Katie's Pizza and Pasta - Rolling In The Pizza Dough

Katie's Pizza And Pasta Experience Summary

After an afternoon at the park with my two sons, we decided to stop by Katie's Pizza and Pasta. It was conveniently located about five minutes from Tillis Park, where we had spent the day.

I wasn't expecting much as pizza in Saint Louis is mostly a miss, and my wife randomly suggested Katie's via text message. To my pleasant surprise, the pizza was quite good. I'd rate it a solid 7.1/10 on the pizza scale, making it a solid neighborhood pizza joint, although not somewhere to seek out.

The pizza sauce, cheese, and crust all had excellent flavor. If the crust had been crisper, it would have moved up several points in quality.

Even more unexpected than the food quality was the fun stuff for kids. I was fixin' for a fight with my two hungry fellas, but the waitress put a stop to that with free pizza dough to play with. That instantly perked both kids up and kept them busy until the food arrived.

The biggest drawback that colors my entire review is the insane price of food. $20 for a personal 12" margarita pizza is crazy expensive. A 14" plain cheese at Union Loafers is $15 for a significantly better pizza. Italian food, in general, is stupidly priced in Saint Louis, on which I could rant for a page, but I'll stop with the fact that Katie's has a $34 pasta option. Pasta is like $.20 a serving from the box. I don't know how much labor costs go into hand-spun pasta, but I feel like that's a solved problem.

The atmosphere was bright and festive, with a clear kitchen view. We could watch the cook play with the big pizza oven the whole time. They also had several TVs mounted on the walls and over the bar so the kids could watch Willy Wonka while they ate.

All in all, if they brought the prices more in line with reality, I would consider it a good stop any time I was nearby. As is, I'll only go again if someone invites me.

The Food At Katie's Pizza And Pasta

I was pleasantly surprised with the pizza at Katie's Pizz and Pasta.

I had low expectations, but the pizza tasted like pizza. A 7.1 pizza is a solid neighborhood offering. My complaint with the pizza in terms of taste was the lack of crispness in the crust. When you picked it up, it caved in the middle. Getting that crispier would up the ranking substantially, as the flavor was spot on.

Nothing to write home about here in terms of it being over-the-top amazing or bad. Just a solid Tuesday pizza. Albeit very expensive to get actually on a Tuesday.

And that's where the lower ranking for Katie's materializes in my book - I don't think I would ever return because of the price. I finished my $20 personal 11" or 12" pizza (I didn't measure, unfortunately) in one sitting. It was filling, but that makes it the most expensive pizza per square inch by a long shot. ~113 sq inches for $20 at Katie's vs ~154 sq inches for $15 at Union Loafers.

You're better than that, Katie.

My two kids split a little 7" personal kids pepperoni pizza for $11. My eight-year-old's opinion was that he had fun, the pepperoni was too spicy, and he likes Dominos better.

So, take anything he says with a grain of salt.

The table next to us was eating some kind of pasta dish that looked fantastic. You can kinda see it in this picture. The only problem again is the price. $25 for spaghetti and meatballs is crazy.

But I guess it's premium prices for pizza in Rock Hill.

Katie's Pizza And Pasta Atmosphere And Miscellaneous

Katie's Pizza And Pasta scores standout points on being really family-friendly.

The waitress could see the fear in my eyes and immediately offered my sons some uncooked pizza dough to play with while we waited for food. It was an amazingly awesome gesture and the kind of thing that gets me writing fun reviews about it.

Combine this fact with the TV playing kids' movies, and it's easy to see how this could be your favorite pizza as a kid. If you grow up coming here, get to play with dough, and watch movies, you'll have great memories. Several St. Louis locals mentioned that they remember it being great. I'm guessing that's why.

Between the movie going on in the background and playing with pizza dough, the kids were entertained until the pizzas came.

The initial service when we first walked in was weird. We waited at the front for maybe five minutes with waitresses passing by and making eye contact, but not sitting us. So I figured we just sit down, which we did. We were then promptly told to go back to the front and which point the Maître d' appeared out of thin air to sit us.

Not a huge deal, just was a little weird.

Katie's had both outdoor and bar seating available. Black, plastic coverings fenced in the outdoor seating, and it was heated. The bar looked pretty decently stocked for a pizza place, but I wasn't drinking alone with two kids at 12 p.m. on a Saturday.

Overall, Katie's Pizza and Pasta is a solid 4.19 type of restaurant. While I might not bring my parents there or make a special trip back, it's a decent choice if you're nearby. The main drawback is the price. If it were more affordable, I would visit more often and rate it higher.

Parking At Katie's Pizza And Pasta

Parking was a breeze, with plenty of space in the shopping mall lot. They seem to have multiple locations, and we visited the one on Manchester Rd. They have one in the Ballpark Village if you ever go to a Cardinals game.

Katie's Pizza And Pasta Receipt

Pizza Size And Price Comparisons