The Five Best Thin-Crust Pizzas in St. Louis

By Ian Froeb Thu., Nov. 3 2011 at 4:00 PM

Selecting Riverfront Times' Best of St. Louis 2011 was no picnic. Choosing the winner meant several worthy candidates would go unmentioned -- until now. In this Gut Check series, we are chewing our way through notable runners up in a number of categories. To see hundreds more winners and finalists and download the Riverfront Times Best of St. Louis mobile app, visit our Best of St. Louis homepage.

Jennifer Silverberg

The Best Thin-Crust Pizza in St. Louis

Want to start an argument in St. Louis? Declare any particular pizzeria the best. Heck, you don't even have to pick a specific restaurant, just a style: Neapolitan, New York, St. Louis.

So selecting the five strongest contenders, let alone the winner, for this category was quite the task. Somehow, I managed. Somehow, we managed. Here are the finalists for "Best Pizza (Thin Crust)" in St. Louis for 2011:

Jennifer Silverberg

A pie goes into the oven at Peel.

5.Peel Wood Fired Pizza (921 South Arbor Vitae, Edwardsville, Illinois; 618-659-8561)

As its name implies, this Edwardsville restaurant employs a wood-burning oven to cook delicious, thin-crust pies. These pizzas can be basic (Margherita, pepperoni) or intriguingly odd (the "Hot Brown," modeled after the classic turkey sandwich), but for a taste of Peel at its best, try the elegant "Prosciutto" pizza, which has a base of roasted-garlic olive oil topped with prosciutto, fingerling potatoes, roasted garlic and Fontina and Parmesan cheeses.

Kayci Merritte

A pizza at La Pizza

4. La Pizza (8137 Delmar Boulevard, University City; 314-725-1230)

A pizza to send expat East Coasters into a drooling reverie: thin but still chewy crust; gobs of molten whole-milk mozzarella blistered and browned; a gently seasoned sauce. A single slice of La Pizza is a filling meal, but I don't know anyone who stops after just a single slice. The toppings aren't fancy -- capicola might be the most exotic one -- but you don't need fancy for a pizza this classic.

Ian Froeb

A pizza with sausage and mushrooms from Pizza-a-Go-Go

3. Pizza-a-Go-Go (6703 Scanlan Avenue; 314-781-1234)

"That place...is a restaurant?" This is often the reaction when someone lays eyes for the first time on the squat little building that houses Pizza-a-Go-Go. This St. Louis institution, nearing its 50th birthday, whittles the restaurant-going experience to the bare essentials: Here are the tables, here is your pizza. And what a pizza -- simply gorgeous, great crust and sauce, with plenty of cheese and your favorite toppings.

Tags:

La Pizza, Peel Wood Fired Pizza, pizza, Pizza-a-Go-Go, PW Pizza, the Good Pie

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It's rather disgusting not to find one actual St. Louis style pizza joint on here just because the writer, a non-St. Louisan, finds provel cheese and our sweeter sauce disgusting. He once wrote that he hated the thin cracker crust as well. If you can't appreciate an actual St. Louis style pizza, then why bother even writing a review? Peroni's, Joey B's, Serra's, Lou Boccardi's, Angelo's, Louie's and even Imo's or Cecil's Pizza are all better and more accurate restaurants to be a contender for Best St. Louis style pizza. Would Ian Froeb move to Philadelphia and bash Philly Cheesesteaks and call another beef sandwich a better Philly Cheesesteak sandwich despite that it actually isn't one? Probably. Let another food critic write about our pizza, one that appreciates and enjoys a true St. Louis style pizza with provel cheese, sweet tomato sauce on a think cracker crust! Idiot Froeb. --Heather Woodside

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P.S. I like all kinds of pizza, cheeses, sauces and toppings. I love pizza! Just give STL the credit for what it's known for and love!? Like Crab Ragoon, St. Paulie sandwiches, Provel cheese, Toasted Ravioli and Gooey Butter Cake.

Kurt Ledlow

Well whatever your preference thin crust pizza is a must-have St. Louis favorite! Found a few other St. Louis classics here: http://explorestlouis.com/2011...

llp19r

http://phlpn.es/ahdxct

lpls35r

http://phlpn.es/ahdxct

Colin DollarSign

Ugh. PW is so overrated.

lpls93r

http://phlpn.es/ahdxct

lpls93r

http://phlpn.es/ahdxct

llp26r

http://phlpn.es/ahdxct

llp26r

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krissy

That's all fine and dandy and every place has their strength. I agree with PI and Peel as well as PW's THE best and REAL thin crust award HAS to go to BOCCI for their pizza. No matter the topping, they are never soggy and always the same thin style and always crispy. Now givem THEM an award for their great toppings and they should be the overall winner. Really, Lobster BLT Pizza???? Nobody beats that.!!!!!

Linda

I want my Il Vicino!!!!!!

lslp95

http://phlpn.es/ahdxct

lpls43

http://phlpn.es/ahdxct

lpls43

http://phlpn.es/ahdxct

Seriously?

I still don't get Pizza-A-Go-Go, i've tried a few times and it really just tastes like a frozen Tombstone pizza to me. No flavor, nothing special. Just in the neighborhood alone, Bono's pizza blows that place away. Would like to see this category split up into "Best STL Style Thin" and "Best Thin Gourmet". While The Good Pie and PW look tasty, these aren't traditional STL style thin pizzas. For the record, Farotto's is the all time king of traditional, provel laden STL pizza. Bank on it.

ihatesuburbs

Farotto's is a virtual clone of the rest of the foul dreck known as 'St. Louis style pizza' served in every corner shithole in this region. Most St. Louisans simply refuse to expand their horizons and try something different in an effort to cling to their mistaken parochial belief that because they are from St. Louis it must follow that this town's version of pizza is the best and all other styles are to be scoffed at.