Arris' Pizza

What do you get when you cross a chicken with a moose?  I have no idea.  That sounds like a question for a scientist.  What I do know is that The Pizza Quest has returned, and we are just full of surprises.  First off, check out the pizza playlist.  It is full of songs about pizza, tunes from the handsome child crooner Billy Gilman, and a Prince parody from the also handsome Jimmy Fallon.  Next, we’ve added a new page devoted to Fallon and Gilman’s favorite videos and links.  Most importantly, we’ve returned with an excellent review of Arris’ Pizza including guest reviews from MU bookstore employees Leslie and Ethan.  Keep reading to find out if Arris’ Pizza makes the grade.

The Order:

1 Large Pizza

-          Hercules (ground beef, Canadian bacon, pepperoni, Greek sausage, and breakfast bacon)

1 Medium Pizza

-          George’s (breakfast bacon, roma tomatoes, feta cheese and oregano)

1 Order of Mozzarella Sticks

1 Pitcher of Blue Moon

Price – $51.04 ($12.76 / person)

Wait Time – 18 minutes

Fallon’s Take:

Ponce de Leon: "This pizza was most
unsatisfactory.  You will not be spared.
To the death bungle!"

In 1776 God created The United States of America.  In 1777 Jesus’ brother, George Washington, created Arris’ pizza.  Arris’ pizza was a great find here in Columbia.  I like to think that not even Tom Sawyer and his blue ox, Sacagawea, found anything this great as they explored the Oregon Trail together in the early 1900s.  The pizza, loaded with meat, was great.  The cheese and sauce were very good as well.  We all know Paul Bunyan got the nickname “Jonny Appleseed” by marching across this land planting apple trees in graveyards.  Well maybe the cooks at Arris’ should get a nickname of their own.  How about Jonny Pizzaseed?  Or maybe Pizza Kings or something?  But that’s not important now.  What’s important is that you go try some pies at Arris’.  I recommend something with bacon on it.  The only drawback here was the toppings and cheese easily slid off the crust.  Ponce de Leon discovered Missouri in 485 A.D.  The only drawback to that was that he ate all the pizza in sight because he was 50 stories tall and he was hungry.  Since then, the locals have been trying to make a pizza good enough to appease his soul that haunts the Midwest.  It seems as though Arris’ may have done that.  We’ll have to wait til Ponce returns to Columbia to see if that happens.  Unfortunately he’s been spending all his time at Six Flags recently.  He likes the “Mr. Freeze” ride the most.  In summation, Ponce de Leon never gives autographs, even after he wins at go-karts.

Sauce – 3

Crust – 4

Cheese – 5

Toppings – 5

Ambiance – 4

Presentation – 3

Service – 5

Prices – 3

Average – 4.00

Gilman’s Take:

Oh hi, The Room

Sorry it has been a while, but like I said, I’m very busy right now.  Fallon and I arrived at Arris’ first and waited for the others to arrive.  When they got there, Fallon and I both said, “Oh hi, Ethan.  Oh hi, Leslie,” and I asked, “Do you want me to order a pizza?”  Unenthusiastically, Ethan and Leslie responded, “Whatever.  We don’t care.”  To their delight and surprise, I replied, “I already ordered a pizza.”  While we were waiting for the pizzas to arrive, the four of us engaged in some great conversation while entire CDs of Jack Johnson and Johnny Cash played over the speakers.  I overheard someone at a table next to us complain about the lack of musical variety, and I turned toward him and yelled, “Leave your stupid comments in your pocket!”  Fallon told a few jokes, and I responded by laughing the same way every time.  I even laughed a few times when no jokes were told.  When the pizzas arrived, I was so excited.  Sometimes when I was around the pizza, I felt like I wanted to kiss it and tell it that I love it.  The pizza tasted great, especially the toppings.  However, we ran into the same problem we had at Tony’s Pizza Palace: the cheese and toppings would not stay on the pizza.  After this climactic discovery, I yelled, “You’re tearing me apart, pizza!!”  I was so angry I threw a TV out of the window.  After I calmed down, I realized that although Arris’ Pizza contained the fatal flaw, it wasn’t nearly as bad as Tony’s.  The cheese, crust, and sauce were all above average, and the toppings were excellent.  But you know what they say, “Love is blind.”  Gotta Go.

Sauce – 4

Crust – 4

Cheese – 2

Toppings – 5

Ambiance – 4

Presentation – 3

Service – 4

Prices – 2

Average – 3.50

And now a review from guest blogger Leslie:

Mmmm...Pizza Diamonds

Hello, readers, look at your pizza, now back to this blog, now back at your pizza, now back to this blog. Sadly, the pizza isn’t Arris’ Pizza, but maybe if you stopped eating mediocre pizza and switched to Arris’ Pizza loaded with bacon and feta your life would be better. Look down, back up, where are you? You’re at Arris’ Pizza. What’s in your hand, back at this blog. I have it, it’s an ice cold beer. Look again, this blog is now diamonds. Anything is possible when you eat Arris’ Pizza. I’m on a horse.

Sauce – 4
Crust – 4
Cheese – 3
Toppings – 4
Ambiance – 5
Presentation – 4
Service – 4
Prices – 4

Average – 4.00

And now a review from guest blogger Ethan:

Johnny Cash would have loved to pig out at Arris'

Arris’ Pizza can be best described as pizza for the rich, however money doesn't always lead to great pizza, but I Guess Things Happen That Way.  When I first entered Arris’,I felt as if I had under dressed for the occasion; it was as if I was a Highwayman just come off the road.  I dressed like the Man in Black himself, and was greeted by two lovely ladies at the front door, however the waitress was rather unexcited to see another join the epic bloggers who were already seated.  Needless to say the prices were the biggest turn off and after looking at them I wanted to Cry, Cry, Cry.  After breaking out of the Rusty Cage of regret for not bringing in my ID so that I could buy beer we decided to get a appetizer of Italian Mozzarella sticks, which I noticed was a little bit odd considering it is a Greek related restaurant.  This alone set us back 6.50 which forced me to Walk the Line with my pocket book.  While we waited for the pizza we Got a Rhythm while listening to the greatest artist of all time... Johnny Cash.  Whose legendary works inspired this review, and the pizza was almost as good as the music they played.  Once it finally arrived the pizza was amazing however the slices needed expertise in eating pizza because Scotty was having some trouble.  Demolishing the pizza was the easy part of this meal, but afterward I felt like it was Sunday Morning Coming Down I was so full.  The pizza itself was really good and the toppings were stuffed on there and it made everything better.  However I was the first to take a look at the bill which splitting the bill 4 ways made everything a lot nicer but it was 16 bucks with tip just for myself, and I didn't even get beer which made me sad.  Pizza without beer is like having a heart with no blood to run through it.  I recommend this place if you have some extra money or if you can get somebody else to pay for the meal.

Sauce- 5
Crust-4
Cheese-5
Toppings-5
Ambiance-5
Presentation-4
Service-4
Prices-1

Average – 4.13

Ultimate Pizza Rating – 3.75

That’s it for our review of Arris’ Pizza.  As of the reviews posting date, Arris’ 3.75 UPR makes it currently Columbia’s 3^rd best pizza.  Unfortunately The Como Pizza Quest has also fallen to Columbia’s 3^rd best food blog according to Urbanspoon, down from its previous ranking of 2^nd place.  I’m not sure how these rankings are determined, but it probably wouldn’t hurt if you visited our blog and Urbanspoon page several hundred times a day.  If you can push us to the #1 ranking, we promise to might post more often.  Also, make sure to check out the new page of links which are Fallon and Gilman approved.  Lastly, thanks to Leslie and Ethan for their contributions.  We would love to have more guest eaters and bloggers for our future reviews.  If you want to join us, let one of us know or tell us on Facebook or Twitter.  We promise we don’t bite.  Unless you’re a pizza! LOL! TTYL! (Sorry) 

Italian Village

On this week’s episode of the Pizza Quest, Chandler and Joey meet up with Rachel and Monica at Central Perk.  While drinking their coffee, everyone laughs at Chandler’s hilarious sarcasm, but things get ugly when the gang returns home only to discover that someone has eaten Joey’s sandwich!  Oh wait, I think I’m talking about the wrong thing.  Ah, yes, pizza!  This week we went to Italian Village located just west of the intersection of Rangeline and Vandiver.  This week’s Quest was attended by first-time Italian Villagers Fallon and Gilman and guest eater Mark.  Keep reading to find out what this group of “friends” thought about Italian Village’s pizza.

The Order:

1 Large Pizza

-          Pepperoni, Bacon, and Italian Sausage

1 Order of Mozzarella Sticks

2 Liters of Pepsi

Price – $23.60 ($7.87 / person)

Wait Time – 12 minutes

Fallon’s Take:

You don't have to tell Charlie twice about birdlaw

This week the Quest headed to Italian Village to experience some tasty bacon, sausage and pepperoni pizza.  New Quester, Mark, decided it would be a good idea to bring along his hummingbird.  Of course we had to put this to a stop.  Yeah, you CAN keep a hummingbird as a pet, we told him, it’s just illegal.  We enjoyed having Mark with us but it was clear he knew little of Bird Law.  Hummingbirds…hummingbirds are illegal tender.  Unlike gulls, you just aren’t allowed to keep them as pets.  But okay, we’re all hungry.  We’ll all get to our hot-plates soon enough.  Italian Village’s self-conscious owner had no reason to worry, as his pizza pies were some of the best in Columbia.  The bacon, especially, stood out.  The crust also was very good, like a breadstick at the end of the pizza.  Italian Village gets high marks.  The only drawback would be the lack of fountain soda (They had to be purchased in cans or bottles).  What doesn’t get high marks?  Mark’s…knowledge on bird law.  I mean, the guy thinks you can keep a hummingbird, just like a parakeet.  You really can't, and I'm not saying I agree with it. It's just that bird law in this country—it's not governed by reason.

Mark's "illegal" hummingbird tattoo

Sauce – 3

Crust – 5

Cheese – 4

Toppings – 4

Ambiance – 3

Presentation – 3

Service – 4

Prices – 4

Average – 3.75

Gilman’s Take:

This dog's award
is only slightly more
prestigious than the
3rd best Columbia
food blog award

First off, I must humbly point out that our blog has been ranked the third best food blog in the city of Columbia, Missouri; which is almost as satisfying as the award this dog won.  Nevertheless, Italian Village should win an award of its own.  In my book, its neck and neck with Kostaki’s for my favorite pizza we’ve had so far.  Let’s go down the list and see what earned high marks.  Sauce: check.  Crust: check.  Cheese: check.  Toppings: check.  Mounted rhinoceros head above bathroom door: check.  Lack of glasses baby: check.  Impromptu street magic: unfortunately, no.  But in all seriousness, the crust and toppings were especially delicious.  The service and prices were excellent.  The only negatives I can say about Italian Village are the air conditioning was broken and the lack of fountain soda.  And obviously the lack of street magic.

Just say NO to glasses babies

Sauce – 4

Crust – 5

Cheese – 4

Toppings – 5

Ambiance – 3

Presentation – 3

Service – 4

Prices – 5

Average – 4.13

Ultimate Pizza Rating – 3.94

And now a review from guest blogger Mark:

Disclaimer: For all you losers out there that put a napkin on your pizza to soak out the grease, no such technique is needed at this establishment. Also, you are a loser for said technique. Go eat a salad.

Real Disclaimer: The opinions and ideas presented in this guest blog are for informational and educational purposes only, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Gilman or Fallon or any of their subsidiaries or affiliates.

Dearest Mr. Fallon and Mr. Gilman,

Thank you so much for allowing me to partake in the COMO Pizza Quest.  As I entered the establishment I did not notice much of the atmosphere, probably because I was so nervous being in the presence of Gilman and Fallon look-a-likes.  After my nervousness subsided I began to notice the unique pizza joint atmosphere.  There was over 500 pounds of flour sitting in the dining room.  Either the owner is a hoarder, smart businessman, Mayan Calendar follower, or a drug dealer.  I am leaning towards the latter because the pizza was addicting.  I have pondered about venturing back on at least 10 different occasions.  The toppings and crust made the pizza.  I do not recollect much of the sauce so I have concluded that the drugs are not in the sauce.  The crispiness and deliciousness of the bacon was top notch.  Even a pig would be proud.  I had never tasted such quality bacon topping on a pizza before.  The crust was also delicious.  If you happen to be a non-crust eater than you will be missing out if you eat at Italian Village.  Once I got to the crust it tasted as if I was holding a bread stick.  (I enjoyed it so much I almost shared my feelings with Gilman and Fallon but was too nervous to speak.  They were so intimidating.)  The owner must have gone broke purchasing the 500 pounds of flour and quality of bacon.  No fear, Gilman left a hefty tip so they could fix the A/C and buy a fountain soda machine.  But really, are those necessities in the restaurant business?  Of course not. 

My Rating – This pizza is good

P.S. the FBI must have read your blog because a SWAT team came to my home and took my hummingbird.  They even knew that he was Cuban.  I don’t blame you.  I blame bird law.  Here is a picture of the depressing event.

Thanks Billy and Jimmy

So while it still didn’t quite reach “Johnny-5” territory, Italian Village barely takes the top spot away from Kostaki’s in the Ultimate Pizza Rating.  Continue to check out the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and our new page on Urbanspoon.  And make sure to check out next week’s Pizza Quest episode where Joey and Chandler decide to use a foosball table as a kitchen table.  CRAZY!

G & D Pizzaria

Sorry for the long break, but we are finally back.  It’s been a busy couple of weeks for both us between studying for finals and sleeping until noon, but we are ready to get back to the rigorous tasks of eating pizza and lazily attempting to write a semi-humorous blog.  I know our last restaurant visit seems like an eternity ago, but loyal followers will remember we went to local favorite G & D Pizzaria, located near the intersection of Broadway and Stadium.   Jenni could not make this visit, and it was the first time Fallon and Gilman had visited this establishment, so we were in for a few surprises.  Could G & D crack the top 5 in the UPR?  What celebrity did The Quest run into?  Can Fallon and Gilman solve the BP oil crisis?  Two of these questions and many more will be answered in the rest of this entry.

The Order:

1 Large Pizza

-          Pepperoni and Italian Sausage

1 Cheesy Bread

2 Bud Lights

Price – $25.15 ($12.58 / person)

Wait Time – 24 minutes

Three great athletes of Mizzou honing their skills

Fallon’s Take:

Take it to-go!  Are you a big bear on the move?  Or maybe you are THE Big Bear?  Then grab some G&D’s…and get the f out of that place!

“Huh?!  Wreh?”

That’s right, Jeff (see: Jeff “The Bear” Bailey)!

“Owre…waaaa!!!!!”

G&D certainly offered some pretty decent pizza, no question.  But the restaurant felt more like a mix between an Old Country Buffet and a Chuckie Cheese than it did a pizza place.  Kids and old people crawling all over the place.  This just hurt the experience too much for G&D to garner a top-flight rating.

“I do not have TIME for this!”

Jeff is not amused with G & D Pizzaria

Nor do I, Jeff.  Nor do I.

The crust, cheese and sauce were all good.  The toppings tasted very good and were arranged very uniquely at one sausage per slice².   And they served tiny beers for $2.50.  Lame.  The pizza gets high marks, the restaurant does not.

Sauce – 3

Crust – 3

Cheese – 4

Toppings – 4

Ambiance – 1

Presentation – 5

Service – 2

Prices – 2

Average – 3

Gilman’s Take:

When our pizza was brought to our table, I had flashbacks to our experience at Tony’s Pizza Palace as the pizzas looked eerily similar.

Dan and Jim Parsons on Late Night
with Jimmy Fallon. I can't tell who is who.

It also reminded me of another Fallon and Gilman related doppelganger incident I witnessed this week which can be seen in the picture to the right.  Although their appearances were the same, the two pizzas could not have been more different.  At G & D, the cheese and toppings actually stayed on the pizza when you attempted to take a bite out of it, and the crust was not burnt at all.  The only bad thing I could say about the pizza was that the toppings were a little scarce.  But just as G & D’s pizza had its UPR approaching legendary status, the ambiance took it down a peg or two.  If I had to guess, I would say TLC was filming a new reality show where toddlers tried to run a pizza restaurant because kids were running around everywhere.  I’m not saying I wouldn’t watch that show, because I almost certainly would.  However, I’m not interested in actually eating at that kind of restaurant.  Also, there was a baby next to us wearing glasses, which always makes me uncomfortable.  However, through all of the kids, we were able to spot The Quest’s first celebrity guest: Mizzou football head coach Gary Pinkel!  He was too shy to approach us, but we appreciated his presence and support.  Overall, my stance on G & D Pizzaria can be neatly summarized.  The good: the pizza, Gary Pinkel.  The bad: toddlers, glasses baby.

If Gary loves one thing, its visors.
If Gary loves two things, its visors and pizza.

Sauce – 4

Crust – 4

Cheese – 5

Toppings – 3

Ambiance – 1

Presentation – 4

Service – 3

Prices – 3

Average – 3.38

Ultimate Pizza Rating – 3.19

That will do it for this week.  We should be updating more frequently now, so keep checking the site.  Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to see where we will be next.

GOPHERS!!!

We just want to point everyone in the direction of the newest feature of our website:  GOPHER ART!!!  Click on the Gopher link on the left side of the page to see our creations, check back for updates, and send us suggestions and maybe even your own artwork.

Tony's Pizza Palace

This week the Quest made its way downtown to visit a little place called Tony’s Pizza Palace.  Located near the intersection of 5^th and Walnut, Tony’s is fairly obscure when compared to many of the other downtown restaurants.  Because of this, we hadn’t heard too much about Tony’s going into our visit.  However, a positive review from the Quest might propel the Pizza Palace from anonymity to notoriety.  How did it do?  Keep reading to find out.

The Order:

1 Large Pizza

                -1/2 cheese, ½ meatlovers (beef, Italian sausage, Canadian bacon, and pepperoni)

1 Order of Mozzarella Sticks

1 Pitcher of Bud Light

Price - $34.65 ($11.55 / person)

Wait Time – 17 minutes

Fallon’s Take:

Linguo the Grammar Robot says, “g-error!”  That’s right, Linguo.  Tony’s Pizza Palace committed an error of its own when it put together our pizza.  Here are the pros of the Palace:  The term “Palace” is in the title of the business.  Our waitress carried her baby around while taking orders.  The cons?  The pizza.  If only Linguo was adept at making pizza at Tony’s rather than making sense out of the English language structure… and if only he wasn’t a fictional cartoon character… or something.  So avoid Tony’s Pizza Palace like the world’s most famous grammar robot avoids double negatives!

Shut up YOUR mouth!

Sauce - 1

Crust - 2

Cheese - 2

Toppings - 5

Ambiance – 4

Presentation - 2

Service - 4 (See: Baby)

Prices – 2

Average - 2.75

Gilman’s Take:

Right when we walked in the door, I recognized that the ambience of Tony’s Pizza Palace was going to be hard to beat.  The open kitchen, family atmosphere, and Ms. Pac Man and original Die Hard arcade machines prepared me for what I thought was going to be another successful Pizza Quest.  Once we sat down I felt more like Ms. Pac Man as I was ready to devour hundreds of circular objects and maybe even a few blue and white ghost-like creatures.  However, as the night progressed, I began to feel as helpless as the hostages in Die Hard.  While the toppings, ambience, and service were off the charts, the crust, cheese, and sauce created a situation that not even John McClane could fix.  The crust was burnt and the cheese always slid off the pizza.  Needless to say, Tony’s Pizza Palace did not make me want to yell “Yippee-Ki-Yay!!”

Hans Gruber: The personification
of Tony's Pizza Palace

 Sauce - 3

Crust - 2

Cheese - 3

Toppings - 5

Ambiance –5

Presentation - 3

Service - 4

Prices – 2

Average – 3.38

Jenni’s Take:

Tony’s Pizza Palace…certainly no Festivus that’s for sure. Although, I do have some grievences I need to air. Thin crust? C’mon?! There I was. All ready for the “feats of strength” and they serve us pizza on a piece of cardboard verrrrryyyy thin crust. Did I mention that the crust came separate from the cheese, sauce, etc.? Neither did the Palace. Not until one tries to take a bite and everything slides apart is this discovered. Maybe I’m being too harsh on Tony’s. It’s certainly no Ross Gload…certainly. It’s more of a Kenny Bania. Yeah, it’s there and that’s fine…but necessary? Meh.

Tony's is not for the restivus

Sauce -3

Crust -2

Cheese -4

Toppings -N/A

Ambiance –4

Presentation -3

Service - 3

Prices –3

Average –3.14

Ultimate Pizza Rating –3.09

Week 2 of the Quest is in the books.  We’re thinking about eating mid-week from now on so we can have the post up by Friday.  Whether that happens this week or not, we should have some bonus material up soon that we are very proud of.  LINGUO’S CORRECTION: of which we are very proud.  Continue to check the site daily and tell your friends about us.  Once again, we encourage everyone to follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and don’t be afraid to come see us at any of the restaurants at which we eat.

SIDE NOTE FROM GILMAN:

Last week, we took some shots at the Kansas City Royals to the dismay of some of our Kansas City readers.  I don’t apologize for this, and, in fact, will probably make fun of them a lot over the course of the blog.  However, I want it to be known that I have nothing against Kansas City or the members of its population.  I’ve had some great times in Kansas City, and I certainly don’t regard St. Louis as a far superior city.  The Royals are just comically bad.  But you could say the same thing about the Rams.  (Happy, Brittany?)

Kostaki's Pizzeria

I know it has been two long weeks, but everyone can quit their complaining because we have finally eaten some pizza.  Like the first day of kindergarten, we were full of nervous excitement.  Also like the first day of kindergarten, our parents stood next to us while we waited for the bus and Dan wouldn’t stop crying, but that’s neither here nor there.  Based on the recommendation of our good friend Brian, the Quest had its inaugural taste at Kostaki’s Pizzeria, located near the intersection of Chapel Hill and Scott.  Fallon and Gilman were both present at the event as well as our new contributor/photographer, Jenni.  None of us had ever been to Kostaki’s before, but we all left agreeing it was better than the food served at kindergarten.

This kid lost to Dan in a crying contest

The Rating System:

We decided on an eight-category rating system: sauce, crust, cheese, toppings, ambience, presentation, service, and prices.  Each person gave a rating of 1 to 5 for each category and the scores were averaged.  Jenni is a vegetarian (yeah, I know) so she will not be providing a rating for the toppings category.  The individual averages will also be averaged together to calculate the Ultimate Pizza Rating (UPR).  Any pizza that earns less than a 1.5 UPR will be brandished with a Kansas City Royals logo and will forever live in shame with the likes of Ross Gload, Joey Gathright, and Jimmy Gobble.  Any pizza that earns a UPR of 4.5 or higher will be given the prestigious ranking of “Johnny-5” based on the Academy Award winning (?) films Short Circuit and Short Circuit 2.

Royals = Bad, Johnny-5 = Incredible

The Order:

1 Large Pizza

-          ½ Cheese, ½ pepperoni and Italian sausage, pepperjack and mozzarella cheese

Our Order

1 Large Cheese Bread

2 Boulevard Wheat, 1 Bud Select

Price – $25.20 ($8.40 / person)

Wait Time – 18 minutes

We love cheesy bread!!

 Fallon’s Take:

Not quite a Johnny-5 pizzeria but certainly worth the greenbacks.  Kostaki's is streets-ahead as far as pizza in Como goes.  Great cheese, good prices.  The only knocks on this restaurant would be over-priced beer ($2.50 bottles) and poor weather control (It was raining).

"Streets ahead is verbal wildfire!"

Sauce - 4

Crust - 5

Cheese – 5

Toppings –4

Ambiance –3

Presentation –3

Service – 3

Prices – 5

Average - 4.0

Gilman’s Take:

This was one of the better pizzas I’ve had in Columbia.  The pepperjack cheese and sausage were spicy but delicious.  The crust was really soft and doughy which made it taste great, but it made for a flimsy pizza that was hard to eat.  The price was excellent and left me with enough money to rent Short Circuit 2 again.  Unfortunately, this was the closest Kostaki’s would get to the coveted “Johnny-5” ranking.  Bonus points for awesome cheese bread and paintings of ex-presidents enjoying a game of poker.

Too. Much. Fun.

Sauce - 4

Crust - 4

Cheese – 5

Toppings – 5

Ambiance – 3

Presentation – 3

Service – 4

Prices – 4

Average – 4.0

Jenni’s Take:

Kostaki's?  More like Kos-tasty's...or Tast-aki's!!  You get the point.  Flimsiness aside, this pizza (or dego pie) delighted my tastebuds to the max!  "Kostaki's Pizza, eat it with your mouth!"

They don't call it pizza for nothing

Sauce - 3

Crust - 2

Cheese – 5

Toppings – n/a

Ambiance – 4

Presentation – 3

Service – 4

Prices – 4

Average – 3.57

Ultimate Pizza Rating – 3.86

So that wraps it up for our first pizza tasting.  Although it didn’t quite make it to the Johnny-5 level, Kostaki’s receives a strong vote of approval from the members of the Quest.  Keep checking in with us, and we’ll continue to drop some serious pizza knowledge.  We've posted the spreadsheet of our UPRs, and we will update it after each visit.  For those of you who still haven’t done so, please follow us on Facebook and Twitter.  We want to get a wide audience, so tell your friends about us.  That’s all for now.  This is Fallon and Gilman’s Como Pizza Quest signing off.    

Interview With HBO's Bryant Gumbel

So, a few days ago we asked the readers to send in some questions for a Q&A session.  Instantly, thousands of emails came pouring into our inbox.  We’re glad that everyone is so enthusiastic about the Quest, but we wouldn’t have been able to answer all of the emails. Therefore, we decided to let a professional ask us the questions, and after turning down many other interview requests, we sat down with Bryant Gumbel. 

Bryant Gumbel:  Hello, gentlemen, and thanks for letting me talk to you today.

Fallon and Gilman’s Como Pizza Quest:  No problem, Bryant.

BG:  First off, why is the blog called “Fallon and Gilman’s Como Pizza Quest?”

FAGCPQ:  Well, a lot of people have told Dan he looks like Jimmy Fallon and Pat looked like Billy Gilman when he was younger, so it was a natural choice.

Which one is Dan?

Which one is Pat?

BG:  Those are two handsome men.

FAGCPQ:  Thanks, Bryant.

BG:  I’m a huge fan of some of Gilman’s earlier work, but moving on…Why do you consider yourselves pizza experts?

FAGCQP:  I don’t know where you heard that, Gumbel, but we have never made that claim.  We wouldn’t consider ourselves pizza experts any more than we would consider Maury Povich a relationship expert.  We’re just two guys that enjoy a good pizza.

BG:  So fans shouldn’t expect wordy, lengthy reviews of each pizza you’ve tasted, noting the unique intricacies and flavors that each pie possesses?

FAGCPQ:  Absolutely not.  We will give ratings and offer opinions about the pizzas we eat, but we won’t bore our readers with contrived descriptions of the tastes.

BG:  Fair enough.  What else do you plan on including on the blog?

FAGCPQ:  Well, we’re thinking of keeping an ultimate pizza ranking chart that updates after each restaurant we’ve tested, and we’re hoping to include a lot of pictures and videos if we can get some money for a camera.  (Editor’s note:  Camera donations are welcome.  And so are money donations.)

 Also, we’ll probably have some non-pizza content for our lactose intolerant readers, such as Youtube videos and other things we enjoy.

BG:  Sounds intriguing.  Are there any ways that your readers can join the quest?

FAGCPQ:  First, I have to mention something.  Even though we are speaking, I can tell that you spelled Quest with a lowercase “q.”  The Quest should always be capitalized.  But anyway, to answer your question, there are a lot of ways to participate in the Quest.  You can follow us on Twitter(@FAGCPizzaQuest) or on our Facebook fan page.  We will post when and where we will be eating on these pages, so anyone can join us if they wish to.  Also, we encourage everyone to send us pictures and fan art, and some of the more creative submissions could get posted on the blog.  Restaurant suggestions can be posted on our Facebook and/or Twitter pages or emailed at fallonandgilmanscomopizzaquest@gmail.com.

BG:  Okay, let’s switch gears here.  Here are some quick hits.  Favorite topping?

Pat:  Pepperoni

Dan: Milk Steak

The Golden Gopher and the Formal Gopher

BG:  Favorite college mascot?

Pat:  Minnesota Golden Gopher

Dan: Minnesota State Formal Gopher

BG:  Deep dish or thin crust?

Pat:  Thin crust

Dan: Thin crust

BG:  Bagel Bites or Pizza Rolls?

Pat:  Bagel Bites

Dan: Pizza Rolls

BG:  Favorite Gumbel?

Dan:  Gumballs

Pat:  The Gumbel distribution

After hearing Dan is not single

BG:   And finally the question everyone’s been asking:  Are you single?

After hearing Pat is single

Dan:  No

Pat:  Yes

BG:  Thanks for your time.

So there you have it.  I hope that answers some of the questions you’ve had about our blog.  We might not be updating too frequently until school ends but look for the first restaurant visit to come sometime next weekend.