This is a thread de-railing question--not only does this subject warrant it's own thread, there are forums devoted to it. You can build a bread oven or a pizza oven, and honestly, you can cook either food in either oven, but to me, a bread oven is thicker and heavier and will retain heat better. If your fire brick is rated high enough, you can get a bread oven hot enough for awesome pizza, but it will retain enough heat that when you are done, you can bake several peels of bread and then still have enough left over heat to roast some chickens or turkeys or other roasts afterwards. Either of them can make a real statement in an outdoor kitchen, and they should definitely be a centerpiece. You can do it mostly yourself, and it will be labor--and time--intensive. And it still won't be all that cheap (you'll need a foundation poured, for one thing). Or you can have someone do it, and it will still be time intensive and pretty darn expensive. Still, I'm bound and determined to do it.........my wife laughed when all the books from Amazon showed up on masonry and whatnot. Anyway, if you are interested, just do a web search and you'll find several sites and forums devoted to the subject. My best recommendation though is this book: http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Builders-Hearth-Loaves-Masonry/dp/1890132055
Also............is it fair to call the stuff they make in Chicago "Pizza"? I know it has legions of fans, and I'm sure it's wonderful..........But I'm pretty sure it's about as native to Italy as General Tso's chicken is to China.
I like Dolce Vita and NY Pizzeria Coal Fired for crust and the closest to Naples-style. Romanos is good but I don't love it like some. At Star and Barry's I enjoy their wheat deep dish but nothing else. I think thep oeple who don't like star have only had their regular crust. Those pizzas are lackluster and often greasy. A deep dish veggie on wheat? Not very Italian but I really like it and it is a solid meal. Personally, though, I prefer Roman style pizza to Neapolitan. Can't get that here, obviously.
Ah good call, i followed www.chicagopizzahouston.com and got nothing. Definitely will have to check this out. And now the link works...go figure
Apparently Chicago Pizza and Chicago Beef used to be in two separate locations. But the Pizza place has closed, and is now run out of the Chicago Beef location. Here's the Yelp link: http://www.yelp.com/biz/chicago-italian-beef-houston
I think you're right. I know they relocated a while back and now that I think about it, name had changed. Same owners, if I'm not mistaken.
I agree on the statement that it's over rate... I liked fuzzy's the best, however I don't think it's the best place anymore because they charge about $20 or more a pie. Screw that, I refuse to pay that for a pizza.
Star Pizza and Barry's are both very good. My favorite, though I don't know if they have any locations actually inside of Houston, is BJ's ... "sweet pig" to be more specific. Favorite pizza I've ever had.
