(I took several bad pictures for this review, and I apologize for this. As these pictures are so bad, I have hidden them at the bottom of the review, rather than the top where they normally go.)
While outsiders normally stick their nose up at St. Louis style pizza, according to a notable Chicago citizen (who also happens to be the President of the United States), a St. Louis pizza joint makes the best Chicago style pizza. That place, of course, is Pi Pizzeria.
I will certainly enjoy any slice of pizza that is put in front of me, but Chicago style pizza isn’t my favorite. I might argue that it isn’t even pizza. But I DO think Pi serves delicious pizza for the style, and even better for me, they have some fantastic thin-crust options as well.
Sometimes I regret it, but this is not a pizza blog and I will spend no further time telling you about the Pizza at Pi. But I will tell you some more things about the place in general: They’ve got 5 locations around St. Louis, and also have shops in DC, Cincinnati and coming soon to Miami Beach. They serve craft beers and drinks, and their locations have a lot of charm.
The non-pizza portion of their menu is exceptional as well, and in particular I had heard very good things about the wings. My sister Laura also had heard good things and that’s why she bought Lydia and I a Pi gift card for Christmas 2013. We finally put that gift card to use last night, to try their wings at the Central West End location.
The wings are the last item on the appetizers section of the menu, and the description reads as follows: “Oven Blazed Wings: dry rub, oven baked, carrots, yogurt-cucumber dressing. $10.95”. Pizza places seem to love putting their wings in their ovens and why wouldn’t they? Based on two of my previous reviews (Epic Pizza and Twin Oak Pizza) I seem to enjoy them.
There might be some important differences to note, between Pi and my previous two pizza-place-oven-wing reviews. First, according to this Serious Eats review Pi Pizza uses gas ovens, where the other two places use wood-fired ovens. I presume a Chicago style pizza doesn’t lend itself well to a wood-fired oven. Second, these wings are dry-rubbed and un-sauced. Both other places sauced their wings.
So un-sauced and un-wooded, how do these wings stand up?
They were delicious. Size-wise, the wings were large, but the meat was tender and moist all the way through. Unlike wood-fire oven wings, which sometimes get a char on the side facing the flame, these were much more evenly cooked on the outside. The side which was face down on the pan/surface was just slightly crispier than the rest. To be honest, I prefer the crunchiness that comes with the char of the wood-fire.
The rub on the outside was also tasty. It was peppery, but more black pepper than chili pepper. The “blazed” in the name definitely refers to the hot oven and not the level of spiciness. I don’t know what other spices are involved, but I can tell you that they were tasty.
In a nice touch, the carrots served with the wings were diced in thin pieces and also rubbed with this tasty mix. The combo was great, and in a rare STL Wing Review Move, I recommend having a vegetable. If you like cooling sauces, the yogurt cucumber sauce was refreshing and delicious. However, I wish the wings were a bit spicier, as the sauce kind of overwhelmed the mild flavor of the wings.
The wings, which might come with 8 or 9 in an order, are filling enough for a meal but you’re at Pi. Share them with some friends and get a damn pizza.
Anyway, Pi is great. The wings are really good, but I like Epic and Twin Oak’s take on pizza-oven-wings better. Our server last night, who I believe was named Caitlin/Kaitlin/Some other spelling of that name, was extremely friendly and attentive. As another word of advice, things can get pretty crazy on weekends so if you’re coming at 7:00pm on a Saturday, probably expect a wait. We walked right in to the CWE location on a Tuesday, however, and had no problem.
Here are a couple terrible pictures:
