Those Guys Pies - screwing up my "best pizza" list

There are two items on the agenda today: 1. South Korea and 2. Those Guys Pies

1. South Korea.  South Korea, what's up?  Google tells me you guys are all up in my biz, but I have heard nary a peep from you guys.  You are now off my list for favorite non-USA country.  You had a chance, it could have been special.  I'm moving on (and accepting overtures from foreign suitors for my affection). There will be no Korean version of Kimi Ga Suki for you.

2. Those Guys Pies.  A friend of mine really talked these up, got really excited when I almost went there, and was bummed when I didn't.  I didn't do any research, I didn't read any reviews, I didn't order a transcript of the Diners, Drive-ins and Dives episode that featured them.  I, like the naive small-town fellow that I am trusted my friend and went.  My family, however, was not as trusting.  Part of it was the traffic on the I-15.  My GPS software is a few years old, and so it doesn't know about some of the new freeways that could have gotten us to the pizza at least 20 minutes sooner.  Then there was the weird belief in my house that I am prone to flights of whimsy and adventure that do not always work out, which filled the car with pessimism.  Ultimately, my family is going to have to go to a re-education camp.  But on this trip, I just needed to get them to the pies.

Those Guys Pies is out at The Lakes.  It's a rich person enclave in western Las Vegas surrounding a man made lake.  When I say rich person, I mean really rich.  Those Guys Pies is in a wooden mini-mall area near the lakes.  It is well-worn, and definitely not indicative of the insane wealth just a block or so away.  Those Guys Pies, like so many of my favorite places, is small and looks like a hole-in-the-wall type place.  It is VERY small (which makes this something of a unicorn amongst my hole-in-the-wall faves - it is not a tiny place in a bad part of town, it is a tiny place in one of the richest parts of town, weird). It makes me concerned that maybe the locals at the Lakes are not aware of the awesome pizza in their midst.  There were about 8 spots for humans to sit and eat in the restaurant itself.  There was at least one table at the end of the building. So, there isn't much room to eat there.  Those Guys either make their money on delivery/take out, or meth (just kidding, I ordered meth using all the cool slang that the toothless youth use and got absolutely nothing for my troubles).  

We arrive at their stall and the pessimism and grumpiness were obviously threatening to poison the party to the point that I was worried that nobody would be able to taste the pizza through their displeasure.  So "over it" was my wife, that she wanted no input into what we would eat.  Luckily, the menu helpfully listed the Maui Wowie pizza was the one featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  I ordered it, with jalapeños on only half the pizza (because only half of my family has any grit).  To help with the wait, we ordered four of their hand cut and breaded chicken fingers with the wasabi and ranch dips. 

 

This is a sad picture of a partially eaten finger.  Again, my impulse control screwed up my picture.  If I ever make any money via this blog, I may need to spend it on impulse control therapy.  While the picture is sad, the chicken was good.  It tasted hand breaded.  It was clearly chicken breast (as advertised).  I personally don't think breasts make the best chicken strips/fingers, as I think there are more tender cuts.  However, it was good.  

It looks like vinaigrette, but this is the wasabi dip.  It was very sweet and was quite tasty.  Everyone liked the fingers.  There were no complaints.  At this point, the mood in the party began to lighten.  We finished them, and then wiled away the minutes watching the Those Guys Pies episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on repeat on the TV in the restaurant.  The episode in question, as well as the pizza boxes, talked up the pizza and the cheesesteaks.  Because I have only one stomach (not muliple stomachs like a cow), I was unable to try the cheesesteak for you.  Sorry. After a bit (not too long of a wait, but long enough that you knew it was not pre-made), the pizza arrived:

 

And, here it is. The rumor is that the meats are made in-house.  The pizza looked really good.  This was their larger pizza, a 22 incher.  It fed my family of four.  The cheese was plentiful and delicious.  The meats were flavorful.  It was delicious.  The pineapple was not overabundant.  Of particular note, was the crust. Often, by the time you get to the last piece, the crust has gone soggy.  This one still had some body even at the end.  The outside crust was slightly crispy still.  I love a dish that tastes deliberate, and this one did.  All of the flavors were in excellent proportion.

Just when I thought the fun was over, I checked in on Yelp, so I could make my friends jealous.  When I did, there was a check-in bonus - free cinnamon pops with a $25 purchase (or was it $30).  

These were a delightful surprise.  There were super hot (temperature-wise).  They were fresh and simple.  A nice finish to the meal.

So that's it.  After about an hour drive and about 20-30 minutes of waiting for it to cook, we had a delicious Those Guys Pie.  Tellingly, everybody wanted to eat there again, in spite of the travails (1st world travails, but travails nonetheless) on the voyage there.  

One more note. Some of the guys from the Diners episode are there.  I saw them.  They provided great service.  They were accommodating and quick.  These are guys that love the food, and love to share it with you.

The drive home was mildly contentious as we argued about Those Guys' place on our best pizza list.  It was no lower than 5th on any of our lists, and we have eaten at a lot of pizza places.  It came in 3rd on mine (after Old School Pizza and Dom Demarco's), mostly on the basis of the crust and the quality of the ingredients.  Those Guys Pies have definitely kicked some other shops off my "best pizza" list and I'm happy about it.  It was a great pie, and I will happily inconvenience myself in the future by driving out to where the rich folks are to have some more of their excellent pizza.