I haven't admitted this to a lot of people, but I recently returned from hanging with Mickey and the gang at Disneyland, which actually went better than i'd imagined it would. Save for the restaurants, which sucked, except for In-N-Out Burger, which simply sucks in prey, including my nine-year-old son who is now on a mission (just like everyone else) to recruit the famous burger palace to Denver. What he really wants to do is start a petition.
We could have eaten at In-N-Out on every occasion (we managed four trips, in four days), but the kid also has a thing for pizza, and when your kid has spent nine hours tearing it up at Disneyland, it means that by the end of the day, one wrong move by Mickey results in a major meltdown, so if your kid wants pizza, you give him a fucking pizza.
ZPizza, to be specific, which I'd never heard of until a friend of mine in Newport Beach insisted that we try it, promising that my kid would love it. She was right. He did -- and so did I -- even if it is a chain, with nearly 100 outposts nationwide, including (who knew?) Greenwood Village, the California-based company's newest location, which opens later this month at 4940 South Yosemite Street.
The web site has this to say about why Zpizza's pies are different: "It all started with a passion for food. Our dough is made from certified organic wheat flour prepared fresh every day, hand-thrown and fire-baked until uniquely crisp. We combine select ingredients such as certified organic tomato sauce, part-skim rBGH-free cheese from grass-fed cows, MSG-free pepperoni and additive-free sausage."
Gluten-free crusts are also available, and the sheer number of toppings and sauces -- they number more than fifty -- is stupefying.
Still, while it's good pizza, it doesn't beat a "Double, Double Animal Style" burger at In-N-Out. Then again, most things don't.
