Neapolitan Style Pizza in Ames

[ornryactor]

The Yelp reviews convinced me. I'm taking 4 friends there right now. I'll let you know how it is when I'm back.

[ornryactor]

It was incredible. I got the #10. It wasn't at all what I expected- basically a salad on top of a pizza, but it was truly excellent. The crust is just mind-blowing, and I see what the OP means about the La Quercia meats. I've never seen such high-quality ingredients across the board, not even at Great Plains or Black Market. Our group's only complaint (and it was minor) was that the center of the pizza is so juicy from the crushed-tomato 'sauce' and whatever veggies you might have, and the crust is so thin, that the crust totally loses all structural integrity. It flops around, and the cheese often slides off the end of the slice. It's a minor deal, but worth mentioning.

I unequivocally recommend Vesuvius. Completely incredible, and I *will* be going back soon.

[cyfan964]

I also went there tonight and was more than impressed. I got the prosciutto, caramalized onions, and garlic butter. It was absolutely fantastic! Nice sized personal pan for $9. I will definitely be going back!

[cyowa]

I also went there tonight and was more than impressed. I got the prosciutto, caramalized onions, and garlic butter. It was absolutely fantastic! Nice sized personal pan for $9. I will definitely be going back!

GOD, I'M HUNGRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ornryactor]

Garlic butter? I think you're talking about the slices of actual roasted garlic. They're really rich, and super-soft. I almost couldn't finish my pizza thanks to those things. They're delicious, but I think I'll get something else on my next pizza there. That said, if you haven't had roasted garlic on your pizza recently (or ever), then you owe it to yourself to have it. It's fabulous.

[cyfan964]

Garlic butter? I think you're talking about the slices of actual roasted garlic. They're really rich, and super-soft. I almost couldn't finish my pizza thanks to those things. They're delicious, but I think I'll get something else on my next pizza there. That said, if you haven't had roasted garlic on your pizza recently (or ever), then you owe it to yourself to have it. It's fabulous.

Sorry, I guess it's called roasted garlic cream. My pizza had no tomato sauce. It was a garlic cream sauce instead.

[marothisu]

I see what the OP means about the La Quercia meats. I've never seen such high-quality ingredients across the board, not even at Great Plains or Black Market.

Hey, welcome to big-city ingredients...

[marothisu]

You guys should see if they're using whole roasted garlic because that would be amazing. Not the stuff you buy in jars, but the actual thing. There's a french restaurant a block away from me which offers a whole ******* roasted garlic to spread on your bread with butter. ******* a-mazing and if they put that on their pizza...I give them all the props in the world.

[Frak]

A place in Ames with REAL pizza? Nice...prices look cheap too. Good for Ames. Now all they have to do is replace half of their city council to get 75% of the town out of the 1980s. Not talking about pizza, but I never really understood why Ames doesn't leverage more business relationships being in the city itself to work up close with ISU. I can only think of a few such as 3M. You know how much Ames could expand in a good way since ISU is there? They could easily attract people like John Deere to open up an office there, and many, many other companies to be closer to research.

Anyway, that was a wayyy off course tangent. Pizza looks good...good thing the city is getting a legit looking place.

Well, if you've followed city politics much, you know that 1/2 the city council just got blown out for more "progressive" members. Three new members started this month. And of the three that weren't up for re-election, two were of the pro-business, pro-growth stance. They were just getting outvoted...especially Mahayni who was all alone for the whole mall debacle. So, I think that they finally have people in there that will push for what a vast majority of the city wants. We just need the economy to turn so that they can start making a difference. Pretty tough to make much of an economic impact when businesses are downsizing across the country.

As for businesses working with ISU, I suggest you look at the Research Park. That's been a nice success story for both Ames and ISU. They are currently expanding and have over 50 companies located there...many with ISU connections.

I think that the new city council is going to make a huge effort to make the city easier to work with for businesses. They are planning on a new industrial park off of 13th east of the interstate. Of course, the economy needs to be better for them to make the investment necessary. I do agree that the city has made it way more difficult than it needs to be for companies to locate in Ames. Too many people in city government wanted to keep Ames this quaint little town straight out of the 50's. They are deathly afraid of "urban sprawl"...as if there's not enough cornfields out there.

I really believe that this anti-growth stance is changing now...finally. I hope that it's not too late. We should know in the next month or so if the city is getting that intermodal hub grant from the government. If that happens, campustown will be on it's way to changing dramatically. And who wrote the grant proposal? One of the new council members.

[marothisu]

Well, if you've followed city politics much, you know that 1/2 the city council just got blown out for more "progressive" members. Three new members started this month. And of the three that weren't up for re-election, two were of the pro-business, pro-growth stance. They were just getting outvoted...especially Mahayni who was all alone for the whole mall debacle. So, I think that they finally have people in there that will push for what a vast majority of the city wants. We just need the economy to turn so that they can start making a difference. Pretty tough to make much of an economic impact when businesses are downsizing across the country.

As for businesses working with ISU, I suggest you look at the Research Park. That's been a nice success story for both Ames and ISU. They are currently expanding and have over 50 companies located there...many with ISU connections.

I think that the new city council is going to make a huge effort to make the city easier to work with for businesses. They are planning on a new industrial park off of 13th east of the interstate. Of course, the economy needs to be better for them to make the investment necessary. I do agree that the city has made it way more difficult than it needs to be for companies to locate in Ames. Too many people in city government wanted to keep Ames this quaint little town straight out of the 50's. They are deathly afraid of "urban sprawl"...as if there's not enough cornfields out there.

I really believe that this anti-growth stance is changing now...finally. I hope that it's not too late. We should know in the next month or so if the city is getting that intermodal hub grant from the government. If that happens, campustown will be on it's way to changing dramatically. And who wrote the grant proposal? One of the new council members.

I don't really follow city politics much because I live in Chicago now and all I know is from my personal experience from when I attended ISU. To be honest, Ames politics is at the very low end of my spectrum of things to research with free time. I am very glad to hear there's new people in office who are pro-business and pro-expansion though.

It's kind of sad you mention the 50s thing and urban sprawl. Even if Ames grew at a constant rate of 30% from now until three years from now, the population would only be 112,000 which isn't really very large.


As far as research, what I meant to say is there could be more. ISU is part of the American Association of Universities, and Universities Research Association which are two very highly exclusive "clubs" for universities. That right there should be reason enough for a lot of larger companies especially in the midwest with respectable research wings to set up an office in Ames. You even see this with hospitals. If you go to Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic, you'll notice a lot of bio medical companies setting up shop right on the campus there basically. ISU could really have no problem attracting more research oriented wings of companies setting up small areas around.

Anyway, of late a huge interest in mine has been to do with city planning and development probably because of a project I'm on you know helping to build smarter cities (there's a hint of my employer, ha ha). I look at Ames though and I see how much room this place has to be a pretty decent town/city. Sure there's no river or lake, but there's ISU! Seriously that is perfect for businesses considering it's a top-tier research university and there's the whole college aspect of it. Whether it's restaurants/cafes, fun places to hang out (bowling alleys for example, laser tag, whatever), or even hotels...Ames has tons of room both figuratively and literally.

When I graduated, I basically wrote the President a letter telling him why there's such a problem with alcoholism on campus and it's because of the lack of things to do in the city outside of sporting events, class, and a few good concerts every once in awhile. Don't get me wrong, I loved partying but at the same time I knew how to handle my alcohol. It's really not the case with a lot of people and IMO if there was more to do, the administration would probably not be as ******/concerned as they are about the alcoholism rate.

As for the pizza..next time I'm in Ames which could be in 6 weeks, I might make Vesuvius a top priority.

[LindenCy]

It's kind of sad you mention the 50s thing and urban sprawl. Even if Ames grew at a constant rate of 30% from now until three years from now, the population would only be 112,000 which isn't really very large.

For Ames that would be huge though. I know you are in Chicago, but I grew up here (Chicago) and live here now also, and one of the things I like about Ames is that it is not huge like Chicago. I am not against growth, but I would hate to see Ames become a big suburban sprawl.

It should build on the college town atmosphere and they have a long way to go in that regard. Seems like Campustown is worse now than when I was there in the 1990's. Part of the problem in Ames is the divide between deciding whether it should grow or not. It needs to grow, but keep its "flavor." Then it will be attractive to all parties.

[marothisu]

For Ames that would be huge though. I know you are in Chicago, but I grew up here (Chicago) and live here now also, and one of the things I like about Ames is that it is not huge like Chicago. I am not against growth, but I would hate to see Ames become a big suburban sprawl.

It should build on the college town atmosphere and they have a long way to go in that regard. Seems like Campustown is worse now than when I was there in the 1990's. Part of the problem in Ames is the divide between deciding whether it should grow or not. It needs to grow, but keep its "flavor." Then it will be attractive to all parties.

Right, I agree..space and quiet is a good thing and I'd hate to see it as a big suburban sprawl if the growth was in not a useful way. However, if Ames had a bunch of research wings of companies set up there to work more closely with the university and it grew by 15,000 - 30,000 people, I can't see the harm in that. That's my opinion though.


I also agree though about the college town atmosphere and it could easily do that with time. When I went there, it was just weird and that's how I describe it best. It was like, you walk to Welch and there's bars, but it's just weird. I can't explain it other than that (save the drunks yelling "GET ER DONNNNEEEE!!" randomly). It can really 'expand' a lot whether it's with the feel or with actual people/business/whatever.

Now that you mention the thing about 100k people being huge for Ames, I remember one year I met some freshmen from some farm town in Iowa. They were telling me how HUGE Ames was and I seriously thought they were from another planet.

[LindenCy]

Right, I agree..space and quiet is a good thing and I'd hate to see it as a big suburban sprawl if the growth was in not a useful way. However, if Ames had a bunch of research wings of companies set up there to work more closely with the university and it grew by 15,000 - 30,000 people, I can't see the harm in that. That's my opinion though.


I also agree though about the college town atmosphere and it could easily do that with time. When I went there, it was just weird and that's how I describe it best. It was like, you walk to Welch and there's bars, but it's just weird. I can't explain it other than that (save the drunks yelling "GET ER DONNNNEEEE!!" randomly). It can really 'expand' a lot whether it's with the feel or with actual people/business/whatever.

Now that you mention the thing about 100k people being huge for Ames, I remember one year I met some freshmen from some farm town in Iowa. They were telling me how HUGE Ames was and I seriously thought they were from another planet.

Yeah, I think you make a good point about the business growth. Some research companies and factories would be great for Ames and the surrounding area. I know what you mean about weird sort of. It is a bit disjointed. Still love Ames though!

I would love to see some good business plans for growth so Ames doesn't just become a bedroom community. It really does need the businesses you allude to. The research is already there.

[Phaedrus]

"neapolitan style" pizza HAS a near liquid center. It's part of the breed, man. What they do at Vesuvius, is to somehow magically make it so the near liquid center is minimized; my guess is they do it for Ames/Midwest tastes.

I wasn't going to mention it, and I discussed it with Scott, but I really think their treatment of that aspect of Neapolitan style is a good tradeoff for midwest tastes.

I have already decided to go to one of the WBB games coming up and eating at Vesuvius first. I really, really need to have one of their meat pizzas. I'm thinking prosciutto, mainly because they do not have parma.

BTW, a combo meal at BK or McDonalds is like $6 when all is said and done. For $8 you can have excellent Neapolitan style pizza and a drink, and your pizza is hand made, start to finish in just a couple of minutes. And you can watch it being prepared.

[CycloneErik]

Man, I really need to try this the next time I am in Ames.

Let me know, I'll try it.

I know that it's good if Phaedrus likes it. The man has discerning pizza taste.