing with Ole Piper is that their pizza is hit and miss. One order might be so good it makes you want more. the next order will look similar to your picture. Personally that picture looks over cooked for my taste. My wife likes it like that.
For sure will need to try the Pilot Knob Pizzeria. When it was Ted’s Pizza we tried it a couple times but after two tries, it just didn’t taste good. Thanks for the great service. At a minimum, it’ll get us out and about. I’ll be able to check in with foresquare at somewhere other than Cub or the bowling alley.
January 11th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
MSPD- Time and date and we’ll doo’r.
BTW I forgot about Pizza Biga in MPLS. Yuppie thin crust pizza but OH so GOOD.
January 11th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
Carbones thin crust in Eagan is my favorite pizza, but I am going to see what Goodfellas is like after seeing these results.
January 11th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
Nils wrote:
Yes, in the freezer section…which makes me think she is a frigid whore.
Niles wrote:
Thanks! :) My mother-in-law rocks. Seriously.
The lovely Whit wrote:
Heck yeah, for some reason she loves me (I don’t question her reasoning, don’t want her to change her mind and/or break my knee caps).
Sandy wrote:
Uh, yeah, she explained what ‘puttanesca’ was after taking off her Hulk Hogan hands, I’m quite aware now!
Mrs Marcos
Uh, yeah, mother-in-law explained what was ofter she put away her prison made shiv.
January 12th, 2010 at 9:32 am
So, Mrs. Marcos, would a “puttanesca di Coca Cola” then be roughly translated as a “Coke Whore” ?? ;-)
January 13th, 2010 at 8:59 am
More proof how highly subjective pizza opinions are. Interesting taste test though. I would like to have seen Carbone’s and maybe a couple others just out of curiosity.
MSPD – I agree. Old World is delicious, even the lunch buffet. :)
Bill – Cossetta’s expensive? Just get the small mostaccioli for 5.95 with garlic bread and be done with it. Very tasty.
Also, I’m still looking for recommendations on deep dish pizza (I appreciate all styles) in Minnesota. Please post if anyone has been wowed by anything.
January 17th, 2010 at 7:57 am
ok, based on the R.P.G.S. (Roehl Pizza Grading Scale) i got a pizza from the winner of the tasting test, goodfellas last night. it wasn’t the best and i won’t be going back. we got a large hand tossed 1/2 peperonni, 1/2 sausage.
appearance, 2
smell, 3
crust, 2
sauce, 2
cheese, 2
taste, 2
maybe some 2 1/2′s in there factoring in we had to nuke it because of the driving distance from the homestead, but all in all we both thought it was lousy. there were maybe 5 slices of peperonni, maybe. the sausage was like ground beef, spread thin and no taste.
very little sauce. cheese was so so.
our next test will be from the others we haven’t either tried or haven’t tried for a long time.
that’d be j’s, pilot knob, ls, briannos and ole piper not in that order.
bb
January 17th, 2010 at 10:59 am
That would be “putana di Coca Cola” if we want to be linguistically correct (I lived in Italy when I was little and still remember the swear words and insults…)
January 17th, 2010 at 7:39 pm
Sweet, thanks for the clarification, UPTM! *off to CafePress to make myself a shirt*
Wait, what is the word for “Always” (as in “Always Coca Cola”)
January 17th, 2010 at 7:57 pm
Who picked the pizza? Next time more anchovies! sheesh ><
January 17th, 2010 at 10:05 pm
Sank Sank Sank, just because you midwesterners think a “slice” of pizza should resemble a saltine with a little ketchup and a slab of curd sludge is no reason to put down Papa Johns.
I didn’t participate in the taste test, mostly because I could tell from across the room that I wouldn’t want to have to choke down any of the crunchy little square wafers. I probably would have gone hungry if it weren’t for the fact that Goodfellas read somewhere (probably PJs website) that dough is supposed to rise and sauce is applied with a ladle not a brush. They also seem to know what “large” means as there were plenty of leftovers even after the 13 critics had their fill. I didn’t see any leftovers from Papa Johns, but I’m guessing the other non-participants took one look at the other pies and jumped on PJs like white on rice.
I have been all over Italy and the pizza varies greatly, but it can universally be described as “heavy bread with lots of sauce”. FYI, the picture is of a friend of mine at a pizza place in NYC, another place that does pizza right. Note that the slice is bent, not cracked in the middle. :P
January 17th, 2010 at 10:13 pm
btw Bill, thanks for allowing us peons to add photos!
January 18th, 2010 at 8:09 am
That is an impressive slice of pizza right there.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:14 am
[...] with the results, however, Lazy Lightning points to their very own South Metro Pizza Taste Test, topped by Goodfellas Bar and Grill. [...]
February 25th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
I would have used Broder’s as the standard of comparison, even though they’re not quite south enough at 50th & Penn.
Here’s a very interesting and thorough deconstruction/reverse engineering of pizza that ended up being the start of a pizzeria in Atlanta, of all places:
http://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm
February 25th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
I had pizza from Goodfellas last night. Had the Goodfellow. The pizza was good. The cheese was good, and plentiful. The toppings were pretty solid, and the crust was tasty.
All that said, its not really my kind of pizza, so I dont think we will be regulars.
The actually location was nice, small and busy, which made it seem very lively. Service was very good. I would actually say its a good example of how a small space can sometimes be a plus by providing a great atmosphere. The crowd seemed very blue collar, and very local.
All in all, it seemed like a decent place to stop for a beer and a bite to eat. I hope they do well.
August 30th, 2010 at 11:12 am
I wasn’t sure where to put this post so I stuck it here. SO & I went into a local pizza chain this past weekend to order a pizza for takeout. While we were there waiting SO noticed that on the shelves in the pizza prep area were many #10 cans of “tomato ketchup”. He nudges me and points this out. I think to myself there must be some logical explanation for this right? But try as I might I couldn’t think of one, other than the pizzas are made with ketchup. But that can’t be right can it? Who makes pizza with ketchup? I have to admit we were perplexed. When I tasted the pizza the only thing I noticed was how sweet the sauce is. That could be the ketchup as it is sweet and most of the commercially prepared stuff contains HFCS. Could this be some new Midwest pizza recipe that I’m not familiar with? Some kind of cost cutting measure? I admit I’m stumped. Anyone have an idea of what the ketchup could be for? They don’t sell French fries for what it’s worth.
August 30th, 2010 at 11:14 am
TIU, gross.
August 30th, 2010 at 11:31 am
Sometimes restaurants will order crap like for decoration to give the impression that they are actually cooking something. I imagine 10# cans of ketchup look the same as 10# cans of roma tomatoes, but at a fraction of the cost.
Or…well…they are using ketchup as a sauce base.
August 30th, 2010 at 11:32 am
That was my thought too. Needless to say I don’t think we’ll be going back.
August 30th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
X-posted with MSPD. My thought was that this was gross. As this place has no dine in area the decoration would never be seen.
January 15th, 2012 at 3:19 pm
Free pizza!
This month (January 2012), check in at Axel’s Bonfire in Eagan using Foursquare and get a free pizza. No purchase necessary. No stupid conditions such as for the mayor only.
Not the best pizza in the world but I had the Margherita and it was decent. And the price was right.
January 15th, 2012 at 3:55 pm
I would rather eat my own poop than eat at Bonfire again.
January 15th, 2012 at 6:12 pm
Saw that one coming a mile away.
January 15th, 2012 at 6:19 pm
Ozzie, I’m sorry. The last thing I want to see, from any distance, is lefty’s own poop.
January 15th, 2012 at 7:03 pm
You say that as if there is some poop you would want to see…:)