Apizza Scholls: One of the Top Five Pizzerias in America
@jimcowling
They do take reservations, but only for groups of 8-12 and only one a night.
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Apizza Scholls: One of the Top Five Pizzerias in America
The only restaurant I have ever been to where people stand outside and beg for your leftovers!
Responses to Comments by kathrine
Apizza Scholls: One of the Top Five Pizzerias in America
Flaksman,
We make enough dough to meet the demand of a complete 5 hour dinner service at maximum capacity. We generally finish making pizzas right around 10pm. If I made more dough, I would have to keep my doors open even longer, and at the moment, working 14 hours a day is plenty for me.
I am a little confused by your comment about standing in line for hours only to be turned away. The longest anyone has waited in line, before opening, was about an hour. On average, people start lining up for the first seating about half an hour before we open. After we open, those who have waited in line are sat and then there is no longer a line. If the restaurant fills up completely at opening, then people who come in put their name on the waiting list, and every one who puts their name on the list gets a pizza. If it is a busy night and we do pull the waiting list (we don't sell out of dough every night) it generally occurs at about 8pm, which is three hours after opening. That being said, I am curious to know what pizzeria you waited in line for hours, only to be told that they were out of dough when you finally got to the door.
Apizza Scholls: One of the Top Five Pizzerias in America
Flaksman...Brian's unwillingness to whip up more dough last minute and serve so-so pizza is a mark of the control freak perfectionist he is. I call that thoughtful!
So arrive when I do...4.30 or so, wait only a little, enjoy a lot!
Incidentally, my wife, my ex-Brooklynite friend, and I have driven there for dinner—from Seattle! That's 3 hours one-way. Worth it? Yeah, and not just for nostalgia. That "char" (deliciously caramelized crust, that is), those bubbles....swoon-city, baby.
This is hard to say, but here goes: I grew up in New Haven, thought I could never find better. But I did back-to-back trips to Portland and New Haven, and have to admit that Brian Spangler's the winner.
Apizza Scholls: One of the Top Five Pizzerias in America
The one down side of this restaurant is that they have not learned how to make enough dough to meet the demand. Multiple times I have driven down from Seattle to Portland to try their pizza and have waited on line for hours only to be told when I reached the door that they ran out of dough. They might make great pizza but that is no excuse for poor customer service.
Apizza Scholls: One of the Top Five Pizzerias in America
If you want to see Spangler, along with other great pizza makers in town, Ken Forkish and Cathy Whims, talk about their pies, see here:
http://www.portlandfood.org/index.php?showforum=15
The crust has a wonderful bready flavor with a nice tanginess from a long ferment.
My argument for Apizza Scholls being the best of its style that I've ever had is that the overall pie is superior to those that I've had at, eg, DiFara's, Lombardi's, Grimaldi's, John's on Bleeker, and Patsy's. I preferred the cheese at Patsy's and some of the toppings at Grimaldi's and I liked the top of the pie at DiFara's possibly better overall, and I liked the flavor from the coal at most of these, that little bit of smokiness. But there were more significant problems at all of these. Lombardi's was a bland pie. DiFara's couldn't seem to cook the pies consistently, often truly burning the pizzas on large portions or undercooking them. Patsy's had similar problems. Grimaldi's fell short in the crust and the sauce. John's seemed to be outclassed by these others. Obviously my experience is much more limited with those that Scholls, however. And at some level it just becomes BS to talk about which is better. They're all damned good and it may just be a matter of taste and priority.
Apizza Scholls: One of the Top Five Pizzerias in America
Looks and sounds like a really good pie - one that I'd like. But I'm curious about two things...
1) The texture of the crust was mentioned but what about its flavor? Did it have that little tang of yeastiness that some of us crave or was it just a carrier?
2) II cringe when I'm in a pizzeria and see a sign touting the use of "Grande cheese" because it seems ubiquitous in the current era generic NYC style slice places where the cheese and the pie is very bland. Is there more than one brand of Grande cheese or differing quality levels available? I assume that if a place like this is using it there must be some merit.
Apizza Scholls: One of the Top Five Pizzerias in America
Wow I live in the area and had never heard of it before. I will be trying it this weekend. Thanks!
Apizza Scholls: One of the Top Five Pizzerias in America
I moved out of the area, but I was lucky enough to go to the original store in Scholls and the store on Hawthorne. If you don't mind eating early, I recommend getting in line by 4:30 on a Saturday for the 5:00 opening. If you get in line around 4:50, you probably won't make the first seating. I haven't been there for a while, so the wait could be better or worse.
Apizza Scholls: One of the Top Five Pizzerias in America
If I ever start a pizza oriented rap band, I'm going to call it "All About the BTU's".
I like Spangler's approach. Coal is good because it's hot, not because it's coal.
Too bad I'm 3,000 miles too far away to grab a pie.
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And to the guy who doesn't like char, I've got news for you: you don't like pizza.
Apizza Scholls: One of the Top Five Pizzerias in America
@jimcowling
They do take reservations, but only for groups of 8-12 and only one a night.
Apizza Scholls: One of the Top Five Pizzerias in America
Apizza Scholls is the place the boyfriend and I most drool about, but we only go to once every other month or so. If you go on a Wednesday or Thursday earlyish (5.30-6), you can usually get in after 30 or 45 minutes. It is currently the best pizza I've ever had, and it's fun to sit in the room attached to the kitchen to get a good view back there. After reading this post, I talked the boyfriend into going next week. I'm excited already!
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