One of my St. Louis accounts had mentioned something to me about Felix's Pizza Pub in the Dogtown neighborhood a few months ago. I had driven by there a handful of times going to other restaurants in the area and I always wondered about the place. When I was in St. Louis last fall, I offered to take a couple of guys from my account out for dinner and I suggested Felix's. Both guys were enthusiastic because they liked Felix's pizza and their selection of craft beer. Since I was staying at a hotel near the restaurant, we took two cars to have pizza and beers at Felix's.
Actually, Felix's Pizza Pub has been around for a little over 15 years. It was formed by a collaboration between two lifelong friends - Steve Kolb and Tom Galbraith - who met while in kindergarten. In 2004, the two founded Felix's, a upscale pub in Dogtown. One of their first employees, Andy Roesch, decided that he wanted to become a chef and he left to head to the Johnson & Wales culinary school with its main campus in Providence, RI.
In 2011, Kolb and Galbraith decided to re-brand Felix's into an eclectic pizza-by-the-slice place. They were able to lure Andy Roesch back to St. Louis after his graduation who grudgingly accepted their offer of a partnership if he would run their kitchen for them. Roesch had no training in making pizzas, nor did he have any desire to learn how. Part of the curriculum at Johnson & Wales was a two week course on baking, so that was the only time he was exposed to baking breads. However, when Kolb and Galbraith described some of the diverse and interesting toppings they wanted to include on their pizza selections, they convinced Roesch to go off to New York to do some research. Upon returning, it took him awhile, but he was able to perfect the thin crust pizza that makes New York-style pizza so famous.
In 2014, Kolb (who soon thereafter got married and changed his name to VanderKolb as a combination of his wife's maiden name - Vanderford - and his), Galbraith and Roesch had the chance to expand their place by moving literally across the street to the other corner establishment that once housed Latitude 26, a Tex-Mex restaurant that had recently gone out of business. They were able to expand the menu and the new digs gave them over 1000 square feet of more dining space along with an outdoor patio area. On top of all that, they re-named their restaurant Felix's Pizza Pub.
After meeting at their store, I followed the guys to Dogtown to go to Felix's. (see map) My past experience with parking in the immediate area reminded me that finding a spot can be dicey, but I happened to find a parking space just down the street on Tamm while the guys parked further down Clayton.
Inside Felix's Pizza Pub, I found a three-tiered area with the upper level featuring a number of high-top tables, with a short wall that separated that area from the bar. A number of flat panel televisions were hung on the wall behind the bar and the craft beer list hung at the end of the bar.
A sloping walk-way went from the front door past the bar and into a lower tiered room. This area was more cozy and not as lively as the bar area. One of the guys was telling me that during the annual St. Patrick's Day parade that is held along Clayton, Felix's has a special deal that for $100 per person it's unlimited food, mixed drinks and beer from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. with food served in this room. "We did that the last couple of years and I think they've lost money on me both years because of all the food I've eaten and the drinks I've had," he told me.
We sat at a high-top table on the upper tier. I noticed that they had the Urban Chestnut Zwickel on the board and I ordered up one of those. Our server, a young guy who had a very laid back demeanor, came back to apologize that they were out of the Zwickel. Then I noticed that they had the Kona Big Wave on tap. He said, "I know we have that. I just served one of those to that table over there." I immediately ordered up one of those.
Naturally, pizza dominates the menu at Felix's. But they did have hoagie-style sandwiches such as a braised beef with pepperoncini's and proved cheese, a blackened chicken with pepper jack cheese, and a pulled pork sandwich topped with a cumin cole slaw. My friend who has been at Felix's for their St. Patrick's Day celebration said that they have great cheeseburgers available on that day only.
We decided to get an appetizer to start out. We considered getting the chicken wings that you could get with a choice of a sweet and spicy Thai chile sauce or in a traditional Buffalo wing sauce with a side of jalapeño ranch dressing. The pulled pork mac & cheese sounded interesting, as did the caprese bread topped with fresh mozzarella, Roma tomato slices, red onion and basil with a balsamic vinaigrette drizzle.
But we ended up with going with the good ol' St. Louis standby - the toasted ravioli. Felix's gets their sausage and cheese-stuffed ravioli from Mama Toscano's - a venerable Italian market and deli located on The Hill in St. Louis that are famous for their ravioli. The ravioli came in a sweet and tangy marinara sauce along with fresh chopped basil. And they were very good.
The pizza selections at Felix's are interesting, to say the least. The Clayton featured smoked chicken, lettuce, tomato, green onions and feta cheese on a coconut red curry base and topped off with a jalapeño ranch dressing. The Tamm Ave. also had chicken on it, but it was paired with spinach, pepper bacon and artichoke hearts on an alfredo sauce base. The Art Hill (the pizzas were named for nearby streets, neighborhoods or locations) featured smoked meatballs with fresh basil, green peppers and a ricotta cheese.
Pizzas were available by the slice for $5.99, or you could get a 12" or a 16" pizza. I was sort of confused and I'm glad I was there on my first visit with two guys who knew the drill. I asked if I could get a "make-your-own" slice or did it have to be one of the specialty pizzas to get a slice. "Whatever you want," one of the guys said. "They make 'em fresh by the slice, straight out of the oven." I still couldn't quite wrap my head around that as most slice places that I've been to in my past only let you order what they've made and are under the heat lamp.
I wanted to try my old standby - sausage, pepperoni and mushroom - but I was also intrigued by the Franz Park, which was Felix's take on a margherita pizza. I ended up ordering both to start out with.
The sausage, pepperoni and mushroom pizza featured big chunks of Italian sausage with fresh mushrooms and somewhat zippy pepperoni slices. The crust on the pizza wasn't limp, but it wasn't cracker thin and crisp. It was a nice balance between crisp and limp. The sausage, pepperoni and mushroom was good, and I thought about getting a second slice. But when I took the first bite of the Franz Hill margherita pizza, I had a culinary epiphany.
The combination of the sliced tomatoes, ricotta cheese, fresh basil and a balsamic drizzle had such a taste sensation that I suddenly didn't care about getting a second slice of the other pizza. Everything was balanced out where you could easily make out the flavors of the cheese, tomatoes, basil and balsamic vinaigrette. It tasted so fresh, so invigorating, and so wonderful that I immediately signed up for a second slice. And after I had my second slice, I had to stop because I would have embarrassed myself in front of my guests had I ordered a third piece. It was that good. It completely overwhelmed the sausage, pepperoni and mushroom slice that I started out with.
My guests both got a slice of the Dogtown - similar to my slice with Italian sausage and pepperoni, but it also had pepper bacon on it. One of the guys also got a slice of the Murphy Pie - smoked chicken with blue cheese crumbles and green onions, topped with a Buffalo wing sauce and a drizzle of their jalapeño ranch dressing. It looked pretty interesting, but I'm not big with chicken on a pizza. My other guest ordered up slice that consisted of Canadian bacon, pepperoncinis, and mozzarella cheese. The only problem is that the kitchen forgot to make that one up for him. But he waited patiently and it wasn't long before he got his slice. Our server told me that the slice would be on the house for the kitchen forgetting to get it made with the other slices.
I've discovered three or four good little restaurants in the Dogtown area over the past couple of years and Felix's Pizza Pub is definitely in my rotation from here on out. I can't stop raving about the Franz Hill pizza - their version of a margherita pizza. It was so fresh and flavorful that I can't imagine having anything else but the Franz Hill on my next visit. Felix's also had a very good craft beer selection with 21 beers on tap, but they were out of my first choice that particular evening. Nonetheless, I was able to find another one of my favorite beers on tap to have. Service was laid back, but professional. The atmosphere was lively, yet comfortable. I was happy to finally try Felix's Pizza Pub and I was not disappointed in the least.
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