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In Des Moines, we take our pizza seriously. We may not be a metropolis famed for its pies, but we do boast dozens of spots that could probably win taste tests against a few that are.
Given our long history of pizza, we have plenty of pizza snobs, too. There are Scornovacca’s die-hards, Flour enthusiasts and Fia’s aficionados. But the difference between Angelo’s old-school style and Fong’s fusion comes down to more than a difference in toppings. So we visited two popular pizza joints that fit the old school versus new school debate: Scornovacca’s North and Gusto.
Old school: Scornovacca’s
About the joint: Scorno’s opened in 1973, and has been a family-run business since. They make their own dough, sauce, meatballs, Italian sausage, onion rings and more themselves, and pride themselves with sticking to their roots. “We’ve made this style of pizza for years, and we don’t change it because there hasn’t been a demand to change it,” owner Sue Freylack said.
Why it’s old school: Scornovacca’s modeled their pizza crust after traditional New York-style pies. Thin, extra crispy around the edge, soft in the middle. They’ve perfected it, and many on the south side of Des Moines — where the Des Moines pizza craze began more than 100 years ago — would call it the best.
Toppings: Scorno’s makes as many of their own ingredients as they can. Their dough is special recipe, their sauce is too, and their Italian sausage is a crowd favorite. “People always order some sort of meat pizza,” she said. “Especially anything with our Italian sausage on it. We make it ourselves, and people love it.” Here, pepperoni and sausage are hot sellers, as is the T-Rex, topped with homemade Italian sausage, capicola, American sausage, hamburger and pepperoni. The sauce is more traditional as well.
New school: Gusto Pizza Co.
About
the joint: Friends Josh Holderness, Joe McConville and Tony Lemmo opened Gusto Pizza Co. on Ingersoll Avenue in February 2011. They wanted a spot that would introduce new and unique toppings and combinations to the masses, and now serve pies topped with smoked brisket, goat cheese, spicy Thai peanut sauce and cream cheese to hungry customers every day (but not all on the same pie).
Why it’s new school: “Pizza is all rooted in the same tradition, we’ve just added a bit of excitement,” Holderness said. Gusto prides itself in making fun, unique recipes to top their homemade dough and sauce (the dough is Lemmo’s grandmother’s recipe), and use as many local ingredients and toppings as they can. The Il Figaro, topped with Alfredo sauce, pears, wine-marinated figs, prosciutto, blue cheese and mixed greens is about as new and unique as you can get.
Toppings: Old-school favorites are still available, even on the specialty pies. They’re just dressed up a bit, so “people can expand their pizza experience,” he said. The Stallion is topped with red sauce, mozzarella, Italian meatballs, yellow onions, garlic and green peppers — all pretty common toppings. Or, go new school with the No. 24, topped with jalapeno creamed corn, blue cheese, smoked beef brisket, sweet corn and red onion.
