Monthly Archives: October 2012

Pizza Shoppé (Benson)

28 Sunday Oct 2012

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Address: 6056 Maple

Website: www.pizzashoppe.com

Phone: (402) 556-9090

When: Thursday, 10/25/2012, 7:00 P.M.

Traffic: Moderate

“To the Land of Benson” King RJ cried, and off we galloped to The Pizza Shoppe, making our first sojourn to a regional pizza chain*.

We found the menu to be bursting with options of “Kansas City Style” pizza, many of them very unique. We settled on their popular “Round Table”and took a chance on a concoction called the Cabana.

The original Round Table is a fairly standard combo including hamburger, pork sausage, Canadian bacon, pepperoni, along with mushrooms, black olives and onions all laced together with mozzarella. The meats held their distinct flavors and the vegetables were fresh.  Consistency on this pie was sometimes uneven (the olives in particular were heavy on some slices, sparse on others). But the sauce, while light in volume, was a savory affair.  The kings both agreed that in all, the Round Table is worthy of a return trip.

The Cabana was a surprise. We took a chance due to it’s peculiar ingredients like the Alfredo with mustard base and the diced pickles. Rounding out the ingredients were pepperoni, Canadian bacon and pepperjack cheese. The result was a surprising and unique taste sensation the Kings had never experienced before, making us all the more curious what the other menu offerings may behold.

Both servings yielded a crispy, dry and supportive crust along with plentiful and flavorful toppings.

Admittedly, we Kings were pleased with the royal references (i.e., “Round Table, sizes King, Queen and Prince), but yea, this did not alter our opines.

The Pizza Shoppe (or “shopp-ay” as King JT’s daughter thought it pronounced) has an atmosphere of great character and a side annex where live minstrels occasionally perform. Arrival of our order was slower than expected (about 20 minutes), but tolerable, considering the otherwise attentive and friendly service.

The Omaha Pizza Kings award this pizza 4 crowns, for flavor and unique offerings.

(*while the kings still disdain national pizza chains, we are opening our possible exploits to regional chains.)

Dante Pizzeria

10 Wednesday Oct 2012

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Address: The Shops of Legacy, southwest corner of 168th & West Center

Website: http://www.dantepizzeria.com

Phone: 402-932-3078

When: Saturday, 10/6/2012, 1:00 P.M.

Traffic: Moderate

Many among the King’s throng have sung the praises of Dante to both King RJ and King JT. “When are you going to visit Dante”, they would ask sheepishly? The Kings always wanting to please their subjects, decided to head to the land of fire, hoping not to be burned.

We were seated promptly at our table, but had to wait for one cheap menu to be printed and shared by the two royals. It was ten minutes before we placed our order, and a mere ten minutes for our two pizzas to arrive at our table.

These pizzas are advertised as “Neapolitan” style and Dante claims the title of one of only 37 Vera pizza establishments in the United States. The Kings might also describe the Dante pie as a “gourmet” product. These pizzas are all already designed for the diner. You don’t go to Dante and order a pepperoni pizza. Pepperoni isn’t even an available ingredient! That’s a bit of a crown-blower, but there’s still plenty to delight. After a little chin scratching, RJ and JT picked a pizza called the Giuseppe (papa’s sausage, cipollini, roasted pepper and mozzarella); the second pizza was the Monterosso (potato, garlic, crisp prosciutto, rosemary and mozzarella). According to the Vera association, Neapolitan pizzas must be cooked in a wood burning oven of about 900 degrees! All Dante pizzas are cooked in their wood oven.

Now we’ll disclose The King’s opines on their meal. The monarchs almost acted as one when discussing the pies and giving their final crown rating. Both RJ and JT felt the Giuseppe was the better offering. However, both pizzas had unique, distinct, fresh and flavorful ingredients. We were disappointed with the abundance of some ingredients as well as the uneven distribution. The sausage was tasty but mild. We were also a bit disappointed with the prosciutto. Crisping it seems to zap it of flavor, but we latter realized, that the menu did say “crispy”. It must be a bit of hell to cook a pizza in a wood burning oven; we noticed the crust varied from soggy to charred. Some like that charred flavor, but it can be over powering.

Sound the bugles! The Kings bestow upon Dante 4 Crowns! We’d certainly go back, but it doesn’t elicit royal cravings.

Here’s a few notes. Dante’s is a nice Italian restaurant as well as a pizzeria. It is clean with nice decor. Omaha.com gave top honors to Dante’s spaghetti! It wasn’t until the bill came that The Omaha Pizza Kings were aware that Dante had a special that day (football Saturdays); all pizzas on the menu were a very reasonable $10 each. We wished they’d mentioned that up front.

PS: The Royals Helpful Hint: DO NOT YELL “pizza fire” in a pizzeria with a 900 degree wood  burning oven!