Winn's Pizza and Steakhouse

“Pizza night! Movie night!” Best Friday night ever. Especially after toddler meltdowns of epic proportions earlier today. Jack’s had a tough day. So he picked the movie. Shocking to neither Ryan or me, he chose Cars 3. 

Tonight we had pizza and toasted raviolis from Winn’s Pizza and Steakhouse. Original location in Indianola with spots in Norwalk (where we went) and Lacona too. A family owned and operated place. 

We ordered Winn’s special: green pepper, onion, and sausage. They have a robust appetizer menu but traveling back from Norwalk I had the most confidence in the toasted ravs keeping their toastiness for the trip home. We got cheesy raviolis but they have meat on the menu too. Oh, and a notable note: I’ve heard from some Winn’s loyalists that the onion rings and crab rangoons are super yummy too. 

The crust is thin, but they they do this cool thing around the edges to give it an edgy rise and give you a handle for your slice. It seems like they roll out the dough for the pie, then separately twist two strings of dough and wrap this “dough spiral” around the edge of the dough circle. It was good, and pretty! 

The sauce wasn’t anything special, not bad, not great. Loved how the cheese got nice and crispy on the edges (crispy cheese is one way to my heart). I really liked the sausage. It wasn’t spicy sausage like most local places use. I don’t mind spicy sausage but it was a pleasant surprise. Pretty sure it was homemade and not pre-cooked (as in it goes on the pizza and in the oven raw to bake, which we learned from my brother is an important element of sausage on pizza. At least it’s important to my brother). The sausage was in big crumbly chunks rather than formed into sausage balls. 

Overall it was a pretty decent pie. They have this quote on their website that brings me joy: “So a guy walks in and eats he says great food, great service, "Where are you from?" Indiana, my friend from the Obama Campaign told me that if I am ever in Iowa go to Winn's Pizza and Steakhouse!!” - This is copied exactly from the homepage on their website, grammar and all. Their claim to fame, an Obama staffer who told his friend from Indiana to stop at this place the next time he was in Iowa. So sweet. 

We both rated it 🍕🍕🍕🍕 (4/5). 

If you ever need inspiration for a new pizza place, the Zza Moines data sheet can be checked out any time! 

Franka Pizzeria for Lunch!

Yesterday afternoon I had to run down the the East Village around lunchtime to pick something up (quick details: earlier this week I opened Instagram at the exact right moment to catch Liz Lidgett gallery's flash sale and I nabbed a funky framed print for only $20! anyway, I digress...). Since the gallery is right next to Franka Pizzeria, which I've been very excited to try, I decided a lunch treat of a Margherita pizza was a great idea. 

What I loved:

• The wood-fired crust. Okay, I know I've said that I'm crust agnostic, but I think it's time to fess up about something. I DO have a favorite crust type, and it is totally wood-fired. I love how it chars and gets crunchy, but the right dough still rises and gets all poofy and tasty (yes, this is my v. technical description)
• The tomato sauce. They use san marzano tomatoes, which look adorable in their whole form, and taste sweet chopped up as tomato sauce on a pizza
• Sprinkled maldon sea salt on top of the whole masterpiece. Such a subtle and yummy touch. 

What I didn't love:

• The massive basil leaves, while a visually appealing work of art, were not great to actually eat. They slipped off in one bite. 
• The pizza was ready about 10 minutes sooner than it's promised time, so by the time I got home, the pie was pretty cold. Still tasty, but a bit of a bummer. 
• I knew ahead of time that the prices were on the high-end for this place, but I still wanted to try it. I always leave at least 20% on takeout (especially in COVID times!), so with tip this pizza, which I think was only 10 inches  (or a "big" personal pizza, IMO), was $20.  
• I want to be clear here: I don't mind to pay top dollar from time to time because I understand places like this use high quality ingredients. But given the size/price combo, it's not really accessible for a family pizza night unless you want to spend upwards of $100. Definitely worth it for a date night (or an upscale solo takeout lunch, if your style is like mine) though. 

All that being said it was a very good pizza and I'm intrigued at some of their non-traditional toppings combinations, so I'll probably be going back.  I also had fun having a pizza photo shoot in my office. 

Today was Jack's Valentine party at daycare. Of course I could not resist the opportunity to put him in a pizza-themed outfit and do a photo shoot this morning. Most of the expressions on his face are him asking me for more fruit snacks in exchange for standing still and smiling for the camera.  He's a great negotiator honestly. 

Overall rating: 4.5/5