by Terrance Mc Arthur
Our roving food critic Terrance Mc Arthur continues his search for great food in Sanger and the surrounding communities.
Pizza—That symbol of the circle of life, the roundness of the world, and the bearer of all the food groups of nutrition (but usually too much of the wrong ones). This FoodQuest tried five different pizza parlors/pizzerias, ordering a large sausage/mushroom/pepperoni pizza and various other goodies.
Where Did We Go?
Me-n-Ed’s, 2616 Jensen Ave., Sanger, 559-875-2528.
Mountain Mike’s, 2637 Jensen Ave., Suite A, Sanger, 559-875-9000.
Pizza Hut, 1132 Academy Ave., Sanger, 559-875-2619.
DiCicco’s Italian Restaurant, 267 Academy Ave., Sanger, 559-875-5557.
Pizza Factory, 133 S. 6th St., Fowler, 559-834-3614.
What Was It Like?
ME-N-ED’S: Loud music, sports on the TVs, arcade games, and pizza: that’s Me-n-Ed’s. At the northeast end of the shopping center on the northwest corner of Jensen and Bethel, it’s a bring-the-team-after-the-game kind of place. It’s dark, but not romantic. The pizza cost $10.50 for three toppings. The crust was thin, firm, and crunchy but not crumbly. The sauce was okay, and the mushroom pieces were canned. We threw in an order of potato wedges, and we ate most of them, because we had devoured all 12 pieces of the pizza.
Me N Eds
You can order by phone or online, and there is delivery.
MOUNTAIN MIKE’S: It’s like a sports bar with pizza, with lots of screens showing athletes grunting loudly, at the southwest corner of Jensen and Bethel. The arcade games are off in a corner, so the kids won’t pester mom and dad with questions about the game on TV. With only a small group of customers, the place was still really noisy. I don’t know why, but the pizza itself only cost $9. It was colorful, with a thick, chewy crust that was nicely browned on the bottom, and real mushrooms. The spicy sausage has a delayed reaction that sneaks up on you like a stealth bomber, and the pepperoni was curly and crispy. We ordered garlic sticks and—to quote Genesis in the Bible—“it was good.”
There is online and phone ordering, and they do deliver.
PIZZA HUT: If you look for Sanger’s Pizza Hut on Yahoo or Google, make sure you don’t use the address and number on Jensen. That one closed, and is now a Panda Express. The newly opened take-out location on Academy is not a pizza restaurant; there are a couple of chairs between the door and the counter for waiting, and no tables. It’s grab-and-go, and there are good things to grab. Our pizza cost $9.99, and we added potato wedges that didn’t really need a dipping sauce. The fluffy crust had a nice taste, and the toppings were hiding under lots of cheese. Cut into eight large pieces, you might consider asking the staff to cut them in half; they are daunting. For fun, the Crazy Cheesy Crust Pizza is a limited-time special that looks like one of the suns they show at station breaks on “CBS Sunday Morning,” with an explosive sunburst of pepperoni; what a way to go!
Online ordering is the best option, because the phones are often busy, and they deliver.
DICICCO’S: You can tell when the owner is in the building, because the music features Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Tony Bennett. DiCicco’s is an Italian restaurant first, and a pizzeria second. It’s hidden behind the oleanders of McDonald’s in what was the Save Mart shopping center. $9.99 got us the softest dough and the stretchiest cheese we encountered, with the toppings sliding away faster than you can bite them.
Call to order, and they deliver, or you can just sit there and enjoy a romantic evening.
PIZZA FACTORY: In the same building as Fowler’s fire station, Pizza Factory (“We Toss ‘em! They’re Awesome!”) has a lovely brick patio with umbrella-topped tables. There are two main areas indoors, with one section featuring a mammoth-screen TV. I’m honestly not sure how much we spent on the pizza, because we had sodas, a scrumptious garlic bread, and a total of $27.02, but we ended up with a 12-slice X-large–as a special, this made it only three cents more than a three-topping large. There was lotsa sausage, making it almost a loose-meat pizza, dropping all over the place. It was juicy and oily, requiring two hands and two layers of paper plates to hold a slice. My personal favorite at this chain is an artichoke pizza with olive oil that is very tasty.
Pizza Factory Pizza
You can call to order or for delivery.
So, What Did We Think?
If you want to watch the game and eat pizza with a lot of people, go to Mountain Mike’s.
If you have to entertain a large group, it’s Me-n-Ed’s, maybe Pizza Factory.
For a quiet, romantic evening, go to DiCicco’s, or sit under an umbrella at Pizza Factory.
If you need a pizza now, order online from Pizza Hut.
…And The Winner Is…Mountain Mike’s, but you might want to pick it up or have it delivered…unless you really want to see that game.
If we missed your favorite pizza, share it with us in the comments below!
Check out more food articles in our Food Fun section.
Wish they had one of your pizza choices down here in Mexico. Hard to find a good pizza out side of Italy or the U.S.