Americans take pizza so personally.
Don’t get us started on barbecue either.
As much as Imo’s was a bad experience for me, there was another restaurant in town that was very good. Bandana’s is a smokehouse type of place. Smoked meat on a plate with squeeze bottles of different sauces. A roll of paper towels on the table. And hot boiled peanuts- most excellent, I’d never had those before.
OK, this thread is really going down hill - first, people are defending St Louis pizza, and now they are defending St Louis BBQ?
Note - I’ve had St Louis style pizza, and I’m OK with it. But that’s probably because, growing up, my mom made pizza from a Jeno’s (?) pizza mix, and IIRC correctly she added Velveeta because there wasn’t a lot (or any?) cheese that came in the box with the flour/yeast mix.
is there such a thing as a critic who isn’t a jerk?
Same situation as Nickelback. the people who hate them are a small minority but they are extremely noisy.
I’d hate to have Nickelback on my pizza.
I’m guessing he was upset because he avoided saying the pizza chain’s name on the podcast, but in your tweet you tagged them. I’m guessing most non St. Louis people wouldn’t know what place he was talking about, but your tweet let them know. I didn’t listen to the podcast, but that’s my impression from your OP and his tweet.
And I don’t know all the etiquette about tagging other people or brands in tweet replies when the original person didn’t tag, but I’ve seen others get upset about similar things. Blocking you seems like an overreaction, but maybe he’s had issues in the past and is just overly careful now. Since he’s a critic on Twitter I’m guessing he encounters a lot of very hostile people and blocked you before you started, just in case.
A vocal minority of internet posters not only dislike them, but love to tell everyone how much they dislike the in hyperbolic terms. You see the same thing with McDonalds, Olive Garden, and other chains that aren’t regional (regional chains like Jack In the Box tend to have hyperbolic fans). In the case of Papa John’s, it doesn’t help that the owner is an obnoxious right-winger who’s been vocal on issues like police racism and healthcare. So if pizza comes up there’s a set of people who love to jump in and decry it. Most people don’t want to get into a big derail about it, especially since the more common attitude towards the pizza is along the lines of ‘yeah, it’s good chain pizza, but if I can I go to [local place]’, which doesn’t inspire vitriol.
It breaks twitter etiquette, and it’s not uncommon to receive a block over it.
yep. part of high-level snobbery is making everyone hear how much you hate the “right” things,.
I’d wager a lot of the people who call Papa John’s pizza “garbage” have never actually eaten it, they’re just jumping on the bandwagon. I haven’t eaten it, but my assumption it’s neither better nor worse than your typical chain.
it’s like Little Caesars. If all you do is grab the $5 “hot and ready” friisbee, yeah it’s going to be underwhelming. it’s a $5 pizza, what were you expecting? it’s not like it tastes bad or anything, it’s just extraordinarily “meh.” Their deep dish is much better.
and it’s not like indie places are some guarantee of quality; so many of these “mom and pop” places just assemble stuff they get from Sysco or Gordon Food Services. a couple of weeks ago I went to a local (-ish) place which supposedly had “amazeballs pizza.” I could tell the crust was frozen, ready-formed dough and the “italian sausage” was little bits of spongy, synthetic-feeling mush which tasted more like breakfast sausage. I’d have taken any chain over that.
The block makes complete sense to me. You tried to drag corporate lawyers into your little spat by tagging the place when he deliberately didn’t mention the name. He might could overlook that, but when he called you on it you doubled down and insisted that it was right, which means you’ll probably do it to him again in the future. You then went on an over-the-top rant about how dare he casually criticize a godawful style of pizza without eating it himself, accusing him of lacking journalistic integrity and generally being obnoxious and hyperbolic. You seem like someone I wouldn’t want to engage with, as you’re being obnoxious, pushy, and trying to stir up drama (by tag-teaming the company) over a minor comment. And it doesn’t seem like there’s any way for him to win in the little spat other than tuning it out with a block.
Aside from the fact that there’s around three good ‘block this jerk’ reasons there, your justification tweet makes it look like a good decision too. You seem to be claiming that some casual comment that is confusing to an outsider means there’s a deep connection between you that he broke with the block, but he probably doesn’t even remember that comment. Same thing with the book, recommending his book to someone doesn’t mean that he wants to get obnoxiously argued at and dragged into drama that he took deliberate steps to avoid. I’m sure your screenshot jumble makes sense to you, but to me it makes you look like a jerk (in your comments to him) who is a bit unhinged (tacking the other posts on without explanation).
I love me some Imo’s. I usually don’t get it though because I can eat an entire pie by myself, where for the same money I can feed my whole family on a pizza with a thicker crust. But every now and then I have a craving that only true St. Louis pizza can satisfy.
There’s also St. Louis style without Provel. Both Fortel’s and Pi Pizzeria have square-cut cracker crust pizza with mozzarella only. I think that still counts as St. Louis style, so if you don’t like Provel you can still try our pizza. I can’t really defend Provel, but can Philadephians defend Cheez Whiz on their namesake sandwich? Nevertheless, everyone loves cheese steak, though the kind with provolone is just as common as the “authentic” variety.
Anyway, Provel is best in small doses. I used to work at Pizza Hut, and our St. Louis Style pizza had 50% Provel and 50% mozzarella. Best of both worlds. Get that St. Louis flavor and also the chewiness of “regular” pizza cheese. Anyway, that was 17 years ago. I wonder if any Pizza Huts around here still offer a St. Louis style pie?
I am somewhat of a pizza snob, being from New Jersey (I have enjoyed “Chicago-style” but definitely call it pizza-casserole rather than just pizza), but I absolutely loved St. Louis style pizza. It helps if you go into it not really expecting NY style. I was prepared and thought the provel cheese and the cracker crust at Imo’s was quite tasty.
Not really a correct statement. Papa Johns has a level of sweetness in the sauce that’s just incredibly offputting. Pizza sauce shouldn’t be sweet.
I still don’t quite follow the OP; I just came in because we’re discussing pizza. Didn’t know what St Louis style pizza is so I looked it up on Wiki. It told me some very scary things.
Cracker like crust? Sweet(ish) sauce? I don’t even understand the cheese, and square cut is out of the question. Don’t mean to be thread shitting; I just like talking pizza and I don’t judge anyone else’s taste.
Remember that the two most emblematic St. Louis cultural traditions are toasted ravioli and brain sandwiches. On the whole, if I was going to Missouri to eat, I think I’d choose Kansas City.
Brain sandwiches have fallen out of favor, AFAICT. Don’t forget pork steaks and gooey butter cake. I’ve been a vegetarian for about 26 years, and I still sometimes have a craving for pork steaks and toasted ravioli. Luckily there is no meat in gooey butter cake. Yummmm.
That is the case for me. I absolutely love Imo’s and will seek it out every time I’m there visiting. But I’m quite certain it’s because I grew up there so I do not trust my own opinion enough to recommend it to anyone else.
My wife made the same point about the mentions thing. But for the same reason one might worry about corporate lawyers, it’s shady to describe a place in such detail as to make sure anyone listening would be sure to avoid it if visiting, but not own up to what you are doing. Besides, I didn’t continue to mention it in my responses. I think what he really didn’t like was my snarky but entirely reasonable followup point that what he had done was like reviewing a TV show without seeing it, based entirely on key art and scuttlebutt. Can’t rebut that? Block. :dubious:
Yes, this. It’s really gross.
And sure, there are people who act snobby toward any corporate pizza. But the ones who differentiate never seem to like Papa John’s, IME. I didn’t know anything about the political angle, but I have heard complaints about Domino’s supporting antiabortion groups. However, I’ve also been at people’s houses or events plenty of times when Domino’s was served. I’ve never been anywhere that had Papa John’s. But I drive by and see it staying open year after year.
then I’m’a have to try it just so I’ll know what I’m talking about.
Tom Monaghan (the founder) has always been a pretty devout Catholic so I don’t know why anyone would be surprised at his beliefs.
However, he sold his entire stake in the company to private equity in 1998. so it’s been about 20 years since he’s had any involvement with them.