Pizza is a unique dish. It's got deep roots in Italy, but Americans have definitely made it their own. As such, it's a great little dish for most occasions. I'm going to dig into the question posed in the title: What's the best pie in Holland, MI? I've got a few qualifiers here: I'm going to focus on Holland, specifically. And, I'm going to omit big chains...that means no Jet's, no Papa Romano's, no Pizza Hut, Domino's, or Little Caesar's. Without further ado, here we go!
My top 3 in no particular order (seriously, I wrote out the paragraphs, then lumped them together...no order whatsoever):
-Petrino's at 16th and River have their signature bread bites; garlic and Parmesan-dusted dough nubs. I really don't want to sound like I'm bagging on them, as they're one of my favorite pizzas in town, but they're a good, greasy pizza. Again, that's not a bad thing. Palermo Pizza is bad greasy, but Petrino's is good greasy. It's a little old-school, and just the right kind of charmingly sketchy...makes you want to jump in a Trans Am and go watch a John Hughes movie with your squeeze.
-Sluggo's, on Holland's North Side, uses the same signature knotted breadsticks with Italian dressing that Spad's pizza used to use. Somewhere in the annals of Teh Intarnetz, there's some sort of story tying the two together, but I don't even remember what the connection was. Might've been on Reddit or the forum at city-data.com. Anyway, they're delicious! They've got a full menu of specialty pizza and subs. There's normal stuff too, pepperoni and sausage or whatever, but they're all about the specialty pies! Try the normal breadsticks with Italian dressing, or their cracked pepper dry rub.
-Crust 54 specializes in Chicago-style deep dish. You will wait for it; 45 minutes to an hour for the pie to get done, but they're incredibly accommodating with the wait, and the pizza is well worth it. Crust 54 drove Giordano's out of town, because Giordano's simply couldn't keep up. Try their Sawzall!
Honorable mentions:
-Skile's Pub on the east end of 8th St. in Downtown is classic pub pizza. According to their Instagram, it's been the name of the game there since 1951! They're a fantastic thin-crust (but not cardboard-thin) pizza with a great dive-bar atmosphere. Try any pizza on their menu with a Miller Lite!
-Fricano's Too was alleged, by some former coworkers, to be the best pizza in the United States. The company I was working for (shortly before I started this blog) was owned by an Italian company. Every month or so, they'd send a contingent of managers and executives here to Michigan to oversee operations for a week or so, and they simply loved Fricanos' pizza moreso than any other local offerings. They're incredibly basic - something like 4 toppings offered (one of which is anchovies), and they don't accept check or cards...cash only.
-CitySen Lounge in the lobby of CityFlatsHotel honestly makes a mean pizza, however, quality is wildly inconsistent. The pizzas themselves vary depending on which employee is making it. 2 of my favorites are their Bronx (their variant of a standard sausage/ham/pepperoni) and the Buffalo Chicken. I have not eaten there since their buyout from Suburban Inns, so we'll see what the menu holds in the future. The taste is usually good, but the inconsistent quality gives them an honorable mention.
My top 3 in no particular order (seriously, I wrote out the paragraphs, then lumped them together...no order whatsoever):
-Petrino's at 16th and River have their signature bread bites; garlic and Parmesan-dusted dough nubs. I really don't want to sound like I'm bagging on them, as they're one of my favorite pizzas in town, but they're a good, greasy pizza. Again, that's not a bad thing. Palermo Pizza is bad greasy, but Petrino's is good greasy. It's a little old-school, and just the right kind of charmingly sketchy...makes you want to jump in a Trans Am and go watch a John Hughes movie with your squeeze.
-Sluggo's, on Holland's North Side, uses the same signature knotted breadsticks with Italian dressing that Spad's pizza used to use. Somewhere in the annals of Teh Intarnetz, there's some sort of story tying the two together, but I don't even remember what the connection was. Might've been on Reddit or the forum at city-data.com. Anyway, they're delicious! They've got a full menu of specialty pizza and subs. There's normal stuff too, pepperoni and sausage or whatever, but they're all about the specialty pies! Try the normal breadsticks with Italian dressing, or their cracked pepper dry rub.
-Crust 54 specializes in Chicago-style deep dish. You will wait for it; 45 minutes to an hour for the pie to get done, but they're incredibly accommodating with the wait, and the pizza is well worth it. Crust 54 drove Giordano's out of town, because Giordano's simply couldn't keep up. Try their Sawzall!
Honorable mentions:
-Skile's Pub on the east end of 8th St. in Downtown is classic pub pizza. According to their Instagram, it's been the name of the game there since 1951! They're a fantastic thin-crust (but not cardboard-thin) pizza with a great dive-bar atmosphere. Try any pizza on their menu with a Miller Lite!
-Fricano's Too was alleged, by some former coworkers, to be the best pizza in the United States. The company I was working for (shortly before I started this blog) was owned by an Italian company. Every month or so, they'd send a contingent of managers and executives here to Michigan to oversee operations for a week or so, and they simply loved Fricanos' pizza moreso than any other local offerings. They're incredibly basic - something like 4 toppings offered (one of which is anchovies), and they don't accept check or cards...cash only.
-CitySen Lounge in the lobby of CityFlatsHotel honestly makes a mean pizza, however, quality is wildly inconsistent. The pizzas themselves vary depending on which employee is making it. 2 of my favorites are their Bronx (their variant of a standard sausage/ham/pepperoni) and the Buffalo Chicken. I have not eaten there since their buyout from Suburban Inns, so we'll see what the menu holds in the future. The taste is usually good, but the inconsistent quality gives them an honorable mention.
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