Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

If I find myself in this plaza, I usually go to Pho Bang or walk around the corner to Taste Good, a Malaysian hole in the wall. Pizza is not the first thing I think of when I'm in Elmhurst, that's for sure.

3 words: Chuck E Cheese's. I'm not sure if their pizza, which they seem to be known for, could even qualify as pizza. All I know is one time my son convinced me to get it and I have regretted it ever since. It's like white bread with American cheese on top. And like the bad sex metaphor, I felt dirty immediately afterword. So, no, if pizza is as bad as that, then it's not good even when it's bad!

I can imagine the build instructions at PJ's for this. 1. Open can of apple and corn syrup based pie filling. 2. Place one dessert crust shell on counter. 3. Top crust with pie filling. 4. Send through conveyor oven. 5. Box and slice in rectangles.

Saw these at the store last Sunday and momentarily contemplated buying them. Glad I didn't.

Not to follow up my own comment with yet another, I knew I had read somewhere that the FDA had originally denied the name corn sugar and instructed food companies to use corn syrup instead. There's an article on AdAge of all places that goes into detail about HFCS controversy. It's here:
http://adage.com/columns/article?article_id=144258

I guess it took a while, but it appears as though the food industry has won this time.

I have to agree with chazmo, we've been to Playa del Carmen many times over the past 14 years and only stay in small hotels in town. It's a place to go if you don't want to stay in a resort, despite the move towards American style commercialism recently. It's a great town with great beaches and amazing food on practically every corner.

"Would I fly to Michigan just for a taste of Loui's thick-crusted wonder? Maybe not" Doesn't mean I don't want to eat all 4 of those squares right now - they look great, a little on the well done side, crispy, saucy, everything I want right now!

Nice shout out for Carmine's Original in Norman - we've been getting it delivered for years. Good to hear the slice harvester holds Carmine (not the Williamsburg one) in such esteem. That guy must be in his late 60s or even 70s and he's there every day from opening until closing.

@braciole: I feel a professional responsibility to field this one. As a food stylist, I have to say, the food you receive at almost any commercial establishment will never, never, never look like the idealized version the company produces for promotional purposes. Remember the movie Falling Down? Michael Douglas flips out in the fast food restaurant because his burger doesn't look like the one on the poster? Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

By the way, my future tell-all autobiography about my years as a food stylist will be titled: Why Doesn't Mine Look Like That? It'll be available exactly two years after my current client base reads this post.

I always figured he had a beer/wine license all along - he was on here a few months before opening asking what kind of cheap beers he should offer. Good to know Paulie is moving forward however. I still need to get myself over there, it's only a few blocks away!

@Pizzablogger: With 20+ years in the food industry, I recognize what you're saying, but these are people with multiple stores including a few out West. They must have some modicum of business ability to keep the brand going after all these years. The fact that they expanded yet never bothered to put an equity investment in their first location baffles me.

I rarely wait in line for food. I'd rather arrive a few minutes before a place will open and wait then rather than stand in line like cattle. If I go to Ippudo in NYC, it's always for lunch and always between 11:30 and 11:55. Same for Xi'an Famous Foods. I don't have time to kill, and if I do, I'd rather do something more constructive -- like look for a better option.