"Nobody makes it like I do"

Vincent Chianese, the gruff voiced, cigarette smoking, whiskey drinking, dough throwing owner of the Original Vincent's Pizza on Route 30 in Forest Hills, said it best.

Long known as the "Home of the Vinnie Pie", The Pizza Club (hereafter known as TPC) began on a Friday night in February of the wintriest winter anyone could remember. 02/19/2010 marked the first stop on a hopefully long tour of the best pizza pie shops around the Western PA area (not that we won't travel further in search of good pie!)

And what a stop it was. For some, it was the first time stepping into the Ardmore Blvd. shop; for others, well, it was like walking back into time. A time when your dough was tossed high in the air by Vinnie himself and his notoriously long cigarette ashes dangling from his mouth. Those were the days.

But I digress. Even though Vinnie and his smokes are gone, the ashes seem to live on in the ovens. And in the ridiculous amount of toppings piled on each pie. Some say it's too much while others say they used to get more, but if you get a pie with just cheese and peperoni, you've got a lot of work cut out for you indeed. Plus the thick, crusty dough gives you something to sop it all up with although some say it's a little too crusty. All in all, the flavors on my pie, which included the TPC minimum of pepperoni, plus sausage, mushrooms, anchovies, and garlic was reminiscent of the good old days. The pepperoni is hand cut and from somewhere great.

Maybe it's not like it used to be, with sausage chunks the size of my hand and pepperoni thrown across it like it was cheese, but all in all, the best pie around still.

But you don't want to read this drivel do you? See for yourself.