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Robin Garr

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Discussion of Robin Garr's Jet's Pizza review

by Robin Garr » Thu Jan 16, 2014 3:40 pm

Jet's Takes Off With Detroit-Style Pizza
Voice-Tribune review by Robin Garr

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If there was ever any doubt that pizza has truly become an all-American treat, it was surely put to rest with Pizzagate this week, when New York City's new mayor Bill de Blasio provoked screams of outrage when he attacked a gooey pie at a Gotham pizzeria with – the horror – a knife and fork. "Blasphemy! No one would ever do such a thing in Italy," the angry hordes shrieked.

Actually, that's not really true.

In New York City, yes, pizza is mostly walking-around food, dispensed from street-corner shops where it's sold by the large slice, perched on a small white paper plate and, usually, a sheet of foil. It makes sense to pick it up by the crust, fold it lengthwise and start munching from the pointy end while you're on the go.

But in Italy, as any observant traveler knows, serious pizza is sit-down restaurant food, and the original pizza margherita, the signature pie of Naples with its Italian-flag colors of red sauce, white cheese and green basil, is too soupy to eat out of hand unless you plan to wear it. Knife and fork give it proper respect. Fingers are best reserved for street-food pizza.

So let's give de Blasio some slack. He's got enough on his plate with governing the Big Apple. Let him fork his pizza if he wants to.

The point here is that pizza is not snooty classical cuisine that must abide by rules set down by 19th century masters. It's one of the world's great comfort foods, and just about every community remakes it to its own delight. New Yorkers love that giant, foldable, hand-on slice. In New Haven they top it with clams. Philly loves cheesy pies, Chicago reveres the deep-dish "casserole," and St. Louis makes it weird with a square-cut pie topped with a bland yellow-and-white cheese blend called Provel. Even Louisville has a signature pie, the piled-high disk that Impellizzeri's, Wick's and Clifton's made famous.

Meanwhile, Detroit's pizza has gone almost without notice – until recently, that is. Loui Loui's Authentic Detroit Style Pizza attracted an instant following last year in the old Ferd Grisanti's space (10212 Taylorsville Road, 266-7599). Now Jet's, a Detroit suburban chain, has boomed into the region with four Louisville locations and more in Lexington and Northern Kentucky.


Read my full review on LouisvilleHotBytes.com:
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/jets- ... tyle-pizza
and in the Voice-Tribune:
http://www.voice-tribune.com/life-style ... yle-pizza/

Jet's Pizza
3624-A S. Hurstbourne Parkway
491-1700
http://jetspizza.com
Robin Garr's rating: 81 points

(Other locations: 101 S. Hubbards Lane, 895-4655; 235 Blankenbaker Parkway, 244-4440, and 6523 Bardstown Road, 239-0000.)
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Mark R.

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Re: Discussion of Robin Garr's Jet's Pizza review

by Mark R. » Thu Jan 16, 2014 5:05 pm

Okay I admit I grew up with New York style pizza and still really enjoy it but my wife and I tried Jet's with an open mind. The 1st time we tried one of their round pizzas and were less than impressed, I've actually had frozen pieces that were as good. But because Detroit style is their signature we decided to go get them try it. While it was certainly better than our 1st visit it certainly didn't impress us in any way. Overall the pizza did not have a lot of flavor to it and the toppings were quite skimpy.

I will say that we've also been to Loui Loui's and enjoy their pizza much more than Jet's. They almost seem like different kinds of pizza even though both claim to be Detroit style. This can be seen by looking at the pizzas, the one from Jet's has the sauce below the cheese and the one from Loui Loui's has it on top of the cheese, I'm not sure which one makes it true Detroit style but they are noticeably different. Overall the one from Loui Loui's was much more flavorful and enjoyable.

Maybe it's just because of our expectations but we certainly will not be going back to Jet's by choice.
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Bryan Shepherd

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Re: Discussion of Robin Garr's Jet's Pizza review

by Bryan Shepherd » Thu Jan 16, 2014 11:43 pm

been to both one time....won't be a second time....
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Steve A

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Re: Discussion of Robin Garr's Jet's Pizza review

by Steve A » Fri Jan 17, 2014 7:20 am

Disclaimer: Our pizza was free thanks to a card we got in our mailbox for their grand opening.

We ordered a large square sausage pizza last weekend, cooked well done. In my opinion, Jet's is more like I'd classify as pizza bread. Probably about 3/4 inch thick, the crust was relatively light for deep dish, which is a good thing. My preference runs towards a little zip in the sauce, and their's seemed a little on the sweet side to me. Plenty of mozzarella on top, and there was a good amount of fennel-y sausage as well.

Bottom line is it was surprisingly better than expected. And at a regular price of $11 it beats papa john's for a decent, cheap carry-out pizza.
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Michele Janosek

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Re: Discussion of Robin Garr's Jet's Pizza review

by Michele Janosek » Fri Jan 17, 2014 2:27 pm

Our office brought Jets in today for everyone so we wouldn't have to brave the ugly roads. I'd have to say that it is more like an airy fat piece of bread with some sauce & stuff on top than what I prefer my pizza to look like. As for taste, I'm glad I had a chance to take a bite for free - definitely not to my liking. Bland sauce - almost seemed like straight tomato sauce with some salt and a hint of oregano and the other toppings just did not look appetizing. They had plain (which I tried), veggie, sausage, and pepperoni. Granted, I can be a bit NY-centric when it comes to my pizza loving, but even my more open minded coworkers were like "eh - it's okay" and "at least it's not PJ pizza". Much more excited to have Papalino's over in Springhurst & the promise of Coal's just around the corner @ Madison & Shelbyville. Detroit pizza just ain't for me...
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Robin Garr

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Re: Discussion of Robin Garr's Jet's Pizza review

by Robin Garr » Fri Jan 17, 2014 2:33 pm

Michele Janosek wrote:"at least it's not PJ pizza"

:lol:

Points noted, Michele!

I would say, though, that I would never rate a pizzeria on the basis of takeout pie. No matter how fast it comes, it's never the same as when it comes sizzling out of the oven. This might be doubly true of Detroit pizza, where the white-bread crust really needs that crispy-greasy caramelized pan-baked edge to give it character. :mrgreen:

Do you know which Jet's yours came from? I'm assuming Middletown based on your comments. We went to the one on Breckinridge Lane near Watterson Trail. I would expect all units of a chain to be alike, but I actually thought their tomato sauce was well-seasoned and appetizing.
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Re: Discussion of Robin Garr's Jet's Pizza review

by Jeff Cavanaugh » Mon Jan 20, 2014 10:31 am

I'm glad to see the "true pizza" fallacy is making its appearance in this thread, right on schedule. :D
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Re: Discussion of Robin Garr's Jet's Pizza review

by RussB » Mon Jan 20, 2014 12:27 pm

So, Robin, uhm ... what did you think of their food?

Personally, I found Jet's to be forgettable. I waited several weeks after they opened (in Fern Creek) to allow them to shake out any issues, and then placed a delivery order. The only thing I remember thinking was, "I could have ordered from Bearno's", which is only a few blocks up the street.

On the positive side, I do not remember anything bad about the service or food that I received.
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Robin Garr

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Re: Discussion of Robin Garr's Jet's Pizza review

by Robin Garr » Mon Jan 20, 2014 12:44 pm

I don't think it's the greatest pizza in town, but there's something about that greasy, crispy crust on white bread dough that's kind of snackishly appealing to me. I wouldn't choose Jet's as my first pick if I wanted pizza, but I'd be much more inclined to grab one than a Papa John's or Pizza Hut or Domino's.

Umm ... I liked Loui Louis and didn't think Jet's was that far off their mark.

But gimme Coal's or Papalino's or Caffe Classico or Boombozz ...
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Michele Janosek

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Re: Discussion of Robin Garr's Jet's Pizza review

by Michele Janosek » Mon Jan 20, 2014 2:35 pm

Pretty sure ours was from Middletown. It definitely wasn't inedible, but more of a "meh" kind of feeling. Granted it was delivery, so it might be slightly improved if it were dine-in, but certainly no compelling reason for me to go back when there are so many preferable options for us.

As an aside, every time my 4 year old sees a PJ truck or a commercial, she points and says, "nasty! why do people eat that?" Guess she has heard daddy & me yelling at the TV too many times :oops:

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