Last night I had originally planned on eating leftovers from the enchiladas we had with the gang the night before but as the day went on I found myself eating most of the leftovers for lunch and a midday snack. After that, I told Kim I thought we were going to have hot dogs and sauerkraut but I remembered that my horseradish mustard was at work in the fridge and because no one should eat hot dogs with anything other than sauerkraut, mustard and possibly red onions, I decided we needed to have something else entirely. We had a couple of frozen pizzas in the freezer but the rest of our food was either too thin for dinner on a Sunday or frozen solid. So I did the obvious: ordered out for pizza.
We have been getting fliers for Umbria Gourmet Pizza for quite some time and they have always looked impressive. Rarely do you get something from a pizza place that is not bundled with other trash, looks glossy and comes with as many coupons as this one does. I must admit that advertising worked to get a customer…
I couldn’t find our most recent flier from them, even though it arrived just the other day, so I looked them up online and called instead of ordering on the web. They had a little asterisk next to Apple Valley for a limited delivery area so the first thing I asked was whether or not they would deliver to my address. He said that they deliver to all of Apple Valley so I guess their website and fliers are wrong. After some communication errors over my address as well as a 5 minute wait on hold while he tried to find the incorrect address he thought I said first, we were set. $21.96 and 40 minutes I was told…
I ordered the Rancho Chicken which is listed as a “Umbria Signature Pizza” and includes grilled chicken breast, smoked bacon, Canadian bacon, green peppers, fresh tomatoes, green onions, ranch, cheddar and mozzarella cheeses. This is very similar to a pizza we used to get in college except Kim wouldn’t order it with anything except cheese, ranch, and chicken. I like all that extra shit and because it’s on the menu like that, I assume it should be eaten that way as well.
The pizza arrived in exactly 39 minutes and was still quite warm as opposed to Linwood Pizza in Apple Valley which is quite a bit closer, took longer, and was cold when it arrived. Their special was a side order of garlic bread for free so I got that as well. I opened the garlic bread and found quite a few pieces of bread with a small container of marinara. The marinara was kinda lame and the garlic bread was pretty salty but was soft and well coated with butter. I’d eat the bread again but would ask for something other than their marinara to dip it in. The pizza looked great. It’s rare that I open a pizza in Minnesota, especially one from a local chain, and find it cut correctly and looking so tasty!
I grabbed two plates, peeled off a slice for myself and then one for Kim and added a piece of garlic bread with marinara sauce to each and dug in. The crust was doughy (the way I prefer it) the pizza was cheesy, meaty, and excellent. Kim wasn’t a fan as she wants her chicken ranch pizzas boring as hell but I thought everything was pretty much top notch… I immediately posted to Twitter the shortest and most accurate review of this particular pizza:
Quite possibly the best pizza I’ve eaten in Minnesota — whatever that’s worth.
Kim looked over the menu and said while she wouldn’t get this one again because of all the extra stuff on it that she doesn’t like, there are some other pizzas offered that she would definitely order instead. My only complaint for the entire pizza was that the smoked bacon flavor was a little over the top and I could taste it with every bite. Other than that, I’d order this every single time we ordered out for pizza.
Address:
Umbria Gourmet Pizza
1965 Cliff Lake Road
Eagan, MN 55122
Phone:
651-332-5332
Hours:
Sunday to Thursday: 11am - 9pm
Friday and Saturday: 11am - 10pm
See all the pictures from tonight on Flickr here (mobile).
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June 16th, 2008 at 8:27 am
How ironic that you review Umbria after I just did some advertising work for their Eden Prairie location. Interesting to hear about a good pizza restaurant when so many flat out suck.
June 16th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Just remember, I am no Aaron Landry when it comes to pizza blogging!
June 16th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
I love the pizza at Umbria. It’s a bit on the pricey side but in this case you definitely get what you pay for. The Manhattan Meat Lover’s is my favorite. The pizza arrives at a good temperature and cut in what i think is the correct manner. Both big pluses in my book.
June 16th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
You’re right, it is a bit on the expensive side but I have ordered from other local places (Carbone’s, Ole Piper, Linwood) and chains (mostly Papa John’s) and found that the few extra dollars ($22 instead of $18.50 - to $21 or so) is well worth it IMO.
June 16th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
I agree. I have ordered from Umbria twice (the spinach one and a custom one with chicken, onions and mushrooms) and thought it was great. I am relatively new to Apple Valley and heard one horror story of how long it took to deliver to AV (1.5+ hours) so it sounds like they have improved that service — I ordered from Eagan both times and it didn’t take too long.