Chuck D Cheese

A friend of mine (Sarah P) stepped up to the plate and offered to do a guest review for SliceofLife. I am forever grateful. Check it out

chuck e. cheese’s

14245 137th Avenue NW, Edmonton

Recently, a few mates and I found ourselves on the north side- not that north side- the north west of edmonton. we had about an hour to kill before seeing mariah carey grace the silver screen in Precious (authors side note: two thumbs up). and looking for a distraction and something to eat we had to look no further than the opposite end of the parking lot to the chuck e. cheese (14245 137th Avenue NW).

You may be familiar with this establishment from younger days where the chuck served as a dim and grubby backdrop for many a birthday party. the matted fur of the mascot and his animatronic movements had you reaching for the swamp water with one hand while reaching into the cesspool of plastic balls with another (to promptly throw at another child’s head). well, times have changed and while some of the old standards are still around (namely the animatronic mouse and self-serve soft drink machine), the atmosphere is now less a lounge and more like a casino for children. with pizza.

For a mere $30 you and your friends can enjoy the Munch ‘n Play Saver Combo (TM) which consists of a large pizza with 2 soft drinks and 25 tokens with which to bide your time waiting for that pie. we opted to split the pizza toppings and went for half super combo (peperoni, sausage, beef, black olives, green peppers, mushrooms, and red onion) and half cheese. The tokens were also divvied up and were played on a ms. pac man arcade and the classic carnival game, skee-ball. there may also have been a few “rides” on the horse and jockey game, for another post.

Our pizza arrived in a timely manner (author’s note: it was a weeknight and aside from one other “family”, we were the only patrons) and actually looked half decent. the crust: one notch above thin, crispgreasy at the edge and pretty delicious. the sauce: nothing remarkable about the flavor but an appropriate amount per surface area. and the toppings; i was slightly disappointed, but not entirely surprised, that the sausages on the super combo side were those little round sausage bits (where do you even buy those?) that looked like chuck e’s pellets and were about as appetizing. the tasteless canned black olives, mediocre pep and fecal sausage amounted to one clear fact: the super combo was not a winner. on the other hand, the cheese pizza slices were – dare I say-  some of the best I’ve ever had. which is not surprising when you consider the chuck’s target customers, the 3-8 year olds. for this age group, cheese pizza is king. they know their audience and know how to deliver a cheese pizza that is broiled to pure perfection.

I don’t know if frequenting this establishment is the road I want to go down to obtain more of this cheese pizza in the future. it’s just too risky. i mean, they have a hand sanitizing stations and padded posts at every turn. it’s just too much to gamble showing up there with a serious hankering for cheese pizza and be confronted with innumerable germy kids hopped up on soda, let loose in a carnival of eternal birthday party. so i guess my question is, do they deliver?

Of interest, when googling “chuck”, chuck e. cheese appears as the first search result. right before chuck noris. zing!

The Frank Saccomanno Story

Saccomanno’s Pizza, Pasta, and Deli

10208 127 Avenue, Edmonton

Without fail, I always miss the east-bound exit for the Yellowhead when driving north on 97th Street. No matter how many times I try and no matter how hard I try,  I never learn from my previous mistakes and blast straight under the overpass. After a recent exit-miss and subsequent double-backing, I noticed a pizza/pasta place that looked very promising. As my recent financial situation bubbled to the forefront though, the idea of visiting Saccomanno’s was relegated to the rear.

Recently, my friend Jared agreed to take me out for pizza, and I suggested that we take in a slice at Saccomanno’s. He had once been on a date to the restaurant/deli, and was very interested in a second visit. I was more than willing to make this date number 2.

Saccomanno’s Pizza, Pasta and Deli is exactly what its name says it is: an Italian delicatessen, a pizza restaurant and a pasta restaurant. The Pizza side of things is very simple. One size available (14 inches) and about half a dozen pizza choices. All thin crust. We settled on the capricciosa pizza, which had prosciutto cotto, olives, cheese (lots of cheese) and very little sauce.

Both Jared and I agree that the pizza was very good and highly recommendable. The thick cheese and thin sauce were definitely worth noting though. Just saying.

A serious highlight of  Saccomanno’s is its deli slash grocery. Jared and I grabbed our bottles and Peroni and took a stroll through the aisles (still very much a date at this point), picking up a few necessities such as deli meat, baby clams and couscous (please note the sarcasm. These things are neither necessities nor in my budget). It was great to finally be able to drink in a grocery store without worrying about store security though.

Jared was a complete gentleman. Not once did I feel that he was coming on too strong and he was more than willing to go dutch on the bill. Conversation was mostly about shinny and men’s hockey leagues. Mr. Saccomanno (we can only assume, really) was also a gentleman, thanking us personally for our patronage on our way out.

Despite the thin sauce, the only possible downside to the joint is its less-than-spectacular location. As long as the east-bound Yellowhead exit is as complicating as it is though, I think Mr Saccomanno’s will be just fine.

(quick note: I may have down-played the quality of the ‘za a little bit. It was really good. Better than most places, in fact. Was it the best of the best? Sliceoflife does not operate like Top Gun. I will say this though: “there are 2 C’s in Saccomanno, boys“……… Top Gun jokes.)

Eh One

A while back, I mentioned that I once bought a copy of a Totally Insane’s “Direct from the Backstreet” from A1 Pawn Shop on 111 Ave.

That pawn shop is the subject of a new documentary called Broke that is playing as part of the Global Visions Film Festival this weekend. I saw it last night, and I thought it was really good. I recommend that you check out the second screening on Saturday, November 7th at the Paramount Theatre downtown.

Number of times the word pizza is spoken during the film: one.

Ballin on a Budget

In order to keep my spending at a reasonable level, I wrote up a budget today. Despite taking CALM in high school, I have never done this before. Wish me luck. As much as I would have loved to, I did not create a column on my budget sheet for “Pizza outings”.

Soooooo, anyone willing to take me out for some pizza can email me at sliceoflifeedmonton@gmail.com. I will blog about it; you may become famous.

Worst case scenario, this will result in an inbox full of “is that a pizza chain that gucci mane is wearing?” emails.

Best case scenario, this will result in an inbox full of “is that a pizza chain that gucci mane is wearing?” emails.

I cannot ride for Gucci the way that the rest of the continent can. I often worry that Soulja Boy is falling in with the wrong crowd.

Can’t nobody nobody f-ck with his kitchen

Maybe I spoke too soon.

During the 2009 BET Hip Hop Awards that aired 2 days ago, Gucci Mane performed alongside Mario and Plies sporting an iced-out pizza slice chain.

Whether it’s this chain or the diamond-encrusted whisk next to it, this recent development has the internet goin’ nuts.

…..or rather, it has resulted in a small handful of people stumbling on to Sliceoflife by Google-ing “Gucci Mane AND Pizza Chain”.

Regardless, welcome to SliceoflifeEdmonton. No need to take your shoes off.

pizza holograms

It has been nearly 2 weeks since I last mentioned the Wicked Awesomes!

This time around, the boys use the music video medium to dole out the pizza jokes.

Bad Boys II

Ragazzi Pizzeria e Bistro Italiano

8110-Whyte Avenue, Edmonton

In 1988, Eric Wright and ‘his band of many men’ had just as much of an impact on the world of typeface as they did the world of rap music. While N.W.A’s “Straight Outta Compton” is often pointed to as the blueprint for gangster rap, the album’s cover art – and its seemingly innocent use of the Mistral™ typeface – has had an equally lasting effect on the way that many (maybe just me) view the world of brand design. Since hearing and seeing that record, I have never been able lay eyes on that typeface without immediately bracing myself to “witness the strength of street knowledge”. Plain and simple, the font has become synonymous (at least in my own private mind garden) with bad-ass gangsterism. I’m pretty sure this fact is not lost on the pizza boys from Ragazzi Bistro who a) use the Mistral™ font on their awning and b) are bad-ass.

Actually originally named Pizza Boys, Ragazzi Bistro was founded by the sons/nephews of the Tony’s Pizza Palace empire. With pizza sauce in their blood, it was only natural for the boys to start up a joint with their own youthful and edgy twist.  After a few years (ed. note: Slice of Life does not actually know how long) under the Pizza Boys moniker, they changed their name to Ragazzi – Italian for boys – in an attempt to class-up their image. Just like NWA’s move from Compton to Riverside (Ice Cube said it in “No Vaseline”, so it must be true), you can take the bad-ass out of its natural habitat, but you can’t take the natural…habitat…out of the…oh nevermind. What I am trying to say is that despite the name-change and fancy decor, Ragazzi Bistro is still a fun loving, exciting, and bad-ass pizza boy’s club.

Between myself and 3 buds we split a large “NY Spice” and a large “Calabrese” with a plate of Gnocchi (again) for another bud. The thin crust, Italian-style pizzas are very good and are highly recommended. The service was great, the music was weird and the dessert was delicious. It is a bit on the pricey side, but you get what you pay for: quality ‘za.

It wasn’t until I approached the counter to pay, that I realized the full charm of this place. The staff (the aforementioned brothers/cousins) are amazingly kind and very funny, talkin’ both shop and shit about the Yanks and Phillies.

This place has really good pizza, and is a great restaurant to eat at.

Also, this just in:

Thiiis iiiis the way we live

Do you remember in elementary school when classroom projects were rewarded with pizza parties? The City of Edmonton does.

The academic brainy types still looking to the Edmonton Journal (read: buddy in the Coca Cola shirt below) for their daily news may have missed it, but the front page of the Edmonton Sun announced yesterday that households agreeing to host “front room forums” discussing the direction of their city and ‘the way we live’ would be rewarded with pizza from Royal Pizza.

Check the Sun tomorrow for the outcome of their online “is this a good idea” poll. Slice of Life’s opinion is that the idea, which is being criticized as a cheap method of citizen participation, is a great one.

The next sentence that I am going to write makes me very happy:

To sign up for a pizza party, visit www.DiscussTheWayWeLive.ca or call 780-496-7898.

(Thanks to Shelby [BA Ed.] for the tip about the article. I don’t read either of this city’s rags)

Been having some thoughts

Why do the Wicked Awesomes! get so much face-time here at Slice of Life?

Simply put, the Wicked Awesomes! incorporate pizza into their packaging and live performances enough that I am gonna talk about them. That, and most rappers and R and B singers do not talk about pizza, have pizza-themed artwork, or perform in pizza restaurants dressed in pizza costumes.

Well, according to the photo below, it looks like DrakeSoundin’Boy Blu is into pizza, but I’m not into him.

There is also this (awful) video:

Maybe pizza is a rock thing, not a rap thing. Likely there will be more aout the Wicked Awesomes! in the future.

Slice of Life likes this

Woah, Happy Joe’s Pizza (8424 109 street, Edmonton) has a Facebook Page!

More impressive is the fact that the page has fans from all over the world. That there is an American chain by the same name might have something to do with that .

Update: The pictures from the other Happy Joe’s website are wild. Here’s 2 of ’em: