Romano's macaroni grill

man it has been a long time since i last updated this. sorry to any of you who read this. i have been lazy.

the last post i made was for Giordano's when we went to Chicago. this pizza is from the same weekend. we got to the airport early for our flight home and asked a lady where a good place to eat at the airport was and she recommended the macaroni grill. i was thinking it was going to be like a macaroni and cheese place but it was actually a very nice Italian restaurant. 

when we were seated the server asked what we wanted to drink and while doing this she cracked some salt and pepper onto a small dish and grabbed the olive oil off the table and poured it onto the dish and then brought out a big loaf of bread with our drinks. awesome! that's probably my favorite part about Italian places is the bread that you begin with. so good.

i ordered the margherita pizza which has fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and olive oil. and let me tell you, it was delicious! very light and crispy and made fresh to order. and the best part is the price. only 8 bucks!! score! the pizza only comes in one size, which is 12inches. but that was plenty big enough for me.

we then ended the night with some tiramisu. this was the first time i have ever tried it but man, was it good. i wish i would have ordered my own because i would have woofed that whole boy down.

there are a few locations in Michigan, mainly down in the Detroit area, so if you are ever down that way and want some great Italian at a greater price go check out Romano's macaroni grill.

Giordano's. Chicago, Illinois.

i have heard of how great this pizza was for years. i have seen a few tv programs about the origins of Chicago pizza and they always mention Giordano's as one of the founders, and best, of Chicago pizza.

we went to Chicago this past weekend and this was a top   priority. after hunting down some info online i found that the Hyde Park location was the original location, so that is where we had to go. i figured if we came from flint for some pizza i want the for real deal and not some chain version of it.

everything that i have ever heard of this place was spot on. this pie was delicious! the only place i can compare it to is pizza papalis, which is way up there in my favorite pizzas. Giordano's was far better assembled than pizza papalis. the cheese is thick, the sauce is just right, the inside of the crust is doughy and the outsides are crisp.

the place was actually a lot smaller than i had expected and thought it was a little odd that they did not serve alcohol. the waiter dude laughed at me when i ordered an arnold palmer…he had no idea what it was, pretty funny. but yeah, we started with a spinach artichoke dip and that was top notch. it was served with slices of garlic bread that hit the spot.

if you ever go to Chicago  and you do not go to Giordano's then you are making a gigantic mistake!

johnnys pizza-fenton, mi

first off, thanks mom and dad for my new camera! the pictures i had on this blog sucked! they got me a sony cybershot for christmas that has a "gourmet" setting for taking pictures of food. awesome!

last night me and lana went to johns pizzeria in fenton. i love this place! its basically fentons version of the white horse. its a great place to just relax and enjoy some great food. the service is always good but expect to wait a little for drink refills or anything you request. they seem to take their time and rarely visit the table during your meal, which is cool, i hate when servers ask me every two minutes if everything is ok.

we started off with the salad bar and also got an order of breadsticks. the salad bar was your typical salad bar, nothing special or fancy. the breadsticks are kinda dry and loaded with Parmesan cheese but still pretty good. i always thought that if johnnys had the fenton houses breadstick then it would be the best place ever. ahh well, the pizza is what you come for anyway.

if you like the pizza at the white horse then you will be into johnnys. the topping choices are pretty standard, just like at the horse and the prices are reasonable. we got a medium two topping for 13 dollars and some change. not bad. all in all, you can not go wrong with this place. its a must eat. you wont be disappointed! its the best pizza in fenton as far as i am concerned!

THE WHITE HORSE!!

hands down, best pizza in flint.

i keep writing and re writing this post because i cant seem to put into words how great this place is, so ill just leave it as is. again, best pizza in flint. i dare you to disagree.

bells-lansing, mi

this place is everything that wize guys is not, its one of my favorite places to eat in lansing, and its how a pizza by the slice place should be. they are open till 4am, reheat the pizza you order in the oven, and have a good variety of pizza to chose from. oh yeah, and the older slices are buy one get one! the crust is thick and soft and everything is just good. do they use sauce? never can tell. but who cares! this shit is good!!!
last saturday before we went to the small brown bike show we all went to bells to get a few slices and talk about records and past shows. it was great. my friends rule. and here is what they have to say about bells.

these are tylers slices and his thoughts.

How better to pre-empt a sold out Small Brown Bike show at Macs Bar, than with Bell’s Pizza. Tonight Bell’s was rad… not only because I have super cool friends, but because I got buy 1 get 1 free Pepperoni and Mushroom Slices, and the lady forgot to charge me for my 2 breadsticks. The pizza was average because it was the older stuff, hence BOGO, but it sure set up an awesome night… After also getting hustled in line by spandex north facers I like Lance was pretty bummed, but the... buy one get one slices made up for it.

these next two are from jason kotarski.

The first thing I noticed at Bell’s was the super thick crust. It wasn’t thick like Chicago-style pizza but it was thicker than your everyday slice, and pretty moist too! I decided to try a slice of barbeque chicken which was sweet and gooey in the best sort of way. I was little disappointed with my second slice of ham and pineapple. This slice seemed lacking in sauce. Even with the fantastic crust it was a little dry. For me, the East Lansing pizza scene has some neck and neck contenders for best pie, Bell’s and Georgio’s. Either one will do for me on the way to see Small Brown Bike!

these two slices are lances, and his thoughts...

I have to say I like the Bell's on M.A.C. better, the slices I would normally get are a lot more fresh at that location. Probably because the foot traffic is much higher. After getting hustled in line by spandex north facers I was pretty bummed, but the... buy one get one free cheese slices made up for it.

the fenton house

back when i was in middle school the place to go on half days was first to stop into sweet variations for some candy, and then cross the street to the fenton house for some video games and bread sticks. back then, the fenton house was always loud and filled with rowdy kids and it was sweet. maybe it was always filled with rowdy kids because i only went there with a bunch of kids...i suppose that makes sense.

then the place burned down and they reopened it and the place was filled with Indian artwork, new paint, dim lighting, and a new vibe to it. not so much kid friendly anymore. then a few years ago some drunk dude blew past the intersection and ran his car right into the kitchen of the place. man, what bad luck this place has had these past few years.

well, the bread sticks and pizza havnt changed and the arcade is still there. by far, the best bread sticks in fenton. if you have ever been to an open house in the fenton/linden area, chances are you ate fenton house bread sticks. they are soft, seasoned and buttery. perfect.

we went there tonight and got a pesto pizza, bread sticks, and a big 'ol bowl of minestrone soup. the soup sucked. not much more to say about it.

the pizza on the other hand was delicious! i am a mushroom fan but after a while i get sick of the canned slimy mushrooms that you expect on a pizza. well, not at the fenton house. everything is hand cut and fresh. so good! my aunt chris told me i have acid reflux so thats why we opted with the pesto pie. the pesto is great but a little on the greasy side. but other than that, it was a flawless pizza. and the price is right. all in all our bill was a little over 20 dollars! deal.

sicilys pizza

last night was the first time either of us went to sicilys pizza on south saginaw st in burton. i have heard how good the pizza was but always just a bit turned off on the location and building that i never actually went there. well, now that i have this blog it basically forced me to go. and im glad we did!

the parking to the place is in the back as well as the entrance to the restaurant. when opening the door you step right into the kitchen. it was weird. i thought we had went to the wrong door but the guy working the pizza oven told us to walk right on through. there is a small hallway to the right of the kitchen that you zig zag in and pop out into the dining area. the dining area consisted of about 6 poker tables and a few chairs and smelled like the bottom of an ash tray. it was pretty wild. we sat down and were greeted by a lady that looked like she belonged in the texas chainsaw massacre rather than a pizza joint and the first thing she told us is that the place is cash only. shit! all i had is a debit card. we placed a to go order and then went to the atm.

my atm is right next to a 7-11. me or lana cant be near a 7-11 and not stop in for a slurpee...ok, two slurpees! actually, there was three but i picked one up for my room mate/land lord tommy!

back to sicilys we go to pick up our to go order. again, park in the back and walk through the kitchen. still just as weird as the first time. the place consisted of three employees. texas chainsaw lady, this old italian man that wore a little cooks hat and had a ton of arm hair, and a man with thick coke bottle glasses. the employees were just as bizarre as the restaurant. oh well. i gave the lady a ten dollar tip and she was pretty pumped.

anyway, the pizza is fucking good! its real thin and crispy and everything is just perfect! we also got garlic cheese bread and it was by far the biggest loaf of bread turned into garlic cheese bread i have ever had. prior to this i thought luigis was the best thin crust/garlic cheese bread i have had. well move the fuck over! sicilys is the best thin crust in flint! its a must have! everything is hand made. how do i know? well, i walked through the damn kitchen twice, and, we ordered tomatoes on our pie and on our way out with our pizza there was half a tomato sliced on the cutting board.

i was a little rough on the employees and the restaurant in this post. but damn, the place truly is indescribable. you just have to go there and you will know what i mean.