A friend of mine got married this weekend. The best part about the weekend was the fact that all of his friends from out of town came to Dallas and hung out. I got to see a few people I hadn’t seen in a while, and I also met some brand new folks.
I was sitting at dinner on Friday night at Babe’s Chicken, which is absolutely the best fried chicken I’ve ever had in my life. It’s probably the best in the whole world actually. If you don’t believe me, you’ll just have to come to Texas and try for yourself.
So I sat across from a Pennsylvania couple I had never met before and the topic turned to my beloved hometown; St. Louis, Missouri. As soon as I mentioned St. Louis, the guy across from me uttered possibly the most delicious words I’ve ever heard in my life:
Did you say St. Louis? So you know about provel cheese and St. Louis style pizza, right?
I would have kissed him if he were a she.
Unless you are from St. Louis, I’m sure you’re asking, “What the deuce is provel cheese? And since when does St. Louis have their own pizza?” Let me educate you.
St. Louis style pizza has a cracker thin crust with cheese and toppings going all the way out to the edge. The cheese is none other than Provel Cheese, which is a mixture of cheddar, swiss and provolone (yeah, it sounds that good ’cause it is). The pizza is cut into squares instead of triangle slices, and tastes divine!
Now I’m ready for your next question: “If this pizza is so delicious, then why haven’t I ever heard about it?”
You can’t buy Provel outside of St. Louis. I don’t know why, but you just can’t. Unless you’re sneaky about it!
There is a St. Louis native who lives in Dallas and has somehow found to way to have Provel Cheese shipped to Dallas. I don’t know how he does it (Leprechauns?) but he owns a St. Louis style pizza restaurant called 5th Street Pizza and I’m madly in love.
Remember that couple sitting across from me at Babe’s that was in town from Pennsylvania? They didn’t care about BBQ or Tex-Mex. They were ecstatic to be in Dallas because of St. Louis Style Pizza! They were going to dinner at 5th Street the next night and invited me. I HAD TO GO!
This is where the personal finance finally comes in. I love my hometown and I love St. Louis style pizza. I can’t pass up that darn pizza. I bought 12 Toasted Ravioli’s (another St. Louis food) and a 16″ Pizza to make sure I had leftovers. It cost me over $20. I didn’t care though because I love it and it’s way cheaper than a trip back to St. Louis. Provel Cheese is my weakness. I have to buy that darn pizza.
So Thousandaires: What is your weakness? What do you have to buy when given the opportunity? Or are you a strong willed person who can resist anything if you want and I’m just a weenie?
P.S. If you are as excited about this pizza as I am, you can find the Wikipedia article here.
P.P.S. If I’ve convinced you this is the best pizza in the world, but you don’t live near St. Louis or Dallas, I suggest you Google “St. Louis Style Pizza [insert my town here]”. If you don’t have one in your city but still want to try it, you can actually have it shipped to your house. It’s expensive, but the website is here.
Kevin McKee is an entrepreneur, IT guru, and personal finance leader. In addition to his writing, Kevin is the head of IT at Buildingstars, Co-Founder of Padmission, and organizer of Laravel STL. He is also the creator of www.contributetoopensource.com. When he’s not working, Kevin enjoys podcasting about movies and spending time with his wife and four children.
I think provel is secretly the reason why many people spend their entire lives in St. Louis. Provel cheese and Ted Drewes..
St. Louis has the be the most underrated food town in the whole country. Maybe the world. Or the universe.
I knew you were talking about IMOs!! and Ted Drewes is my favorite. I know someone that has IMOs shipped to them every year for their birthday.
Don’t even talk about Imo’s. It makes me want it soooo bad. I’m not going back to St. Louis until Christmas and it’s already killing me!
I so agree. I grew up there and that place is slept on by so many. I miss the pizza, duck and noodles, St.Pauls sandwiches, snoot sandwiches, Amighettis, velvet freeze, that Greek restaurant in Florissant. You are bringing up memories.
This one is too easy. “What do I have to buy when given the opportunity?” Answer: In N’ Out Burger. Hands down the best burgers ever. It’s almost like a cult. If you’ve had one then you know what I’m talking about. And if you haven’t had one then you’re no longer cool enough to talk to me.
I guess we can’t be friends…
I’ve heard great things about In ‘N Out burger, but they don’t have them in St. Louis or Texas, and I’ve never gotten one during a visit to the west coast. I’ll put it on my to-do list because I love burgers and I wanna be your friend.
I’ll second that, put it on your to-do list!
You have to know how to order though, Google the secret menu..
Cheeseburger, animal style (my wife likes em animal and protein style, but shes a bit of a nut 🙂 )
I should look into opening one of these restaurants in Texas. I bet I could make quite a bit of cashola.
Wow, that sure looks and tastes good! If I’m ever in St. Louis or Dallas, I’ll have to try it.
If you go to St. Louis and don’t try the pizza then we can’t be friends. Just sayin’
Oh Snap! I have to go find some of this! I am a pizza fanatic!
If you love pizza you’ll probably love this. You just can’t go in expecting regular pizza because you’ll be disappointed. It’s very different (and much better) than regular pizza.
The link in the post no longer exists. Enjoy!! http://imospizza.com/