Category Archives: Pizza

Next Door Pizza and Pub

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Do you ever just crave a big ole’ bite of deep dish pizza?  Next Door to the rescue!  You’ll find this quite neighborhood pub to be just the ticket and maybe you can catch a football game while you chow down.

A Slice is Nice

Taste: 7

Presentation: 6

Originality: 5

Service: 6

Appearance: 5

Value: 8

Restrooms: 7

More Cheese, Please

Taste: Personally, I am not a big fan of deep dish, but Kyle says this place does it just right.  The flavors are always good and if I’m not feeling up for pizza, I can always dig into the nice salad bar and have some yummy appetizers.  May I recommend the legendary puerta fries?

Presentation: The food is well-presented and always looks appetizing.

Originality: Just another local pizza place, here.  But they are clearly a favorite among the college folks and there are pictures all over the walls of different schools declaring their love for Next Door.  It is special to go to a place where it is so clearly loved by so many.

Service: Even though I have had my share of awkward servers at Next Door, they are consistently helpful and polite.  We always bring the kids and they are very kind to them as well.

Appearance: Very tasteful, clean, homey atmosphere.  They have a side room for parties that also has some arcade games and even a train set for the little ones.

Value: It is a tad high, but all of the food comes in large portions so it is very “shareable.”  An average 14″ deep dish pizza is around $20, a dozen wings is $8 and endless salad bar is $6 but if you only want to go once it is an easy $3.

Restrooms: Clean and they must be nice because my toddler goes an average of five times per visit.

Next Door Pizza and Pub on Urbanspoon

Grinders

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Located in the artistic Crossroads Arts District of Kansas City, we had heard about the amazing local eats and drinks at Grinders for quite some time.  When Kyle saw that they used authentic rolls for their philly cheese steaks, we finally decided to give them a try.

Artsy 

Taste: 8

Presentation: 5

Originality: 6

Service: 7

Appearance: 5

Value: 9

Restrooms: 9

But Not Fartsy 

Taste: The kids split two slices of pizza and I tried a bite.  The sauce was delish and the boys gobbled down their supper.  Kyle declared his cheese steak the most authentic one he has had (something about the roll?) and so he was a happy dude.  My calzone was tasty, not too humungous and very fresh.

Presentation: We ate outside and they served us on paper plates and the food is just kinda piled on there.  No big deal because it all tasted awesome.

Originality: They do add their own special twist to a lot of their specials, but it is still just your standard pizza and burger joint.

Service: Although it was a little confusing to tell who worked there and who was just friendly, our server was very nice and helpful.  Initially, they accidentally sent out the wrong calzone and she handled the whole thing really well and was genuinely apologetic.

Appearance: It definitely has that “local favorite” feel and even though we stuck out like sore thumbs (white suburban, middle class, with 3 small kids, not artsy looking at all), we felt very comfortable and just like we were out eating on somebody’s patio.  It was a beautiful day so when the kids were finished eating, they played in the big grassy area while Kyle and I chatted.

Value: The food here is cheap cheap cheap.  Pizza by the slice is $3, Kyle’s sandwich was $5 and my calzone was the priciest at $8.  Burgers and subs are about $9 and an 18″ pizza is about $14.  Make sure to check out their daily specials for even cheaper eats!

Restrooms: According to the boys, the restrooms were “actually really nice.”

Grinders on Urbanspoon

Waldo Pizza

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This bursting at the seams hot-spot in Waldo is the place to be on a Friday night for pizza. Everybody had a great time and left with big smiles and full tummies. I gotta admit though, we were skeptical. How good can pizza be? We were delighted to find that Waldo Pizza not only met but exceeded our expectations for that famous Italian pie.

Pass the cheese, please.

Taste: 8

Presentation: 7

Originality: 5

Service: 3

Appearance: 6

Value: 7

Restrooms: 4

Nom Nom Nom.

Taste: Our food was well worth the wait. We tried the thin and the hand-tossed crusts and loved them both. When the server saw that we were having a hard time choosing just the right toppings for our thin crust, she said that they can split the toppings in half and even thirds! This was great because I love green peppers but Kyle can’t stand them. Splitting the toppings worked out so well for us.

Presentation: They put their pizzas on those cool stand-things and it helped keep the table from getting too crowded. It was also great to have the pizza up a little bit to prevent certain small people from burning their hands on the hot pan.

Originality: Just a pizza joint here.

Service: Unfortunately, the service wasn’t that great. Shortly into our meal, the waitress all but sat down with the booth in front of us and had an extensive, friendly conversation with them. By the time she was finished, we needed water refills and kind of wanted to just get the tab and jet out of there. Bummer, Waldo!

Appearance: Waldo Pizza has a cozy “lived-in” feel with well-loved pictionary cards on the tables and worn-out carpets in the lobby. They love their restaurant, though, so even though it’s not the newest place on the block, they take good care of it. The only thing that was a little difficult was navigating the extraordinarily small waiting area. We only had to wait about 20 minutes but we were oh-so-very crammed and with small babies, this isn’t an ideal situation.

Value: Good value for a pizza place. 14″ pies are about $15 each, salads are about $5 and an order of cheesy garlic bread is only $3. Hungry yet?

Restrooms: Poor Kyle had to schlep Phin to the restroom about four times and he wasn’t too impressed.

Waldo Pizza (Waldo) on Urbanspoon