I love pizza! Sicilian, Neapolitan, Chicago, New York, St.Louis, heck, even Pizza Hut (in an emergency). So we stopped by 1889 Pizza Napoletana for the first time with a few friends the other night. The bottom line: enjoyable.
Located west of the Country Club Plaza,...east of Joe's Kansas City, and around the corner from where the Rainbow Tap Room (where I bought my first over the bar brew, even if there was a different name than my own on my ID) once stood. The location and available parking in the strip mall is a great match for them.
Depending on your location on the social / economic / cultural ladder / food chain, it is either trendy, yuppie, or upscale urban chic. Any way you classify it, it is clean, friendly, comfortable and inviting.
As you enter you meet what at first glance appears to be the same kind of plexiglass barrier used at Subway to protect either you from the staff or the prep area from your fingers and germs. I like that since my second restaurant job was in a pizza place, I appreciate being able to see the ingredients, the skill and technique of the staff, and the quality of equipment. In this case I was impressed by all that stuff, including those beautiful wood fired stone ovens! Boy was I looking forward to some exceptionally finished crust!
After ordering pizza you order your drinks (soft drinks, along with bottled / canned beers and soft drinks) at the register. Your pizzas are delivered to your table by friendly and efficient wait staff.
Back to the pizza. We ordered their ten inch "The Butcher" (a wonderful mixture of Pepperoni, Scimeca's Italian Sausage - my favorite, Meatballs, Basil, Parmigiano Reggiano, Mozzarella and a very tasty red sauce). We also ordered a ten inch "Honey Bee" (Fresh Pear, Gorgonzola, Local Honey, and Arugula). Both pizzas were a tasty delight. Interestingly, I had expected the crust to be not only thin but slightly crispy (sort of like St. Louis style) based on those beautiful ovens but that was not to be. Should you have spent time in New York you will be right at home. An unfair way to describe it would be limp. It is best eaten by rolling or folding it if you do not want to attack your pie with knife and fork. I can see why some would comment about soggy crust, but I believe it is a style Kansas City folks are not used to. Again unfairly, if I gave stars I would deduct a star for that surprise.
Overall it is a great place to relax with friends over an exceptionally unique pizza. Do I recommend it? Yes. Will I be back? Count on it.More