Motor Town Pizza
Motor Town Takeaway. Motor Town makes some majorly good pizza. The Detroit-style Margarita comes in at 8.3/10, with the plain cheese just behind at 8.1/10. A fantastic entry in my search for the best STL pizza, sitting only behind the classic NY-style joints.
The New York style? Only a standard pizza. A solid 7/10, but not memorable.
That Detroit crust though. It's the real reason you go. I was very impressed with this fantastic focaccia feast.
How Motor Town Pizza Stacks Up
Size, price-per-ounce, and crust scored against every other St. Louis pizza I've put on the scale. Motor Town Pizza is highlighted below.
| Place | Score | Price | $/Oz | Width | Undercarriage | Sauce | Cheese | Crust |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pizza Head | 9.2 | $18.00 | $0.45 | 18 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 7.0 |
| Union Loafers | 9.1 | $16.50 | $0.97 | 14 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 10.0 |
| Pie Guy Pizza | 8.2 | $20.00 | $0.58 | 18 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 7.0 |
| Pizzeria Da Gloria | 8.1 | $17.00 | $1.09 | 12 | 5.0 | 10.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| Pizza-A-Go-Go | 8.0 | $13.50 | $0.56 | 15 | 8.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| Dewey's Pizza | 7.9 | $18.95 | $0.48 | 17 | 6.0 | 9.5 | 7.0 | 4.0 |
| Vito's Sicilian Pizzeria & Ristorante | 7.6 | $14.00 | $0.61 | 10 | 9.5 | 6.0 | 5.0 | 7.5 |
| Pizza Champ | 7.4 | $20.00 | $0.63 | 18 | 10.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 10.0 |
| A'mis Pizza | 7.1 | $16.43 | $0.54 | 15 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 7.5 | 6.0 |
| Dr. Office Pizza | 7.0 | $6.99 | $0.70 | 12 | 9.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 8.0 |
| Nicky Slices Pizza Club | 6.9 | $20.00 | $0.56 | 10 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Anthonino's Taverna On The Hill | 6.6 | $14.00 | $1.00 | 13 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 |
| Urban Chestnut Grove Brewery and Bierhall | 6.3 | $22.00 | $0.79 | 17 | 1.0 | 9.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 |
| Pizzeoli | 6.2 | $16.00 | $0.95 | 11 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 3.0 |
| Blackthorn Pub and Pizza | 6.1 | $20.00 | $0.42 | 12 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 6.0 | 1.0 |
| Costco | 5.0 | $9.99 | $0.17 | 18 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Domino's Pizza | 4.0 | $10.39 | $0.30 | 14 | 5.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 |
Motor Town Experience Summary
I'm on a quest to find the best pizza in St. Louis, and Motor Town Pizza had come in highly recommended from several friends. So when those friends came back into town, it felt like the perfect test.
Big disclaimer first. I'm a NY-style purist and snob. I appreciate a good Chicago or Detroit style, but they have a hard cap at 8.5/10 because it's not "pizza" to me. Keep that in mind.
My buddy was having a pretty big party at his house with maybe 20+ people. He ordered five different pizzas. He called it in Friday evening and was told about a half-hour to 40-minute wait, which sounded totally fair.
We drove over to pick up from Motor Town. It's located right over 64 on Hanley in Richmond Heights.
They have a big status board in what comes across as a modern, clean pizzeria. There's no old Italian guy slinging pizzas in an apron. It's more straight lines and big screen TVs.
The food was ready right when we got there.
This was only my third time ever getting Detroit-style pizza, and let me tell you, this has been my favorite by far. I give the Margarita a very, very impressive 8.3/10.
I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed this. Each bite had something to light up your taste buds.
I enjoyed everything about Motor Town Pizza. Two big thumbs up from this NY-style pizza snob.
The Food At Motor Town Pizza
The menu at Motor Town has two parts I care about: the Motor Town pizza (Detroit-style) and the New York-style.
Let me address the New York side first. We got a plain cheese, and I give it a 7/10, which is your standard pizza-restaurant slice. It wasn't memorable in either direction.
They also have some odd flavors on the New York side. My buddy got a Big Mac pizza, which I think is an abomination, and yes, I'm a pizza classicist (or originist?). It had Big Mac sauce, ground beef, and lettuce on top.
It's an idea, I guess, but not something I think you should be ordering.
But the namesake, the Detroit-style, was fantastic. We got both the plain and the Margarita, and I enjoyed the Margarita slightly more, though it was very close. I'd give the Margarita an 8.3/10 and the plain an 8.1/10.
The crust, kind of like a focaccia bread, is the whole reason to order it. Nice and fluffy, with that little oily extract when you bite into it. Everything about it rocked.
The cheese and the sauce were delicious, and it all came together nicely in the different ratios. Nothing stood out from the rest of the bite in a weird way, if that makes sense.
I will say, the best bites included a solid piece of basil. Love me some basil.
Personally, that focaccia crust is what I'd come back for, even though the cheese and sauce melted right into every bite.
I would highly recommend getting this again, which is a big rec coming from me.
Price-wise, it was pretty standard. Around $20 for a large pizza that could definitely feed four people no problem. For the flavor, I thought it was a fairly average price for St. Louis.
Motor Town Pizza Atmosphere And Miscellaneous
Motor Town has a limited amount of seating, but it's part of a new strip mall, so everything is super fresh and inviting.
It's "modern", so don't come in expecting the old pizza place you'd go to after a sports game when you were a kid. They have big menus on the wall, and you can see right back into the kitchen where they're making the pizzas. Your standard shiny new restaurant setting.
It's located on Hanley right over 64. It's always "fun" to make turns in that part of the busy intersection, especially around dinnertime, but it's worth it.
Parking At Motor Town Pizza
Parking is not a problem at all. There's a huge lot for the whole strip mall. No worries there.
Motor Town Pizza Receipt
