JJ Twig's Takes Lead in Pizza Quest

Under the recommendation of several readers, I was excited to try our next contender for our pizza competition. When I heard the words “double decker pizza," I knew I had to travel to , located at 1090 Tom Ginnever Ave. in O’Fallon.

I headed out to JJ Twig's for a late dinner on a Friday night.  Once again, like , this was a case of “don’t judge the book by its cover.” From the outside, JJ Twig's looks like a bar, but I was very wrong. While the restaurant has a nice bar at the front of the restaurant, walk past the bar and you will find a large dining room, complete with a fire in a large stone fireplace (very welcome after the week of winter weather we had). My guest and I were greeted by the hostess and were seated in the “last available table” in the place.

For those of you who are just joining our , so far I've found a packed establishment usually means they have good food at reasonable prices. Well, I sat down at the table with my dinner partner and took a look at the menu. I was very excited to see a few of my favorites, like fried pickles, cannelloni bites, and home-made Italian sausage bites. But, I was there for the double decker pizza and a salad.

The double decker, for those who have not yet experienced the greatness of JJ Twig's, is two layers of thin crust, two layers of meat and cheese and topped off with the toppings of your choice, all with a thick braided outer crust. We opted for the JJ Twig's special: home-made sausage, mushroom, onion and green pepper. Add to that a  house salad with JJ Twig's house dressing (a mixture of ranch and Italian) and my dinner partner and I were ready to take in all that JJ Twig's had to offer.

Our salad arrived in a timely fashion and was garnished with fresh lettuce, red onion, provel cheese, two grape tomatoes and JJ Twig's home-made croutons with the house dressing on the side. Being shared between two people, there was plenty to divide up, and enough dressing for both plates. I have to say, what an excellent side salad! The home-made croutons were amazing, dressing was awesome and all around this was a dish that was much better than expected.

Moving on to the “pies du resistance,” our pizza arrived with an aroma that would make a non-pizza- eater cry. We were excited to dive in after our waitress said that what she was putting in front of us was the best pizza she had ever eaten in her life. By the time we threw in the towel (with three pieces left out of our 12 inch pizza), both myself and my dinner partner agreed with her. What an amazing combination of flavor, both in the pizza itself and in the braided crust (I’m usually not a big crust fan, but this was delicious).

I must warn you however, this is a pizza to eat with a knife and fork, if you pick it up it will land in your lap. Whole milk mozzarella, home-made sausage, sauce and dough from a 55 -year-old family recipe, all came together for a night of amazing food and a very satisfied stomach.

For now, JJ Twig's will take the lead of our pizza challenge. I tip my hat to you readers who know your pizza; I greatly appreciate your suggestions, comments and input, without which I would be wondering around O’Fallon semi-aimlessly. So please keep the comments coming! I am looking forward to reading what else you have to say!