My man Scott Van Duzer, the one who gave Obama the bear hug and set records for donating blood, is being set upon by the forces of darkness.
Today it’s bad Yelp reviews, tomorrow it’s a countertop inspection.
Why not go give him a good review? He named it after the one city in the country that has real pizza, so it’s got to be good, right?
Ben Franklin
Good review? He deserves a Big Apple Pizza Day. Can you order over the internet?
Comrade Mary
He’s at an average of 5 stars again, with several pages of recent reviews that are almost all 5 stars. So don’t all rush at once: maybe put something in your calendar for a few days from now and take a look at things then.
Now I want pizza :-(
The Dangerman
How many days has it been since Chick-Fil-A was a Freedom of Speech issue? Hypocrites.
Joel
The guy is coming out on top. Before 9/10, the pizzeria had a total of two reviews.
Baud
Donating blood is socialist. A true conservative would sell his blood on the free market.
Ben Franklin
http://www.bigapplepizza.com/online-ordering/index.html
khead
He’s no Chris the Baker.
Just sayin.
I’d order some pizza from the dude if he delivered to MD.
John PM
I did not see Chicago in the title of his restaurant…
cminus
I would have thought most people already knew this, but “The Big Apple” is a nickname for New York, not Chicago.
DougJ
@khead:
Are gingham shirts with a visible white tee the new Republican uniform?
quannlace
Read my mind!
Comrade Mary
Apropos of nothing: I have just found out there exists such a thing as Eleventh Doctor/Rory slashfic. While I find guys kissing to be rather hot, this discovery took away my appetite for pizza or anything else, really.
Joel
@khead: Paul Ryan looks like an 80’s movie villain.
I hope Daniel Larusso kicks his ass.
Darkrose
@Comrade Mary: There’s slash for everything. I’m fairly sure that Romney/Ryan slash is a harbinger of the End Times.
BGinCHI
First they came for the muscular pizza parlour owners and I said nothing….
Honestly, if I were him I’d be thrilled that now less dicks are going to come into his store. And in FL that’s gotta be a real bonus.
Ps. NY pizza the most overrated food I can think of. Some of it’s good but mediocrity is the norm.
RedKitten
Yep, but Republicans are just ANGRY that Obama is trying to destroy small businesses. They’re just choosing to express that by…trying to destroy a small business.
Okay, then.
RedKitten
@Darkrose: No. THIS is a harbinger of end times.
lamh35
I’ve read elsewhere that the counterattack has been pretty great on Yelp and through internet orders that the restaurant has asked people to donate to his foundation instead!
Brantl
@BGinCHI: When isn’t mediocrity in any ethnic quisine normal, as soon as you get enogh people serving it.
jackmac
That New York stuff features matzo crackers, ketchup and a sprinkling of cheese. Chicago-style, thick crust from Lou Malnati’s. That’s REAL pizza.
Still, I’d still happily throw some business his way if I were in the area, if only to help make wingnut heads explode.
Baud
Now Obama isn’t going to be able to go anywhere without getting bear hugged for publicity.
khead
@DougJ:
@Joel:
I wanted to go back to SWVa just to shit in Mr. McMurrays establishment, but Dad is at Duke now.
But I would’ve stoppped there if Dad was still @ Bristol.
Really, I would. Just to be an asshole.
Bouns comment: My Va Tech roommate was actually named Chris McMurray. Just not the douchebag that refused Biden.
Boudica
Diary on Kos says they’re overwhelmed with orders and would prefer donations to Van Duzer’s charity.
? Martin
I don’t think he’ll have a problem. The usual assholes are going to go after him, but his business is probably going to soar. I really hope the blood drive benefits the most.
ThresherK
@John PM: Or Wooster Street, at the other end of the spectrum of pizza goodness.
Spaghetti Lee
I’m a shut-in, so explain this to me: When people are going out to eat, how often do they actually read stuff like Yelp, as opposed to just patronizing places they already know or getting recommendations from friends? I mean, does the clown brigade here really think they’re going to teach him a lesson with angry Yelp reviews?
(I also suspect that a lot of our friends aren’t smart enough to pretend to care about the quality of the pizza, so there will be a lot of ‘SOSHULIST PIZZA LIBERAL MEDIA NOBAMA ZERO STARS” reviews that won’t change normal people’s minds one way or the other.)
AxelFoley
Did my part to counter the trolls giving him bad reviews on Yelp.
Comrade Jake
Any of you watching the US Open? Quite a match.
Loneoak
I know from personal experience that politicized reviews get yanked. Yelp will toss the wingnut comments in a day or two. They might toss good ones, too, if they are political and make no reference to the establishment’s food.
Spaghetti Lee
Also, I’m from Chicago and I prefer NY Pizza. Sorry for the sacrilege, but it’s true. Deep dish is gabbage.
DougJ
@Spaghetti Lee:
I use Yelp when I travel.
GxB
Hey-ia, Do-oug Jay-a, ‘ats-a-matta-wit-chou, first you-a insult-a the peoploia thatta don’ drinka, then you go-a and insult-a anybodee that-a make the pitza-pie out sida the big appolia. I spitta onna youa and you cheepa stereo-types-a…
Loneoak
So following up on my previous comment, if you want your stars to stick, don’t mention the prez, just review the place.
JPL
@The Dangerman: Hmm.. bigot against the gays and the President of the United States are different issues. The Presidency used to be respected especially during a time of war.
Steeplejack
Since we’re on the topic . . .
Anybody in NoVa got a recommendation for pizza in Falls Church/Arlington? I tend to prefer thin crust, but I’m not dogmatic.
As a reference point, I have been going to Pie-Tanza lately.
DougJ
@GxB:
You forgot about when I insulted the English.
Anatoliĭ Lъudьvigovich Bzyp (formerly Horrendo Slapp, Jimperson Zibb, Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.)
So this guy is a small business owner–who no doubt built his business all by himself–and he runs a charity that runs blood drives… And the Republicans want to withhold their blood from his drives and they want to wreck his business.
I swear, every time I let myself think that there isn’t any way they can sink any lower…
YellowJournalism
His pizza sounds good. Too bad he doesn’t deliver to Canada!
shortstop
@Spaghetti Lee: I’m from Chicago and I don’t like deep dish or pan, either, but NY isn’t all that. Thin crusts should be crispy and the dough should be flavorful. This occurs in about 5 percent of NY pizzas.
Anatoliĭ Lъudьvigovich Bzyp (formerly Horrendo Slapp, Jimperson Zibb, Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.)
@Steeplejack:
It isn’t in Arlington, but the Pines of Florence in Alexandria has great pizza. Right on King Street, maybe 5 blocks from the Metro station. I go there for a white pizza fix at least once a month.
Todd
Goddamn useless, easy to game Yelp. For some incomprehensible reason, Google practically ignores your business site unless you open yourself up to anonymous reviews you can’t delete on Yelp.
tworivers
Clearly DougJ has never tried Pizzeria Regina pizza (in the North End in Boston). Or Santarpio’s in East Boston for that matter.
Violet
@lamh35: Yeah, he requested that people donate to his foundation rather than order pizza to send to a fire station or wherever. Here’s the link for his foundation: http://thevanduzerfoundation.org/
Steeplejack
@Comrade Jake:
Have been switching between that and the Bengals-Ravens game. Murray
about to close it outjust won!Mr Stagger Lee
@Baud: If Papa John Schnatter hugs President Obama or the guy from Chick-Fil-A does it, I am going to puke.
MikeJ
@Todd: JWZ has a post about yelp’s shakedown scam. If you pay them, yelp will let you pick which review goes at the top and let you delete “unfair” reviews.
Ben Franklin
@shortstop:
where is that? The only thing I find palatable in NY is
zeppoli .
Violet
@Spaghetti Lee: I use Yelp when I’m traveling. I also occasionally check it out if I’m looking for some place new to try in my own area, but can’t think of anything offhand.
Steeplejack
@Anatoliĭ Lъudьvigovich Bzyp (formerly Horrendo Slapp, Jimperson Zibb, Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.):
Thanks for the rec. King Street is in my zone. In fact, I need to use up the remainder of a Crate & Barrel gift card, and they’ve got a pretty good outlet store down there.
Wil
Apparently he operates a foundation that helps needy people. If you can’t order pizza because you’re not in Florida, here’s the link if you want to check his foundation out:
http://thevanduzerfoundation.org/
Steeplejack
@efgoldman:
Thanks, will check it out.
I’m seriously jonesin’ for pizza after reading this thread, but tonight’s dinner is just about to hit the table.
Spaghetti Lee
@MikeJ:
Gawrsh. How did small business owners ever maintain their reputations before the internet?
Comrade Jake
@tworivers:
Santarpio’s! Good stuff.
Redshift
@Steeplejack:
Brick’s Pizza is excellent.
Todd
@Violet:
I never use Yelp. Give me Trip Advisor and Urban Spoon any day of the week.
arguingwithsignposts
Man, it’s like some people in this thread have never heard of Rule 34.
Joel
@Spaghetti Lee: I use Yelp (and Tripadvisor or travel) religiously.
Yes, there are problems. But there is real strength in aggregation. While there have been a handful of occasions where I disagree with consensus (Paseo in Seattle is overrated in my book, although not bad), it is usually pretty trustworthy. Because so many places are overrated due to people’s inherent willingness to rate positive experiences over negative ones, I use these more as elimination services. This is especially true in small towns where localism tends to override taste (Hello, Darby’s in Olympia!). As you can see, there have been a few instances where the ratings led me astray, and they are memorable. However, my hit-to-miss ratio is vastly improved over yesteryear. Eating out costs a lot of money, so why burn it?
Steeplejack
@Redshift:
Thanks! It has gone on the list.
Violet
@Todd: I use one that’s local to my area for local restaurants. When I’m traveling I’ll look at a variety of sources, including Yelp. Recently I was in a place where the only reviews were on Yelp.
Joel
@Loneoak: They should probably toss every review after 9/9/12 for good measure.
Ben Franklin
@efgoldman:
Actually, I remembered Lentos in Bay Ridge (59th St) Brooklyn has the best thin crust pizza I can recall in NY. Dark, dark and so retro Italian ambience.
AnotherBruce
@Spaghetti Lee: Yo, so Chicago only serves deep dish? Gidada here.
Ben Franklin
Bay Ridge sounds like Gay Ridge, so I’m moderated.
Joel
@tworivers: I’m from Boston, originally, so it hurts me to say this: Seattle has better pizza.
Before you get too angry about this, Seattle probably has the best pizza on the west coast.
Joel
@tworivers: I’m from Boston, originally, so it hurts me to say this: Seattle has better pizza.
Before you get too angry about this, Seattle probably has the best pizza on the west coast.
Redshift
@Steeplejack: And you may even be in their delivery area (which I’m not, sadly.)
Mitch Kloorfain
@Ben Franklin:
Yes, order online here https://main.takeouttech.com/orders/startup.aspx?cid=194&locid=2099
Thanks for asking
eemom
@Steeplejack:
Here in Vienna we have Church Street Pizza. Kind of a hole in the wall but the closest thing to actual, you know, PIZZA this ex-pat New Yawkah has ever tasted in this godforsaken wasteland.
Heliopause
Seriously, it’s shitty what some nuts are doing to this fellow, but fighting your own personal proxy war through him and the website is also fucked up.
AnotherBruce
One thing I can tell you from living in San Diego and now Seattle is that the west coast has some kind of aversion to good sauces on their pizza. They overdo the cheese. So yes the pizza in Chicago kicks ass all over that weak stuff on the left coast.
It’s a heavy price to pay to live out here, but somehow I bear that burden.
Fluke bucket
I miss brick oven bill sometimes
Joel
@AnotherBruce: Pagliacci is good baseline pizza.
Aside from that there’s
Flying Squirrel
Verace
Serious Pie
Crash Landing
local minichain Tutta Bella (dunno about Via Tribunali, haven’t eaten there)
If you’re missing Chicago-style, there’s Kylies.
Gin & Tonic
@Joel:
Kinda like having the best sushi in Topeka.
magurakurin
@jackmac:
real smeal. There is a street in Napoli…take a trip here sometime if you want to eat “real” pizza.
Maude
@Fluke bucket:
Don’t fret, he shows up here with another name.
Joel
@Gin & Tonic: Yea, well I don’t much love the pizza in my hometown, either.
Mike in NC
@Anatoliĭ Lъudьvigovich Bzyp (formerly Horrendo Slapp, Jimperson Zibb, Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.): Yeah, it’s been a while but Pines of Florence (4 or 5 locations) always had very good food. Owned by Pakistanis.
Bobby Thomson
No, he did not either name it New Haven Pizza.
Mike in NC
@efgoldman: The Italian Store also has a location in Vienna. Fantastic subs.
Ben Franklin
@magurakurin:
I dunno. ‘Mericans seem to have developed not only pizza, but chinese, as well.
Have you ever eaten authentic chinese food?
Steeplejack
@Redshift:
Yeah. I looked at their Web site, and it has a funky First Street address, but I think it’s in a strip mall just a little way down Arlington Boulevard from me. Just a little east of the Target right before Seven Corners, is that about right?
I’m right at Seven Corners, close to the Guitar Center and Eden Center.
bago
@Joel: The Zig Zag fired their chef who made the badass pizzas.
Steeplejack
@eemom:
Thanks, I’ll put it on the list. If I get out that way I’ll check it out.
AnotherBruce
@Joel:
Thanks, I’m not a big fan of Pagliaccis, Tutta Bella is ok, but it’s not my style. Serious Pie is also good and maybe my favorite for the care they take in making their pizzas. I’m not saying the pizza in Seattle is bad.
I guess it boils down to a preference. A lot of folks equate Chicago pizza with deep dish. (And a lot of folks underrate good Chicago deep dish pizza.)But my experience back east is that they really get the sauce right. I know there’s more than one way to make a pizza, but a great tomato sauce for me defines the best pizza. It just balances the cheese and crust in a way that makes pizza one of the best culinary creations in the history of the world.
And oh yeah, I’ll try Kylies.
Redshift
@Bobby Thomson: I was thinking of New Haven as well. On the parallel thread, there is a New Haven-style pizza place in Arlington now. I haven’t had a chance to try it yet, though.
Steeplejack
@Redshift:
Are you talking about Pete’s? I’ve seen it but haven’t eaten there either.
Redshift
@Steeplejack: Yeah, that’s the one; I was just too lazy to look it up. :-)
I’m a Yalie, so I love New Haven pizza.
Steeplejack
@Redshift:
So what is “New Haven” style pizza?
When I was in college a hundred years ago there was a place that served great thin-crust pizza, the taste of which I have tried unsuccessfully to duplicate ever since. I think it was a Village Inn, but it didn’t bear any resemblance to the ones that still exist.
Julie
@Joel: Portland begs to differ. ;) That said, I love some good Boston-style pizza. Best pizzeria I ever worked in was owned by guys from the North End.
eemom
wrt New Haven pizza, Sally’s and Pepe’s were the big names. But my heart will always belong to Naples.
eemom
@Steeplejack:
dude. Please. If you were in college a hundred years ago, I attended Primordial Ooze U.
El Cid
@eemom: Go Fightin’ Archaea!
Catsy
@RedKitten: …I thought that the Wolverine/Edward Scissorhands slashfic that I happened across about ten years ago was the most fucked-up pairing I’d ever see.
I was wrong.
Steeplejack
@eemom:
The fightin’ Protozoans!
nastybrutishntall
Dolores River Brewery in Dolores, CO makes the best wood-oven fired pizza in Colorado. Besides these guys that drive a wood-fire pizza truck in Connecticut that I ate from once (I know, right?), the only pizza I have ever had that’s better in the US is Pizza Bianco in Phoenix. NY grease-pies are great at 2am, though. Almost as good as a Döner in Kreutzberg at 5 am.
Fun trivia: Dolores, population 1200, is the inspiration for the name Dolores Haze, who someone wrote a book about once.
SarahT
Yo, I live in NYC ! And the best pizza in Manhattan (note : NOT the Bronx, Brooklyn, etc.) is Mariella – E. 16 St @ 3rd Ave. And I don’t usually even LIKE pizza !
T. Scheisskopf
Wait a minute! The whole frigging state of NJ, save Domino’s and Pizzahut!
And especially The Log Cabin on Rt. 46 in Knowlton Twp.
gex
I love how their every action demonstrates exactly how much they HATE everything America stands for. Did this guy express, freely, his political opinion? Yes.
What do they think he deserves for that, since they disagree with him? To be destroyed. Go ahead and ruin his business. Then bitch about him when he needs public assistance. Why don’t they just Second Amendment remedy the people they have trouble with? Because in the end, they would prefer that a lot of not-Real Americans cease to exist.