FOOD In search of: the absolute BEST frozen pizza - the trials begin

packyderms_wife

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
Dennis Olson said:
Energy wave, I won’t get anything pizza from Subway. The rest of them on your list are 45-60 minutes away.
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Normally id challenge you but after spending two weeks in Houston in 2004 and there wasn’t a damned place to eat... umm yeah. There might be a decent pizza place in your area but that may be up to the Gods and only available once every ten years during a purple moon.

Don’t get me wrong but when it comes to food aka eating out, Texas sucks balls and big time. And I don’t understand this since ALL of 5he cooking shows swear otherwise... so long as your need isn’t after 10pm.
 
dioptase

dioptase

Veteran Member
When we visited Austin, we sampled the food truck fare. The bbq MEATS were fantastic, out of this world, but we were underwhelmed (to put it mildly) by the sides. Sliced white bread, really? Awful potato salad, awful cole slaw... We had a similar experience at a steak house there; fantastic meat, poor excuse for a salad bar.
 
vector7

vector7

Dot Collector
I've gotten these at Costco, they're really tasty and are lighter than regular pizzas.

imageService


www.costcobusinessdelivery.com

Milton's Cauliflower Crust Pizza, Roasted Vegetable, 2 ct

Milton's Cauliflower Crust Pizza, Roasted Vegetable, 2 ct
www.costcobusinessdelivery.com www.costcobusinessdelivery.com
 
Ragnarok

Ragnarok

On and On, South of Heaven
Dennis Olson said:
I’ve been searching for the best frozen pizza I can find. Unfortunately they’re all just mediocre so far.
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ALL frozen pizza is mediocre. That's just a fact of life.

I've tried just about all of them ( especially during my military days ) and none really impress.

If I had to choose, I would say Tombstone ( something about their sauce... It has a "sweetness" to it ) or Red Baron are the best.
 
Garand

Garand

Veteran Member
I like these three frozen pizzas.
1. Home Run Inn Pizza
2. Screamin Sicilian Pizza
3. Digiorno Croissant Crust Pizza
 
WriterMom

WriterMom

Veteran Member
I don't know if you have a Whole Foods near you, but the best frozen pizza I have ever had is called Eat Pizza wild mushroom pizza. It has garlic and olive oil on the crust rather than a tomato sauce. The crust was perfect, and if you like mushrooms, I recommend it.
 
M

Marseydoats

Veteran Member
I don't know if you have an Aldi near you, but we love their Supreme Pizzas. I think they're Mama Cozzi brand, I don't have one in the freezer to check. They are on the end of the produce aisle, not with the regular frozen food.
They also have a Meat Lover's variety, but I don't like that one as much. $6.99 to $7.99. Dh and I can get 2 meals out of it.
 
Dennis Olson

Dennis Olson

Chief Curmudgeon
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packyderms_wife said:
when it comes to food aka eating out, Texas sucks balls and big time.
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Texas has many thousands of restaurants, IF you want Mexican food or smoked meat (I won’t say barbecue, because that’s not what it is.) If you want anything like seafood, Italian, German, etc, this state is the worst in the country.
 
Raggedyman

Raggedyman

Res ipsa loquitur
WriterMom said:
I don't know if you have a Whole Foods near you, but the best frozen pizza I have ever had is called Eat Pizza wild mushroom pizza. It has garlic and olive oil on the crust rather than a tomato sauce. The crust was perfect, and if you like mushrooms, I recommend it.
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if you like anchovies here's another GREAT pizza with an olive oil and garlic base . . . fresh spinach LOTS of mozzarella and anchovies. absolute killer stuff . . . and if your REALLY an anchovy fan - the same olive oil and garlic base - black pepper and anchovies only - on a crust as thin as you can make it and as crispy as possible. when we were kids we used to beg my grandfather to make that for us.
 
Millwright

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
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You can find exceptional food of every flavor around Texas, maybe not in your neighborhood tho.

It's a big state, many of the best places are locally owned and don't have big signs on the freeway. Hole-in-the-wall places are often hidden culinary treasures. If you stick to chain places, you get production food.

Seafood, start with any of the Landry's chain...plus many more down south. On The River in Freeport is great. Unfortunately, Sartin's in Sabine Pass is closed. PJ's Seafood in Victoria...the list is endless.

Italian, Carrabbas...unless you just want a gob of dough with tomato sauce on it.

German food is a bit more spread out. I make it a point to duck in the Wursthaus in Lake Jackson. German classics and 30+ different beers on tap. The Hill Country has many German places too.
 
TxGal

TxGal

Day by day
Marseydoats said:
I don't know if you have an Aldi near you, but we love their Supreme Pizzas. I think they're Mama Cozzi brand, I don't have one in the freezer to check. They are on the end of the produce aisle, not with the regular frozen food.
They also have a Meat Lover's variety, but I don't like that one as much. $6.99 to $7.99. Dh and I can get 2 meals out of it.
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We'll second your thoughts on the Aldi's pizzas. We recently switched to their Mama Cozzi brand, the thin crust variety wth either pepperoni or just a plain cheese version. We also get two meals out of their pizzas. We've tried most other frozen brands, made our own, and do enjoy Costco's from the food court when we want a big, thick, gooey pizza (and I mean a big, huge pizza that actually freezes pretty well, which is what we do with most of it). Mostly though, we're looking for a thin, crunchy crust with not too much sauce or cheese.

Best pizza we've ever had was Mario's in Arlington, VA - but back in the 70's. Lines used to extend down the street for their carryout, every single day. I don't think they're under the same ownership anymore and things change. Next best one was a little 'hole in the wall' place in Del Ray down in Alexandria, VA, kind of a dicey area at times, but the original lady owner retired and sold it to someone else in the early 80s, and it wasn't the same thereafter.

Dennis, I agree with your thoughts on the restaurants here, atleast from our experience. Very hard to get good Chinese food here as compared to the east coast (DC metro). Chicken chow mein, my favorite, is vastly different here. Took years for us to learn that there is east coast chow mein with white sauce over rice, and west coast chow mein which is a noodle dish with brown sauce, more like lo mein. Haven't found a chicken cashew dish anywhere here. I really miss the Dynasty Chinese restaurant in Hayfield, and the Peking Gourmet restaurant in the Culmore Shopping Center where Pres Bush #1 used to eat...it had been our restaurant for years, not sure it's there any more. Regardless, it's not worth going back to that nutty area for....and sorry for the thread drift.
 
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Dennis Olson

Dennis Olson

Chief Curmudgeon
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One has to understand in what direction(s) the city of Austin has expanded/developed. From downtown core, primarily west and south. I live in a bedroom community to the east. I might as well be on the surface of the moon. It took Walmart over 20 years to build here. The H-E-B grocery store is the smallest in the state; barely larger than a convenience store.
 
Dennis Olson

Dennis Olson

Chief Curmudgeon
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Here’s an unrelated whine:

For a big city (so-called), Austin doesn’t have squat. I have never seen this anyplace else in the country. And Austin is also the state capital.

And I’m not 50 miles out of metro-center. I’m 20 miles out AS YOU KNOW. As I said in post 100, Austin has only grown to the west and south. I’m east. Re-read post 100.

ETA: I35 is the “fence line” for Austin. West of the fence line is “civilization.” East is (in effect) blowing wind and sagebrush. It’s a very sharp line.

ETA2: If I were “out in the sticks,” I wouldn’t complain. But I’m TWENTY MILES FROM DOWNTOWN AUSTIN. There is absolutely no reason that there should be NOTHING out this way.

ETA3: Austin’s road system is poorly designed. There are lots of north/south highways, but almost no east/west ones other than surface streets. That means to get to the west side, one normally has to go far out of one’s way to the north or south in order to reach an east/west route. You DO NOT want to drive the surface streets in Austin. I was on Lamar blvd one time, middle of the day. It took me 45 minutes to go two miles. Most of the surface streets here are like that.
 
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Pebbles

Pebbles

Veteran Member
Our local Safeway in Arizona and Smith's /Kroger's carries Boboli Pizza crusts. I agree, they are good.
 
Millwright

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
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Dennis Olson said:
Here’s an unrelated whine:

For a big city (so-called), Austin doesn’t have squat. I have never seen this anyplace else in the country. And Austin is also the state capital.

And I’m not 50 miles out of metro-center. I’m 20 miles out AS YOU KNOW. As I said in post 100, Austin has only grown to the west and south. I’m east. Re-read post 100.
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There's a Poppa Murphy's in Austin. :lol:


I bet there are many good locally owned places.

Most of the culinary treasures that I've found were not on the freeway and don't even advertise much.

They don't have to.
 
Freeholder

Freeholder

This too shall pass.
If you want to make your store-bought frozen pizza taste better, relatively speaking, first eat one of the gluten-free frozen pizzas on offer. Any of the others will go way up the scale after that experience.

And it sounds like maybe Texas has culinary holes that could be filled by some skilled entrepreneur!

Kathleen
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
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dioptase said:
When we visited Austin, we sampled the food truck fare. The bbq MEATS were fantastic, out of this world, but we were underwhelmed (to put it mildly) by the sides. Sliced white bread, really? Awful potato salad, awful cole slaw... We had a similar experience at a steak house there; fantastic meat, poor excuse for a salad bar.
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Folks in cattle country generally weren't all that enthusiastic about salads... lots of muttering at farm meetings about "rabbit food" and "damn, man! I feed this crap to my cows so I can enjoy a good steak!"

Complaints about poor salad offerings brand you as a citiot or foreigner.

Summerthyme
 
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Dennis Olson

Dennis Olson

Chief Curmudgeon
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Millwright said:
I bet there are many good locally owned places.

Most of the culinary treasures that I've found were not on the freeway and don't even advertise much.
Click to expand...
You just don’t get it. I’ve asked many people over the years about “local-owned hole-in-the-wall” places to eat. They’re either in far west or south Austin, or mediocre when I tried them (or both.)

One more time: ALL DEVELOPMENT IS IN FAR WEST OR SOUTH. GETTING THERE IS A NIGHTMARE. You haven’t gone through Austin regularly. You don’t know the traffic here.
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
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Dennis Olson said:
Texas has many thousands of restaurants, IF you want Mexican food or smoked meat (I won’t say barbecue, because that’s not what it is.) If you want anything like seafood, Italian, German, etc, this state is the worst in the country.
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Odd... there was a significant German population early on... I wonder if their heavy cultural foods simply didn't translate well to the hot Texas climate. (Theres reason why most people in hot climates cook with hot spices)

Summerthyme
 
Millwright

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
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summerthyme said:
Folks in cattle country generally weren't all that enthusiastic about salads... lots of muttering at farm meetings about "rabbit food" and "damn, man! I feed this crap to my cows do I can enjoy a good steak!"

Complaints about poor sald offerings brand you as a citiot or foreigner.

Summerthyme
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Yup

A good steak is where you find it.

Example, The White Leghorn Cafe in Westoff, Tx.

Middle of nowhere, packed in the evenings.

4481980536_cccc8cc178_b.jpg



There was a country beer joint/grill, out in the woods north of Conroe, Tx.

The owner was a classically trained chef.

Saturday nights he did a fabulous meal, but you had to RSVP by Tuesday so groceries could be ordered.
 
R

raven

TB Fanatic
Scrapman said:
People west of the Mississippi don't know what a good pizza taste like .
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you are obviously confused.
the thread is about the "best frozen" pizza.
that has absolutely nothing to do with "good pizza"

at best frozen pizza fills the (pizza) pie hole. It seldom ever truly satisfies the desire for pizza.
one step up from frozen in the thawed (so it is no longer frozen) fresh pizza you find in the deli section of some grocery stores. And yes, Aldi has some that approach good.

then there is the standard Pizza delivery pizza. Little Caesars is at the bottom. Pizza Hut is the industry standard if you like industrial pizza. Papa John's is marginally better. Papa Murphy is supposed to be better - never had it.

I do buy frozen pizza, and I buy grocery store deli fresh pizza, very seldom I go to Pizza Hut (last two times I was highly disappointed).
The best "good" pizza I make myself. Use the bread machine to make the dough. I get the equivalent of two pizzas.

I have a pizza stone for regular pizza. I prebake for about 9 minutes before I add the toppings.
Now, THAT is a good pizza.

I have a giant cast iron skillet that is pretty much useless for most applications. It is heavy. But it is pizza size.
And if I want a deep dish pizza, it is my go to for a great pizza.

Frozen Pizza does not equal good pizza.
I hope that helps
 
annieosage

annieosage

Inactive
raven said:
The best "good" pizza I make myself. Use the bread machine to make the dough. I get the equivalent of two pizzas.

I have a pizza stone for regular pizza. I prebake for about 9 minutes before I add the toppings.
Now, THAT is a good pizza.

I have a giant cast iron skillet that is pretty much useless for most applications. It is heavy. But it is pizza size.
And if I want a deep dish pizza, it is my go to for a great pizza.

Frozen Pizza does not equal good pizza.
I hope that helps
Click to expand...

Yep- I usually make my own because I am not about to pay $20+ for pizza delivery for a medium pizza with all the toppings I like. I do like the idea of using the cast iron for deep dish. I'll have to try that!
 
Millwright

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
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Finding good food is an ongoing thing. I'm always on safari for new places that might be exceptional.

You see an obscure restaurant in a strip center with a full parking lot at 7;00PM on a Tuesday?

Make a mental note and put it on the list to be checked out.


What you like and what other people like may be wildly different....kinda like wine.

Northeast seafood? Steamed with garlic butter....YAWN. Pan seared mahi with a Pontchartrain Sauce (lump crabmeat, shrimp & mushrooms in a white wine sauce), mo betta IMO.

Cuban food in Miami? Whatever with black beans, garlic and onions...pretty bland. There are some places that do a great Paella, but you have to find them.

Around here, what everybody calls "great Eyetalian" is horrid to me. Gob-o-pasta with some barely seasoned tomato sauce.

Even messican food is weak, for the most part.

There are a coupla good Sushi places in Tulsa & OKC....2-1/2hr drive. (that's the price of living in the sticks)


(shrug)

You get out of it what you put into it.
 
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33dInd

33dInd

Veteran Member
Well
I like the Walmart all meat pizza that they have at the deli
I figured they would be junk but gave a try and was pleasantly surprised
They stock
All cheese
Pepperoni
Veggie
All meat
Should be close to you and what’s to loose by trying
 
W

Walkin' Away

Senior Member
Dennis,
My favorite frozen pizza is Gino's East ( Sausage & Pepperoni) Gino's is a great place in Chicago.

I find the deep dish Chicago style pizza to be hearty and can get 2 meals out of one 9 inch pizza. They have a nice amount of meat and a rich sauce and good ratio of cheese, meat, and sauce. It is not too spicy and one can always add more toppings if desired.

I looked on Gino's website for a store locator in Texas...but no dice. You can order them and have them shipped (expensive) go take a look around the site, they have all kinds of interesting things.
I hope you find what you're looking for. You have made me hungry for pizza now!

With Kind Regards,
Walkin' Away
 
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