Fratelli’s Pizza
435 Bridge Street NWI worked a lot the last week in October. I had two trips to Detroit including a 16 hour day on Saturday then I volunteered for a Sunday shift in Grand Rapids. This one was kind of strategic. I bartered for Halloween off. I typically work nights on Monday and since Halloween was on a Monday, I wanted the day off to so I could go Trick-or-Treating with my kids.
Weekends in Grand Rapids aren’t always stressful. A lot of times, they’re pretty laid back. I got lucky with a pretty laid back shift. We got our tasks down around 6:30 so we both had time to go somewhere for dinner.
Co-Worker wanted Chipotle and I wanted pizza. We went back to the office drop some stuff off then went our separate ways for dinner.
I had been looking for pizza places I hadn’t been to when I found one I should have went to a long time ago but never have.
Fratelli’s Pizza is on Bridge Street in Grand Rapids just to the west of US-131. It’s across the street from the huge New Holland Brewing building on the corner of Bridge and Broadway. The building is a standalone brick building that sits next to a larger commercial building that has undergone a lot of change over the years.
Fratelli’s Pizza has been in this spot for quite a while. Wthen I worked in Grand Rapids regularly, here wasn’t much reason to go in to this neighborhood. That’s probably why I never ate there even though it was on my radar thanks to some co-workers who would go out of their way to stop in. The New Holland development kind of changed the dynamic of this neighborhood and it’s kind of a hip cultural center now. That doesn’t really matter much to me. I’ll eat anywhere, anytime. It’s just a matter of knowing about a place and being reminded some places exist by driving by them until I stop in.
I put in an order for 14″ Meat Lovers pizza using the online ordering option. The cost was a little over $20. It told me it would take 30-40 for my pizza to be ready. I got the area a little early because I didn’t know about the parking situation. I grabbed a spot on Broadway Street but there is a lot for Fratelli’s customers next to the building.
Fratelli’s Pizza is pretty much a carry-out only place. There are a few tables outside and some places to stand an eat at a high bar along the windows but it’s not really a sit and eat place. The thing I never realized and I wish I did is that Fratelli’s also does pizza by the slice. There’s a display case with pizzas right next to the cashier. I have no doubt this could have been a regular stop when I worked in Grand Rapids.
I got my pizza and headed back to the office to eat. Kicking myself even harder now for missing out on this place for so many years.
The 14″ pizza was more than enough for me. I ate the whole thing just because I couldn’t stop but it was the only meal I ate all day. I’m really bad about that.
The pizza had huge piles of ham, bacon, pepperoni, sausage, and capicola. The meats provided a really salty constrast to the sweet sauce that was laid on thick. The crust of this pizza is the kind of take out pizza crust I like. It’s not a thin crust but also not really thick. It’s the perfect thickness that it crisps up all the way through providing a solid base but it’s not hard or chewy
I’ve said it a lot throughout this blog post. I wish I would have stopped at Fratelli’s sooner. This pizza is really good. It’s best kind of carry-out/delivery pizza. It’s distinctly different from the big delivery chains but it’s not the super fancy stuff you see at specialty pizza shops popping up. It’s the kind of take out pizza I look for in every town I go to. Fratelli’s Pizza has been around for a while. They were on Bridge Street before it was cool to be on Bridge Street and the pizza is good enough it has the potential to outlast all the cool spots on Bridge Street that have come in recently.
SW Michigan Dining 