Omababe wrote:Pizza is something that is soooo subjective! Not everyone can ever agree on what is good or bad.
The place does a good business at least when I've been in there recently.
Always packed and there are people who crave it and others who find it gross, and still others like me who simply don't care for it in comparison to other places.
It had the advantage of being (for the most part) the only game in town for about 15 years in SW Omaha and it was westerly enough for the cool kids in 66 and close enough for the Millard people (who in the 60's still mostly lived in Old Millard or Old East Millard). These people's kids grew up with it and now three generations of people associate it with family dinners after ball games or other fun memories. That gives them a business cushion.
Old, local restaurants are fascinating, especially pizza places. People have such an attachment to what they grew up with, an emotional draw. I've had the supposed best pizza in other cities and often found them to be borderline nasty. But the locals can't get enough.
Just about any restaurant that gets hyped up is often found to be a disappointment simply because it can't live up to the expectation level in someone's mind. Really, lots of places are over rated. That's why when I find a restaurant I really like, I try not to talk it up too much. Value plays a big part in opinions too. If the product costs less people are willing to over look quality to some degree.
As for Big Fred's, I've been there once so I can't give a fair review. I found it to be fairly average though. I did not like how they covered the entire pizza with a layer of hamburger. I'd certainly go more if I lived in the area.
twiztid1 wrote:Old, local restaurants are fascinating
I was just thinking about this the other day. We moved to the 114th & Pacific neighborhood in the early 60's, to "west Omaha", so when this strip mall came to be it was THE Pizza place for all us suburbanites, and became the official watering hole for many people, through thick and thin it would be defended like their favorite hockey team, so you accepted what they gave you because you were loyal to your hood, even if you moved away years later.
twiztid1 wrote:Old, local restaurants are fascinating
I was just thinking about this the other day. We moved to the 114th & Pacific neighborhood in the early 60's, to "west Omaha", so when this strip mall came to be it was THE Pizza place for all us suburbanites, and became the official watering hole for many people, through thick and thin it would be defended like their favorite hockey team, so you accepted what they gave you because you were loyal to your hood, even if you moved away years later.
Yep, and you add that Ralston had no pizza places for a lot of those years till Wild Willy's (nee' Godfather's) opened up. Millard had Bernies' that was quite literally pizza on a cracker, and parts west had Tombstone at the gas station. They pretty much ran west Omaha through the 60's and most of the early 70's. So the number of people who feel this way are large. Add their kids, and between the grandparents who moved there, their kids with nostalgia, and the grandchildren who are fond of the fun times with their families there, you have a pretty strong market position, even if new people don't like it.
Fortunately my family was always loyal to La Casa, to the extent we really never had any other of the 60's/70's local pizzas, even at home (just when did pizza's begin delivery?) I guess we all have our particular styles of pizzas we enjoy, or even just the style of crust that you like, but I still judge pizzas according to my La Casa 'standard'.
Bartended for a short stint at Big Fred's while in college but have never really liked the Pizza. My youngest son when he was in his late teens asked one night when his mother was out of town to try something different. I thought a bit and said, "Son, would like you like to try Big Fred's pizza just to see how bland and tough a pizza can be." He is always up for a joke so we went.
We had fun marveling how something so greasy could have basically no flavor. Flavorless, watery grease. We cracked jokes about how we couldn't tell where the crust ended and the cardboard box began. It was a Father/Son evening to remember. And then we packed up the remaining 85% of the pizza and took it home to the refrigerator. The next morning, I made the most amazing discovery. Big Fred's Pizza when allowed to let its flavors seep overnight transforms into one of the world's most FLAVORFUL COLD, DAY OLD pizzas.
On those albeit rare occasions we do Big Fred's, it is ordered takeout and stored overnight and eaten the next morning cold. It continues to amaze me how much different it tastes cold the next day. Of course you have to like cold pizza in the first place.
My son got a 27 on his ACT. No this score is not as high as what Jeff's son achieved. But one has to remember the paternal gene-pool my son has to overcome. On a PGPAB [Paternal Gene-Pool Adjusted Basis], my son's score is a 37 and Jeff's son's PGPAB ACT score is 19.
guy4omaha wrote:Bartended for a short stint at Big Fred's while in college but have never really liked the Pizza. My youngest son when he was in his late teens asked one night when his mother was out of town to try something different. I thought a bit and said, "Son, would like you like to try Big Fred's pizza just to see how bland and tough a pizza can be." He is always up for a joke so we went.
We had fun marveling how something so greasy could have basically no flavor. Flavorless, watery grease. We cracked jokes about how we couldn't tell where the crust ended and the cardboard box began. It was a Father/Son evening to remember. And then we packed up the remaining 85% of the pizza and took it home to the refrigerator. The next morning, I made the most amazing discovery. Big Fred's Pizza when allowed to let its flavors seep overnight transforms into one of the world's most FLAVORFUL COLD, DAY OLD pizzas.
On those albeit rare occasions we do Big Fred's, it is ordered takeout and stored overnight and eaten the next morning cold. It continues to amaze me how much different it tastes cold the next day. Of course you have to like cold pizza in the first place.
I had to double check your username and make sure that this wasn't a GRANDPASMUCKER story.
I have never been a bartender or worked at Big Freds. I did work in 1976 at Battiatos Leaning Tower of Pizza about 88th and Maple. It was in the same building as Battiatos Tomahawk Steakhouse. Those Battiatos were related to the Caniglias and had all the same recipes so it basically was another Caniglias on 88th & Maple. Those Battiattos were a bunch of Tony Soprano types if ever there was........I digress
twiztid1 wrote:Old, local restaurants are fascinating
I was just thinking about this the other day. We moved to the 114th & Pacific neighborhood in the early 60's, to "west Omaha", so when this strip mall came to be it was THE Pizza place for all us suburbanites, and became the official watering hole for many people, through thick and thin it would be defended like their favorite hockey team, so you accepted what they gave you because you were loyal to your hood, even if you moved away years later.
Yep, and you add that Ralston had no pizza places for a lot of those years till Wild Willy's (nee' Godfather's) opened up. Millard had Bernies' that was quite literally pizza on a cracker, and parts west had Tombstone at the gas station. They pretty much ran west Omaha through the 60's and most of the early 70's. So the number of people who feel this way are large. Add their kids, and between the grandparents who moved there, their kids with nostalgia, and the grandchildren who are fond of the fun times with their families there, you have a pretty strong market position, even if new people don't like it.
Didn't Ralston have a Shakey's pizza back in the early 70's?
twiztid1 wrote:Old, local restaurants are fascinating
I was just thinking about this the other day. We moved to the 114th & Pacific neighborhood in the early 60's, to "west Omaha", so when this strip mall came to be it was THE Pizza place for all us suburbanites, and became the official watering hole for many people, through thick and thin it would be defended like their favorite hockey team, so you accepted what they gave you because you were loyal to your hood, even if you moved away years later.
Yep, and you add that Ralston had no pizza places for a lot of those years till Wild Willy's (nee' Godfather's) opened up. Millard had Bernies' that was quite literally pizza on a cracker, and parts west had Tombstone at the gas station. They pretty much ran west Omaha through the 60's and most of the early 70's. So the number of people who feel this way are large. Add their kids, and between the grandparents who moved there, their kids with nostalgia, and the grandchildren who are fond of the fun times with their families there, you have a pretty strong market position, even if new people don't like it.
Didn't Ralston have a Shakey's pizza back in the early 70's?
Greg
I think Shakeys was in the building that Sortinos is in now. There also was a Shakeys where Godfathers is now at 60th & Ames.
Yeah I vaguely remember going to Shakey's in Ralston in the early 70's. I thought it might have been where Bushwacker's is now but you might be right. Maybe that was a spaghetti place.
Shakey's was so bad, even as kids in the target demo, we felt too old for the place. Also, at that time, Big Fred's was markedly superior to Shakey's. So most of my friends wrote that place off once we got close to double digit age and BF's was the place to go in that era.
guy4omaha wrote:Bartended for a short stint at Big Fred's while in college but have never really liked the Pizza. My youngest son when he was in his late teens asked one night when his mother was out of town to try something different. I thought a bit and said, "Son, would like you like to try Big Fred's pizza just to see how bland and tough a pizza can be." He is always up for a joke so we went.
We had fun marveling how something so greasy could have basically no flavor. Flavorless, watery grease. We cracked jokes about how we couldn't tell where the crust ended and the cardboard box began. It was a Father/Son evening to remember. And then we packed up the remaining 85% of the pizza and took it home to the refrigerator. The next morning, I made the most amazing discovery. Big Fred's Pizza when allowed to let its flavors seep overnight transforms into one of the world's most FLAVORFUL COLD, DAY OLD pizzas.
On those albeit rare occasions we do Big Fred's, it is ordered takeout and stored overnight and eaten the next morning cold. It continues to amaze me how much different it tastes cold the next day. Of course you have to like cold pizza in the first place.
I had to double check your username and make sure that this wasn't a GRANDPASMUCKER story.
Well here's a thought for you JesseP: Perhaps there's a little bit of GRANDPASMUCKER in all of us. With that, go ahead and enjoy a cold, day old Big Fred's Pizza in 2016. You'll be glad you did.
My son got a 27 on his ACT. No this score is not as high as what Jeff's son achieved. But one has to remember the paternal gene-pool my son has to overcome. On a PGPAB [Paternal Gene-Pool Adjusted Basis], my son's score is a 37 and Jeff's son's PGPAB ACT score is 19.
When I was kid growing up in Los Angeles (early 70's) we always ate Shakey's pizza. They had straw hats for the kids and played Laurel and Hardy movies. I always remember the pizza being super cheesy with the strings of mozzarella when you pulled off your slice.