The last time I was in Aldi in December, I noticed that they had a knock-off of a California Pizza Kitchen Pizza. I wanted to try it BUT I was not cooking that evening.

I don't know if they have these in IL, but the "Lotza Mozza" pizzas are mighty tasty here in Wisconsin. Generally they run about $6.99 but I picked up a few on a B1G1 sale and Pick n save. I am not an extra cheese lover but these are darn good.

Ok, just between us...most of ya'll know I own a restaurant and we make a really good pizza so this can't get out. When I'm in the mood for something quick and easy, I have perhaps been known to put a "Davis Brothers" frozen sausage pizza in my oven at home. Shhh...if this gets out I'm screwed.

But seriously, no frozen is as good as good fresh, but in a pinch at least this brand doesn't taste like cardboard like nearly every other frozen disc sitting in the freezer. In full disclosure, I always sprinkle a bit of garlic, dried basil and oregano over it.

If you see one, give it a try. But...don't tell them I sent you.

The short answer is no, but subject to only two imaginable exceptions: 1) you live in a zip code with no acceptable pizza places, something lamentably common in the US, and you limit yourself to one per year, preferably during a polar vortex, or, 2) you spent 9 hours the prior evening drinking pints of J. W. Dant with Guinness chasers, finishing up the night weeping in your car over an open can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew and a plastic fork, and desperately crave a home hangover remedy the next morning.

I follow pretty strictly the practice that I never prepare any food at home that is made much better in a restaurant within a reasonable commute of my house, e.g., pizza, pad thai (or anything Thai), tacos de lengua, fugu (admittedly a longer commute). The opposite side of that practice, if I make it better than all the restaurants in town, I only eat it at home, e.g., spaghetti alle vongole or puttanesca, coda alla vaccinara, or BBQ ribs (with undisguised reverence for and deep gratitude to GWiv for showing me how).

Choey wrote:... you spent 9 hours the prior evening drinking pints of J. W. Dant with Guinness chasers, finishing up the night weeping in your car over an open can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew and a plastic fork, and desperately crave a home hangover remedy the next morning.
.....

Choey-

This made me laugh out loud. Thanks for the chuckle.

I fear that 60610 is one of those zip codes when it comes to pizza. :/

stevez wrote:

maxpower wrote:Woodmans in Kenosha also carries Vito and Nicks frozen pizza which is a fav of mine when it comes to frozen pizza.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=21218&start=120

They started carrying these at Happy Foods in downtown Edgebrook.

Picked one up at Fresh Farms in Niles this past weekend - they've got several varieties. Haven't tried it, though.

Kid Charlemagne wrote:

stevez wrote:

maxpower wrote:Woodmans in Kenosha also carries Vito and Nicks frozen pizza which is a fav of mine when it comes to frozen pizza.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=21218&start=120

They started carrying these at Happy Foods in downtown Edgebrook.

Picked one up at Fresh Farms in Niles this past weekend - they've got several varieties. Haven't tried it, though.

Ugh! Vito and Nick's II frozen pizza is HORRIBLE (as are most of them, but this is really bad).

Ram4 wrote:Ugh! Vito and Nick's II frozen pizza is HORRIBLE (as are most of them, but this is really bad).

I thought the Vito and Nick's frozen were pretty good. As it stands I rotate between the V&N, Home Run Inn and the newer Screamin' Sicilian as my frozen pizzas of choice.

spinynorman99 wrote:

Ram4 wrote:Ugh! Vito and Nick's II frozen pizza is HORRIBLE (as are most of them, but this is really bad).

I thought the Vito and Nick's frozen were pretty good. As it stands I rotate between the V&N, Home Run Inn and the newer Screamin' Sicilian as my frozen pizzas of choice.

Sorry spiny, but I have to agree with Ram4 as I've purchased several of V&N II's Sausage and Mushroom frozen pizzas over the last few months at Brookhaven Marketplace in Darien and they are absolutely the best cracker thin crust frozen pizza on the market. Especially true when you cook them 'extra crispy'.

I bought a Screamin' Sicilian Boss Hog pizza the other day at Jewel since it was on-sale. Pretty good for a medium crust frozen pizza.

WCIBN wrote:

spinynorman99 wrote:

Ram4 wrote:Ugh! Vito and Nick's II frozen pizza is HORRIBLE (as are most of them, but this is really bad).

I thought the Vito and Nick's frozen were pretty good. As it stands I rotate between the V&N, Home Run Inn and the newer Screamin' Sicilian as my frozen pizzas of choice.

Sorry spiny, but I have to agree with Ram4 as I've purchased several of V&N II's Sausage and Mushroom frozen pizzas over the last few months at Brookhaven Marketplace in Darien and they are absolutely the best cracker thin crust frozen pizza on the market. Especially true when you cook them 'extra crispy'.

I bought a Screamin' Sicilian Boss Hog pizza the other day at Jewel since it was on-sale. Pretty good for a medium crust frozen pizza.

I liked Vito and Nick's, Ram4 thought they were horrible.

spinynorman99 wrote:
I liked Vito and Nick's, Ram4 thought they were horrible.

Oops!

I guess that's what happens when I post at 5:30am. LOL


Ram4 you're wrong and spiny is right as V&N II's frozen cracker thin crust pizza is excellent!

I have to say guys that I don't know what you are smoking. Not only was that Vito and Nick's frozen horrible and a total letdown (I was so thrilled to try it), but that Screaming Sicilian (Palermo brand) pizza is meh too. It's frozen pizza, so I don't expect much. I was at Woodman's in Kenosha a year ago, where their frozen pizza section is enormous and I took home like 8 local frozen pizzas that were all crap - but I had to try them. You never see so many frozen varieties as you do at Woodman's.

But I know I'm right because if Vito and Nick's II was so good as a frozen pizza, all the stores would carry it like Home Run Inn. They could easily do in store demos like Jewel does. They don't because it's lousy.

I have to admit that if I did see a Vito and Nick's frozen, I'd probably get one more to make sure because I am not usually the one and done type with food. But it was really bad.

I still yearn for the old Freschetta sauce stuffed crust pizza - best frozen ever. It tasted the best. I still prefer thin and crispy style, but it was so good.

Right now, since it's winter and I tend to have some pizza in the freezer, I tend to have at least one Dippin' Pizza (it's a ring of dough and cheese and you can dip it in sauce. I like to add Johnny's Garlic Seasoning to it for flavor and put red pepper in the sauce for heat.

One unusual pizza I love lately is from Costco. They sell a 3 pack ($9.99) of these margherita pizzas (around 10 in) from Italy that normally I'd pass on, but I tried them and really like them. The flavor is really good, and the crust is one of the best I've ever had of a frozen. Plus, it cooks really fast - 7 minutes. It is not a Kirkland brand, so I don't know how long they'll carry it. Costco also carries a 4 pack of their Kirkland thin crust cheese pizzas for $10 that are pretty good too.

Finally had the Vito & Nick's II Pepperoni the other day... it was adequate, nothing terribly good or bad about it. I'm not likely to go out of my way for to get another one.

cito wrote:... I would like to thank "Gleam" for the heads-up on Pep's Pizza. I was at the Kenosha Woodman's last week and they did have 3 or 4 varieties of Pep's. I purchased the sausage version, along with the sausage and mushroom variety.

My impression is that these pizzas are virtually identical to the old-school Tombstones, although possibly with slightly less cheese. This is a curious fact, because the pizza's weight comes in at 22-24 ounces----Same as before.

The sausage was spot-on, spicy gravelly texture.

Last week, they were $3.79 each, or 3/ $ 11.00--- I would be curious to hear other people's opinion of Pep's, I thought they were quite good.

Apparently they're making these under two labels, the other being "Big Ben" (which is what you'll find at Woodman's.) Seems identical to the Pep's labeled pizzas, not sure how the duplicate SKUs makes any sense.

You know you are an LTHer when reading this thread makes you buy a frozen pizza even thought you live right across the street from the excellent Coalfire. Happy to see Mariano's carries Palermo's, although that may be my favorite because of a Milwaukee hometown bias.

Serious eats recently did a taste test of frozen deep dish pizza:

Good & Frozen?

bean wrote:Serious eats recently did a taste test of frozen deep dish pizza:

Good & Frozen?

Not a true comparison. The frozen pizzas should have been from stores only. Uno in the store is an entire different recipe (the corporate one that sucks) and the article picked up one from the original Uno with the classic recipe. Most of us are never going to pick up a frozen Uno downtown. Malnati's on the other hand most of us have access to and it's easily the best frozen deep dish.

Try Doreen's Gourmet frozen pizzas (http://www.doreenspizza.com/). The company is located in Calumet City. I found the products at Jewel and Mariano's (Often on sale at 2 for $10). We've had their cheese, sausage, deluxe, and vegetable varieties. All were pretty good. Watch when you bake the pizza. The top cooks marvelously with a lightly browned cheesy top. But the edge of crust is pretty hard. Next time I cook one, I'm going to wrap foil around the outer crust.

They have two restaurant locations in Dyer, IN and south side of Chicago. The pizzeria web site is at http://doreenspizzeria.com/ .

Per their web site, the Calumet City location has an outlet store and offers additional varieties not sold elsewhere at a retail location.

sme1102 wrote:Try Doreen's Gourmet frozen pizzas (http://www.doreenspizza.com/). The company is located in Calumet City. I found the products at Jewel and Mariano's (Often on sale at 2 for $10). We've had their cheese, sausage, deluxe, and vegetable varieties. All were pretty good. Watch when you bake the pizza. The top cooks marvelously with a lightly browned cheesy top. But the edge of crust is pretty hard. Next time I cook one, I'm going to wrap foil around the outer crust.

They have two restaurant locations in Dyer, IN and south side of Chicago. The pizzeria web site is at http://doreenspizzeria.com/ .

Per their web site, the Calumet City location has an outlet store and offers additional varieties not sold elsewhere at a retail location.

I've eaten their freshly made pizza at the Dyer location and thought it was pretty good.

Doreens Pizzeria
726 Joliet St, Dyer, IN 46311
Phone:(219) 865-9988
10:00 am – 11:30 pm
doreenspizzeria.com

The King Arthur Flour blog has a post today on DIY frozen pizza:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/201 ... h-pizza-2/

Results seem mixed, as there's a lot of food chemistry that goes into commercial frozen pizza.

Jen

Jewel's house brand, "Culinary Circle" has a good very thin crust frozen pizza in various flavors. With some doctoring, they can be passible in a pinch. Also, at 4 for 10.00, the price is right to have a couple in the freezer just in case.

Pie-love wrote:The King Arthur Flour blog has a post today on DIY frozen pizza:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/201 ... h-pizza-2/

Results seem mixed, as there's a lot of food chemistry that goes into commercial frozen pizza.

Jen

Thanks for posting this, Jen! This will be very helpful in my on-going self-home-schooling pizza project.

Katie wrote:

Pie-love wrote:The King Arthur Flour blog has a post today on DIY frozen pizza:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/201 ... h-pizza-2/

Results seem mixed, as there's a lot of food chemistry that goes into commercial frozen pizza.

Jen

Thanks for posting this, Jen! This will be very helpful in my on-going self-home-schooling pizza project.

You're quite welcome-- I'm interested to try it too. Perhaps we can start a new thread with any results?

Cheers, Jen

We taste test frozen pizzas, so you don't have to

"Wow, you must really like pizza!" The grocery store cashier was awestruck by my bounty of freezer-aisle pizza as I strolled up with my cart at 7 a.m. I actively avoided her gaze, even though I could tell she was trying to catch my eye to determine if I, ugh, had the munchies. ....I didn't, of course. I'm a professional.

Let's be honest: None of the pizzas was great.

Not to hijack, but I'd pick this brand and type frozen pizza over most fresh pizza joints, at least up by me.

Sold at Jewel (sometimes 2 for $10), I bake it for 10-12 minutes, then give it about a minute broil. Sometimes I thinly slice a red pepper on it. Sausage is fennely and a little spicy. If I owned a tavern, I'd serve this up anytime.

The other types of Bellatoria ultra thin aren't nearly as good as the sausage.

JoelF wrote:Just ate part of a frozen Gino's East Deep Dish ("Sausage Patty"). At $5 (GFS) to $5.49 (Mariano's) at local stores for a 32-oz pie, that's a darn good deal, considering how that same pie is probably closer to $15 in-store or delivered.

But how does it taste? Better than your average frozen, certainly loads better than Uno's Grille's restaurant version, but not up to a fresh-delivered Malnati's pie. I haven't had a Gino's East in the restaurant for many years, so it's hard to compare there.

And of course, anything one enjoys must be destroyed. I had one of these the other day, and while not awful, it's more of generic deep-dish now. The pie pan is gone (it's packaged in a plastic bag in the box), I haven't seen the slab-o-sausage version, and there's much less sausage in the version available. The sauce is too saucy -- not diced tomatoes, and too sweet. Price was up when I was last in Mariano's ($6), so I'm trying a $5 Eduardo's -- I didn't know they existed in any form anymore (aha -- Oak Park, Chicago and Munster). I'll let you know when I eat it how it is.

jnm123 wrote:Not to hijack, but I'd pick this brand and type frozen pizza over most fresh pizza joints, at least up by me.

Sold at Jewel (sometimes 2 for $10), I bake it for 10-12 minutes, then give it about a minute broil. Sometimes I thinly slice a red pepper on it. Sausage is fennely and a little spicy. If I owned a tavern, I'd serve this up anytime.

The other types of Bellatoria ultra thin aren't nearly as good as the sausage.

Thanks for the mention of this sausage pizza. I've seen this but haven't bought it yet. I'll give it a shot if buy a frozen pizza again. I've been losing weight this year and frozen pizza has been one of the things I've not been buying. I'd rather go out for pizza if I have it.

Not to hijack a thread but, the best frozen pizza I've been enjoying lately are a new find at our local Costco, "Black Label" from Palermo, and their "loaded pan" Screamin' Sicilian. Both in their supreme offering, the veggies are actually as fresh looking and structured as any I've seen in a pizzeria (and I include mine)...the crusts are decent, have real live flavor, sauce is pretty darn tasty and plenty of toppings with decent mozz holding it all together.

Whole Foods has a brand called Table5 that is pretty good. It's not a particularly large pizza, so at its regular price of $7-8 it's a little pricey but it's been on sale a number of times as low as $4.79, and at that price it's about as good as it gets, and I'll pick up a couple anytime I see it at that price point.

It's cornmeal crust, they've got a mushroom, a 4-cheese, and a pepperoni pizza, and it's probably good for one or two people.