The Family Pizza Tour

There are two things every family enjoys. No matter who you are or where you come from, we all love a road trip and we all love pizza. This summer we decided to drive from our home in Saskatchewan to visit our families in South-Eastern Ontario. A 38 hour road trip, in a Yaris, with a nearly 3 year old who is full-on three-nager and a busy 6 year old boy.

We knew we would have to break the trip up into manageable chunks and knew we wanted to travel through the northern states. Then one night, after some wine and Game Of Thrones we stumbled across a show called, "The Pizza Show." The idea was born. We would plan our stops around excellent pizza or find the best possible pizza along our route.

Now, pizza for a week comes with a few pitfalls. The first is that the human body can only take so much cheese, crust and toppings. The second is that there are so many amazing pizza places that we had to miss out on! But with a little creative thinking we overcame the first and the second means we have to do another pizza tour, I guess. So, not really problems in the end.

This incredible tour was very budget friendly and went so smoothly I am in a bit of shock about it. But the focus was the pizza so without further ado, the pizza, in order from our least to most favourite.

#6 Fired Up - Estevan, Saskatchewan

This was our first pizza stop on the trip and it was exactly what we needed, although it was far out-shined later. After a long and mostly boring drive we pulled our crumpled, cranky kids out of the car and made our way into a dimly lit, typical bar and grill. Big vinyl booths, some tables, sports on T.V. ....you get the idea.

We were looking forward to the fire grilled pizza and hoping for the best but honestly we would have been happy with Little Ceasar's at that point. What we got was a heavily cheesed, golden crusted delight. One side thai chicken and the other four-cheese, we gobbled up our first, heavy but heavenly meal of the pizza tour.

As far as pizzas go I would say the best word for this spot was...satisfying. Nothing mind-blowing or overly exciting but also thoroughly enjoyable and impeccably prepared. The thing that really made this stop great was the service.

Our lovely server was a young man, rocking a long pony-tail and thick rimmed glasses. He watched our table carefully enough to know when our littles were having trouble and offered them colouring, puzzles and toys. He brought them complementary deserts and had our three year old calmed down and happy. I honestly wonder what that first night would have been like without such careful handling of our tired selves by the staff at Fired Up.

#5 Spinners Pizza - Stoughton, Wisconsin

Moving up to our 5th favourite was one of our less conventional pizzas. Taking a break from our heavy evening meals, about halfway through our trip, our pizza choice for the day was a dessert pizza. Searching along our route we found Spinner's Pizza which offered cookie pizzas with toppings from peanut butter and jelly to skittles and streusel icing.

Craving something healthy, we went for the tropical fruit pizza. With mango, and pineapple it was nearly healthy if you don't count the thick dripping icing and the delicious sugar-cookie crust....which I chose not to. This was one of the kids favourites of course. The ensuing sugar rush nearly drove us crazy but the crash that followed made for a quiet ride to Chicago.

#4 Mama's Bakery Pizza and Salad Bar - Minneapolis, Minnesota

After a few days of pizza for supper we knew it was going to be harder than we thought to enjoy a big slice (or three) every night. So why not enjoy a slice in the morning. As we travelled through Minneapolis we found so many incredible looking pizza places that we would love to go back and try. The one we did try was basically in a food court in some sort of business centre, downtown, Minneapolis. We arrived at 9:00am and walked in to see three enormous pizzas and some calzones looking hot and fresh behind a glass counter.

Breakfast pizza is a thing and needs to be celebrated. With a choice of bacon, sausage or veggie, each pizza was sprinkled with cheese and scrambled eggs with a buttery sauce instead of traditional tomato. Each of us got our own big, floppy slice to fold and devour.

Unconventional? Yes. Delicious? Absolutely. The very best pizza we had....? Not a chance. But it was a surprisingly satisfying breakfast option that got us rethinking the possibilities that pizza presents.

#3 The Starving Rooster - Minot, North Dakota

Getting to the top three. As a family, there was some definite controversy over which pizza place deserved to be the one we would call "The Pizza Tour Winner." For those who are unaware, North Dakota, has some surprising, world class, pizza joints. We visited two of them. The one we tried first, earning third place (by split decision) was the Buffalo Chicken, flatbread.

Flatbread pizzas are non-traditional and may seem like they are only for hipsters. That may be true because not one person in The Starving Rooster would look out of place holding a banjo, and we did end up eating our meal across the street, on the steps of an old warehouse, near a closed section of railway track....o.k. we are kind of hipsters ourselves. But I digress. Flatbread pizza has all the flavour and eat-ability of traditional pies with less of the heavy bread part. So myself, and all fans of high-waisted jeans, are big fans.

This particular flatbread was crispy and absolutely covered with chunks of buffalo chicken, blue cheese, and white sauce with pickled celery. Unique and just the right balance of savoury and heat. The kids enjoyed it but found it a bit too spicy for their young palettes. The grown ups were lost in the mouth-gasm that was this pizza. If it had been a winner all around it would likely have earned first place, but alas, they will have to settle for third.

"But wait!" you cry."Why wouldn't it earn second place?"

#2 Giordano's - Chicago, Illinois

Choosing the true winner was complicated. We decided we would consider taste, restaurant atmosphere, and every family member's opinion in the matter. With these things in mind, Girodano's could have been the winner. The restaurant is historic. The recipe for the "stuffed deep dish pizza pie" started as a family tradition in Italy and was introduced to the streets of Chicago in 1974. This was the busiest pizza place we visited, crammed full of tourists and locals, the place was literally overflowing. Each pie takes about an hour to cook and it is worth the wait.

Outside the Millennium Park location is a large fountain and public square sort of area where I took our rug-rats to run around while we waited. The servers were high energy and excellent at their jobs and the noise and organized chaos of it all made for a true, Chicago, deep-dish experience.

The pie itself was layers of cheese, mushrooms, sauce and flaky, buttery crust. Both kids actually enjoyed it and it was so filling we definitely had some to take home. In our first few bites my husband locked eyes with me and nearly moaned, "the sauce." I nodded and replied, "the crust!" and we continued eating ourselves into a pizza induced stupor.

Girodano's would have won first place but when we discussed it we agreed that, while special and one of the best meals of my life, it isn't truly a pizza. It is in the pizza family but it belongs in a category of its own. So to really understand if this was great deep dish, we would have to compare it to more deep dish....next food tour?...perhaps.

#1 Rhombus Guys - Fargo, North Dakota

AND THE WINNER IS.......

Yes, another amazing pizza place in North Dakota. There are actually three locations and the one we visited was not the original. The original Rhombus Guys is in Grand Forks and the company was actually started as a smoothie stand and morphed into the amazing pizza place and brewery it is now. The story of this restaurant is unconventional and fun just like their pizza.

As soon as we walked into Rhombus Guys I was in love. Again, very "hipster" in its decor with fun touches like painted pianos and tables that you can scribble on. Very family friendly but cool enough that it would quickly become your favourite drinking haunt too.

We ordered two pizzas with 4 different halves mostly from the "Unbelievable" section of the menu. A 4-Cheese for the kids, with mozarella, provolone, feta and fontina. Gouda Bye Billy with its smoked gouda, mozarella, chicken, bacon, spinach, onion, tomato and a roasted red pepper sauce. Gorgonzola Pear with an oil based sauce and the key notes being, of course, pears, and gorgonzola, but also walnuts, caramelized onions and fresh arugula and balsamic on top. But the one that made this place the winner for us was The Cuban. Mustard sauce, pulled-pork, pickles and mozarella! We all loved this pizza and it was so different, while staying firmly in the realm of what you expect from a pizza, that it nudged Rhombus Guys into first place.

If you are ever in North Dakota you must find a Rhombus Guys location and try allllll the pizzas.

A side note for this restaurant is that it is also a brewery and their beer deserves a mention. Their own brews are excellent with something for every beer lover's taste and they also have a huge variety of local beers on tap. Order a flight to find your favourite because nothing is better than pizza and beer!