Galactic Pizza

I'm going to go ahead and call Galactic Pizza the best pizza place in Minneapolis.

Of course, I haven't tried every pizza place in  Minneapolis, with the most notable lapse in my culinary journey being the critical darling Blacksheep, but I feel confident that Galactic has them all beat not only with their flavor, but with their sense of integrity as well. Galactic uses only locally produced and sourced ingredients, their restaurant is powered completely on "renewable wind energy," and... well... let me just cut and paste from their website, because everything they do is worth mentioning and worth letting them explain in their own words:

Here are a few of the values led activities we are currently engaging in:

• When conditions allow, our food is delivered to your door using 100% electric vehicles.
• All of the power purchased to run our restaurant is renewable wind energy.
• All of our mozzarella cheeses come from cows not treated with rBGH.
• We have incorporated a number of organic items into the menu.
• We have the Second Harvest Heartland pizza, where $1 is donated to this hunger relief organization every time the pizza is ordered.
• We strive to use packaging that is either made from recycled materials, or is 100% biodegradable.
• We incorporate hemp products into each menu category, and print our menu on hemp paper. Hemp is not only good for you, it is also very good for the Earth.
• In season, we try to purchase all of our produce from farms here in Minnesota or in nearby Wisconsin.
• We have an in depth waste reduction program utilizing composting for food waste and recycling whenever possible.
• 5% of our pre-tax profits are donated to charity.

 Very cool.

Of course, all of that wouldn't mean a damn if their food didn't taste good, and luckily their food tastes phenomenal. As I said in my opening: The best pizza in the city. I would even have gone so far as to say the best pizza in the Twin Cities, but that kind of goes without saying. Saint Paul does many great things and has more than its share of wonderful restaurants, but what do they know about pizza? If you want great pizza, don't bother crossing the Mississippi, unless you plan on continuing on all the way to New York City. And, yes, I'm aware that Chicago is en route.

But we were talking about Galactic Pizza. I'll admit that I've been somewhat remiss in my Galactic Pizza eating. I've lived in Uptown for the past five or six years, and I've only had their pizza maybe three times. The first time was probably four years ago, and the next two times have both been within the past month. Of course, I knew about them and had seen their delivery drivers around, all of whom are impossible to miss because they zip around in tiny electric cars and dress like super heroes. For whatever reason, I've always been a Luce man. Or Mesa. Or Parkway. But the other day my friend Ben suggested Galactic because he's a fan, and because somebody gave him a gift card. And now I'm a fan too.

We got a pitcher of beer, but I don't remember which one, but probably something local and delicious. I think it was $15 bucks or so, but we got there after happy hour had ended so that's not too bad for what amounted to maybe four beers or so. For an appetizer we got the Hand Rolled Italian Egg Rolls, which was their twist on an egg roll, except with an Italian flair... and, um, hand rolled. They were basically a gourmet version of a pizza flavored hot pocket. That description is accurate, but it doesn't even begin to do them justice. They were great. The main course was the Pizza Alla Vodka, which had a creamy vodka sauce, mushrooms, prosciutto, and basil. Except they were out of basil, so the waitress suggested we substitute spinach, which we did and it was phenomenal. As I said, the best pizza in Minneapolis. If you ever go, I recommend this one, since the sauce was incredible.

The second time I went, just last week, my friend and I got a large pizza sausage, but half olives and half mushrooms. The mushrooms are my half, the olives are hers. Maybe I've described this pizza before, because that's what my friend Jester and I get every time we get pizza. She's very picky, but I guess so am I cause I don't like olives. Anyway, this pizza was phenomenal. As I said, the best pizza in Minneapolis. This was vastly different from the other one I got, but somehow both are the best pizza in Minneapolis.

Both times my friends and I finished the entire large pizzas, and yet I didn't feel as grossly full as I normally do after gorging myself on too much pizza. I didn't feel great, of course, but I didn't feel sick to my stomach and full of the shame and regret that usually accompanies that kind of meal. So that's another win for Galactic.

And then there's the atmosphere, which is just cool. It's a small place, but it's got a disco ball and decorated in some kind of 70s vibe, but not obnoxiously so. The first time I went with Ben, all of the servers were dressed like basketball players from the 70s, but the second time they were just dressed like normal Uptown hipsters. I preferred the second time around, but the first time was fun too. Also, their menu is decorated in 3D, and they give you 3D glasses alongside. That's just fun.

Anyway, that's Galactic Pizza, doing their part to make the world a better place through sound business practices and great pizza. In fact, it's the best in Minneapolis. Check 'em out.