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Tittl review: Don’t let owner’s departure scare you
Pizza Bob's still gets most things right with quality homemade taste
| Wednesday, Dec 12 2007 1:37 PM
Last Updated: Wednesday, Dec 12 2007 2:39 PM
Like most people, I get nervous when a restaurant I like gets new owners. Change? Who needs it! Why not keep things just the way they are! So what if some folks have worked long enough to earn a retirement? What are we gonna have for dinner?
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OK, a tad unreasonable, but I guess after all these years and a health scare, the founder/owner of Pizza Bob’s, Bob Sitarski, earned a break. The Detroit man is now working at developing pizza businesses in other cities with partners and sold his small pizza parlor on Kern Canyon Road (the end of Niles) at Morning Drive to Jonas Formica.
Bob was always a character, always defending the independent pizza parlor owner against the encroaching chains. He would never cut back on the quality of his ingredients (real sausage, whole-milk mozzarella) even when it would have helped him cut prices a buck or two. He once had two restaurants open at the same time, the other being at the corner of Ming Avenue and Ashe Road, but he eventually scaled back to one.
As a Midwesterner, I really appreciated his Sicilian-style deep-dish pizza, which had the sauce dappled on top of the cheese, a creation so thick that some people find it altogether too calorie dense for these times.
I understand. The Sicilian is an amazing thing. When you order it you may notice that there are dark spots on the cheese on top, looking like a marshmallow left too long in the campfire before going into the chocolate-graham cracker sandwich we call a s’more. Rookies may wonder “Who burned the pizza?” The cheese is so thick that you could, if you wish, eat around those parts, but I dig in completely. My recommendation is to get the Sicilian extra large ($19.42 for one topping) and you’ll have plenty for leftovers. It is the closest thing I’ve sampled in town to the deep-dish pizzas I remember from my times in Chicago.
The good news is that though Bob himself is gone, everything at Pizza Bob’s is pretty much the same as it ever was, probably because Formica was a manager under Bob for four years. There are pork ribs since the last time I’ve visited, which I’ve yet to try.
What I found fantastic was the slight alterations to the meatball sandwich ($6.06). I had liked that while writing a column about the restaurant some years ago at Ming and Ashe, but had not tried one up in the northeast.
While waiting for a pizza, I saw a woman make one. She took a nice French roll, put mozzarella cheese inside and ran it through the pizza oven to melt it. In a separate container she heated up some fresh-made meatballs with a marinara sauce thick with onions and green bell peppers. I would’ve ordered it on the spot had I not called in my food. When I did finally sample it, I’d rank it among the best in town simply because like most of the food here it just tastes homemade.
The restaurant now has a party room for birthdays and other gatherings, as well as a patio out front facing the parking lot where customers can smoke. There are two pool tables, three video games, one pinball game and lots of signs supporting Detroit sports teams. There’s a big-screen TV and large pizzas for $7 on Monday nights, so when I stopped by recently on a Monday it was nearly impossible to find a seat. There are also happy-hour specials from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday such as pizza, wings, discount pitchers of beer and personal pizzas for $5.
Service was swift and cheerful, though they gave my companion a glass of rosé wine instead of red, as she ordered.
Pizza Bob’s can be recommended for a fine dining experience.
Pizza Bob’s Famous Detroit Style Pizza
8105 Kern Canyon Road (at Morning Drive)
366-3500
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Prices: Sandwiches $6.06, salads $2.80 to $7.93, ribs and chicken $5.59 to $29.84, 10-inch pizzas $7.93 to $10.72, 12-inch $10.26 to $13.75, 14-inch $12.12 to $16.32, 16-inch $13.99 to $18.88, gourmet and combination pizzas (14-inch) $14.92 to $26.52. No child’s plate.
Payment: MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover and personal checks accepted. Does not accept American Express or The Californian’s Press Pass.
Dress: Casual
Amenities: Wheelchair accessible; beer and wine served; some vegetarian options.
Food: 3 1⁄2 stars
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 3 1⁄2 stars
Next week: Uricchio’s Trattoria