Pizza Katerina
635 N. 9th Street, Suite EWhen Momma’s away, we eat pizza for dinner.
J had an early morning meeting in Saginaw so she went over the night before and got a hotel room. That seemed like a better idea than getting up early to drive.
She left straight from work so I changed my shift to work early mornings. That way I’d be able to pick the kids up from daycare.
B’s daycare is over on the east side of town and my plan was to pick up a pizza from the Cottage Inn on Sprinkle and Kilgore but that place closed (again). I had to come up with a new plan.
I pulled in to the new Circle K on that same corner and thought about just getting a pizza from there…but, as always, I had a better idea.
Pizza Katerina has been open in Oshtemo for a few months now. The small, made-from-scratch bakery/pizza joint is right next to Oshtemo Pharmacy on 9th Street in that small strip mall in front of Walmart. They’ve moved into the space connected to the pharmacy that used to be a small cafe.
The restaurant is much bigger than I was expecting. I figured it would be a small counter used mostly for carry-out but there was quite a large dining room with several tables. They really push a lunch deal of two slices and a drink for $5 on social and there’s plenty of room to stop in to grab a quick bite to eat if you’re in the area.
The menu is pretty limited. They have 14″ pizzas with most of the standard toppings. They also offer fresh baked bread a few days a week and some other dessert type baked goods.
I put in my order for a cheese pizza for the kids and a pepperoni pizza for myself while we were sitting in the parking lot at the Circle K. By the time I got L from her daycare on the west side of town, my pizzas were ready to be picked. I headed straight to the counter in the back of the space. The cost for the two pizzas was just under $20.
The dough is really the star of the pizza. The crust is a little thicker around the edge and soft and chewy throughout. They call it NY Style pizza but the crust is a little thicker than what I normally consider NY pizza. The edge of the crust doesn’t quite have “the snap” but it does fold over making the long, limp triangle slices a little easier to eat. The pizzas are topped with a thick, fresh tasting sauce then mozzarella cheese and what my kids call “salt.” It’s really an Italian herb mix with maybe a little salt…it just adds a little extra punch to the pizza.
The thing that sticks with me the most from Pizza Katerina is the taste of the bread. The crust has a very homemade taste to it. It’s slightly salt and very doughy. It’s very reminiscent of pizza dough you’d make at home. That’s a good thing. The flavor of this crust stuck with me for a long time and even as I write about it a few days later, I still have that taste stuck in my mouth.
Pizza Katerina is really good pizza…especially if you like the really doughy, floppy pizzas. The flavor is unlike anything else in town. The only downside to this small pizza joint is the hours. They really suck. They close at 7:00 and aren’t open Sunday and Monday. Trying to get a pizza from here before 7:00 on a weeknight is almost impossible for us. The only reason I was able to do it this time was because I didn’t work my normal shift. Still, I’m going to make an effort to have this pizza as much as I can. You really can’t beat the home made taste these pizzas deliver.
SW Michigan Dining 