The Wild Midwest

By

comment
There’s a lot going on at Overtime Eatery and Games. In the lot, where the old Angelo’s sign still stands, noodle bowls are steaming from the red Nou Nou’s truck. Inside, basketball plays on a massive TV, the beer counter is hopping and cabinet video games flash from a side room, beyond which, a couple of parents are playing pool while their kids scramble around the air hockey table. But Brett’s Pizzeria — phones ringing, a quick-moving line and a pair of cooks racing from oven to counter — is where the action is.

A thick Detroit pizza from Brett's Pizzeria. - PHOTO BY JENNIFER FUMIKO CAHILL
  • Photo by Jennifer Fumiko Cahill
  • A thick Detroit pizza from Brett's Pizzeria.

Raised in Detroit, owner Brett Obra (also of Humboldt Bay Bistro) brings two Midwestern pies to our neck of the redwoods, offering thick Detroit and deep-dish Chicago pies, as well as hand-tossed Californian for localists.


The Detroit, trending nationally these days, takes its square shape from the auto-industry pans in which it was first baked. The semolina-dusted bottom has a crunch and the cheese that goes all the way to the edges browns down the sides, making a strong case for the corner piece. Unlike its East Coast counterpart the Sicilian, the light tomato sauce, which is simple and straightforward, tops the pie over a relatively restrained scattering of cheese and pillowy dough filled with steamy air pockets and a little chew. A standard sausage, olive and pepper hits the classic pizza parlor notes, Michigan-hearty on a rainy Humboldt evening. The cheese-centric can order extra or order a Chicago.

A deep-dish Chicago pizza straight from the oven at Brett's Pizzeria. - PHOTO BY JENNIFER FUMIKO CAHILL
  • Photo by Jennifer Fumiko Cahill
  • A deep-dish Chicago pizza straight from the oven at Brett's Pizzeria.

On a recent evening, we were warned the hefty deep-dish Chicago would take 50 minutes. It’s not a shock, given this descendent of the Windy City’s staple, invented at Uno’s in the 1940s, is built up with straight sides of thin, rolled crust two knuckles high and filled with enough cheese for a video-worthy pull.

Obra himself hoists a Chicago from the oven and tops it with a frantic shake of Parmesan cheese over the spread of red sauce before running a cutter across it in the box. The depth means room for toppings that might collapse a New York slice — there’s capicola on the list of offerings, so you might take advantage. Purists should look away from the chalkboard — here there be monsters/non-traditional choices from pineapple to barbecue, clams and white sauce to taco sauce and jalapeños. They’re crazy out in Midwest.

Owner Brett Obra slices a hot Chicago pizza to go. - PHOTO BY JENNIFER FUMIKO CAHILL
  • Photo by Jennifer Fumiko Cahill
  • Owner Brett Obra slices a hot Chicago pizza to go.

Add a comment