steve´s pizza

In Austin, Minnesota, there is a restaurant called Steve´s Pizza. It´s one of Austin´s two hometown pizzerias - the other being George´s. If you grow up in Austin, you´re raised eating Steve´s or George´s, but never both. Austinites are very loyal to their pizzerias.

Whenever the subject of pizza is brought up, be it over a beer at The B&J or while biking through Todd Park or while shopping at Hy-Vee, an argument inevitably breaks out over which plain-named-man makes the better pie. Insults can get pretty nasty. I´ve never known anyone to switch over. You´re born a Steve´s eater or a George´s eater; your destiny is decided for you. Kind of like growing up a Packer fan instead of a Viking fan, I suppose.

Anyway, I grew up a Steve´s eater, and I´ve been content with the destiny life handed me. The pizza is so delicious - the crust is light but flavorful, the sausage grease pools together with the cheese grease in a fantastic manner, the seasoning is always perfect. Yum. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Point is, I love this pizza. Almost as much as Argentines love fútbol. And today in my Spanish class I met a guy from South Saint Paul. I got really excited. The Twin Cities! I love the Twin Cities! Don´t you? Isn´t Minnesota the best?! I explained I wasn´t actually from Minneapolis, that I was from a small town in southern Minnesota. Which one? Austin, you probably don´t know it...

But he did. He had been to Austin. He has a good friend who grew up there. He´d been to LeRoy too (not that that matters, but I think it helps solidfy the fact that he wasn´t just passing through on I-90). He said he really liked Austin, that it was a nice little town. (Shocking.) And, most importantly, (I´m sure you´re all ahead of me on this one) he has eaten at Steve´s Pizza. More than once. And he loved it. It was like finding a fellow Earthling while tromping across Mars. Okay, maybe that´s a little drastic, but still! To find someone in a tiny little Spanish class in the middle of Buenos Aires who had actually eaten Steve´s Pizza was a wonderful surprise. It made me really happy. And hungry.

The End.

(In retrospect, maybe it was a little weird that in our brief conversation I managed to ask him if he´d ever eaten Steve´s...)