Kate: Side salad with Greek Dressing, Classic Margarita Pizza, and Be Careful Not to Choke Pepperoni Shocker
OK. I know, I know. People have been telling us to go to Erbelli's for years, literally, years. And, we have wanted to check it out. It's just that it seemed like it was kind of out of the way. Well, now that we have been there, I can promise you, that is ABSOLUTELY no excuse. This place is a very worthy of the 6 awards they just won in the Kalamazoo Gazette's "Reader's Choice" awards. Seriously. (Check the article out here).
Any way, my folks were coming into town for the weekend, and we had an afternoon to kill, so we decided to head over to Erbelli's and check it out with them. So, off we went for a late lunch, with a coupon from our Super Book in hand! And, we were ready to attack this food. Oh, and I should give a shout out to Mr. Brian Dietz (my boss) who has been telling Paul and I to check out Erbelli's for quite some time. He was very glad to hear we finally made it over there. So, thank you, Mr. Dietz, for the recommendation.
We walked in and were met by the friendly hostess. (Note: one of the Reader's Choice awards they won was Friendliest Staff... well deserved). She took us back through the charming dining room, not at all what I was expecting, and sat us in a booth. Though, I had looked over the menu online before, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed as I had it in my hands... There are a lot of options. Sandwiches, salads, gourmet pizzas, a whole vegetarian pizza section, and more and more. Our coupon was for two pizzas, so we decided to share. Mom and I ordered the Margarita and Paul and dad went for the Pepperoni Shocker, which was no shocker at all. We also ordered side salads, because, well, we were pretty hungry at that point, and this was late lunch/early dinner, so that seemed ok.
Upon our server's suggestion, we went with the Greek dressing for the side salad. The perfect choice. Most of their dressings are house made, expect for their house (Ranch!?!) which is odd. The salad was nothing special. Mostly iceberg lettuce with mozzarella cheese, tomato, and croutons, but the dressing made this something I will likely crave. The perfect blend of herbs. Not too oily or greasy. Light. Yum! Man, my mouth is starting to water now that I think about it.
And, then, it was pizza time. Mom and I started working on the Margarita, while Paul and dad attacked the Pepperoni Shocker, appropriately I do believe. Sadly (and epic fail on my part) my the batteries in my camera died before I could get a picture of the Margarita. And, I was pretty hungry, so I just dove it. But, as Margarita's go, it was pretty standard. A little wet, perhaps (thanks to the tomatoes) but the flavor was great. The right blend of garlic and olive oil and basil. The crust was the right balance of crispy and chewy (not too much, but some of both), and, in all honesty, it was gone pretty fast. I am pretty sure, in fact, I am positive, that I ate more than my half. Now, I think the Park Street Pizza (check out that blog post here) is still my favorite Margherita) but this was darn good. And available here where I live.
BUT, Paul and dad's pizza, was, well, pretty incredible. Now, I am not a pepperoni eater. It's almost more on principle than anything at this point. I had an evolution of carnivorism. I started as a full meat eater, then went to a full vegetarian. Over the years, I have added chicken, turkey, seafood, and some pork back into my diet. But, I am still weird with the pork products (I just recently started eating bacon) and I have maintained my no beef status since about 1995. But, the looks on Paul's and dad's faces as they ate this pizza pie, made me want to at least take a bite. And, I did. And, it was epic, amazing, awesome and any other cliched word you can think of. Pan crust, again the perfect combination of chewy and crispy, with the crispiest of crispy pepperonis. I didn't even pay attention to the cheese (sorry!) because the rest of the pizza was so good.
I don't know that I will have this particular pizza again ( I still don't feel good about the pepperoni eating), but I WILL go back to Erbelli's and will try many of the other pizzas. It is absolutely clear why Erbelli's was awarded so many Reader's Choice awards. This place is family friendly, delicious, and worth the drive, wherever you are coming from!
five golden forks out of five
OK. I know, I know. People have been telling us to go to Erbelli's for years, literally, years. And, we have wanted to check it out. It's just that it seemed like it was kind of out of the way. Well, now that we have been there, I can promise you, that is ABSOLUTELY no excuse. This place is a very worthy of the 6 awards they just won in the Kalamazoo Gazette's "Reader's Choice" awards. Seriously. (Check the article out here).
Any way, my folks were coming into town for the weekend, and we had an afternoon to kill, so we decided to head over to Erbelli's and check it out with them. So, off we went for a late lunch, with a coupon from our Super Book in hand! And, we were ready to attack this food. Oh, and I should give a shout out to Mr. Brian Dietz (my boss) who has been telling Paul and I to check out Erbelli's for quite some time. He was very glad to hear we finally made it over there. So, thank you, Mr. Dietz, for the recommendation.
We walked in and were met by the friendly hostess. (Note: one of the Reader's Choice awards they won was Friendliest Staff... well deserved). She took us back through the charming dining room, not at all what I was expecting, and sat us in a booth. Though, I had looked over the menu online before, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed as I had it in my hands... There are a lot of options. Sandwiches, salads, gourmet pizzas, a whole vegetarian pizza section, and more and more. Our coupon was for two pizzas, so we decided to share. Mom and I ordered the Margarita and Paul and dad went for the Pepperoni Shocker, which was no shocker at all. We also ordered side salads, because, well, we were pretty hungry at that point, and this was late lunch/early dinner, so that seemed ok.Upon our server's suggestion, we went with the Greek dressing for the side salad. The perfect choice. Most of their dressings are house made, expect for their house (Ranch!?!) which is odd. The salad was nothing special. Mostly iceberg lettuce with mozzarella cheese, tomato, and croutons, but the dressing made this something I will likely crave. The perfect blend of herbs. Not too oily or greasy. Light. Yum! Man, my mouth is starting to water now that I think about it.
And, then, it was pizza time. Mom and I started working on the Margarita, while Paul and dad attacked the Pepperoni Shocker, appropriately I do believe. Sadly (and epic fail on my part) my the batteries in my camera died before I could get a picture of the Margarita. And, I was pretty hungry, so I just dove it. But, as Margarita's go, it was pretty standard. A little wet, perhaps (thanks to the tomatoes) but the flavor was great. The right blend of garlic and olive oil and basil. The crust was the right balance of crispy and chewy (not too much, but some of both), and, in all honesty, it was gone pretty fast. I am pretty sure, in fact, I am positive, that I ate more than my half. Now, I think the Park Street Pizza (check out that blog post here) is still my favorite Margherita) but this was darn good. And available here where I live.
BUT, Paul and dad's pizza, was, well, pretty incredible. Now, I am not a pepperoni eater. It's almost more on principle than anything at this point. I had an evolution of carnivorism. I started as a full meat eater, then went to a full vegetarian. Over the years, I have added chicken, turkey, seafood, and some pork back into my diet. But, I am still weird with the pork products (I just recently started eating bacon) and I have maintained my no beef status since about 1995. But, the looks on Paul's and dad's faces as they ate this pizza pie, made me want to at least take a bite. And, I did. And, it was epic, amazing, awesome and any other cliched word you can think of. Pan crust, again the perfect combination of chewy and crispy, with the crispiest of crispy pepperonis. I didn't even pay attention to the cheese (sorry!) because the rest of the pizza was so good.
I don't know that I will have this particular pizza again ( I still don't feel good about the pepperoni eating), but I WILL go back to Erbelli's and will try many of the other pizzas. It is absolutely clear why Erbelli's was awarded so many Reader's Choice awards. This place is family friendly, delicious, and worth the drive, wherever you are coming from!
five golden forks out of five
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