Brienzo’s Wood Fired Pizza parlor located in Junction City is Peoria’s newest pizza place and I’ve had several people tell me I should try it out. I post the pizza updates every Tuesday, but I go out and do them either Friday nights or Sunday afternoon or evening. They close Friday at 9:30PM and I’m working then and they used to be closed on Sundays, so our schedules made it impossible to try this place out. But I recently heard that they’re open on Sundays from 11AM to 3PM so let’s head over to Junction City and try Peoria’s newest house of pizza pies!
Here we are on the boardwalk of Junction City facing Peoria's newest pizza parlor, Brienzo's Wood Fired Pizza.
It's Sunday and they are open, let's go inside and check it out.
Wow, it's bigger in here than I thought it would be, lets step inside the archway and get our pizza pie order underway.
I'm guessing we should start here, I don't know why, I just have a sixth sense about these sorts of things.
This is Knute, the owner of Brienzo's, who took my order and is going to make today's pizza pie.
There's a large salad bar to peruse after you order your pie, but I think we'll skip that and stick to the basics this week.
You pay for your meal and get your drinks down here at the end where the cash register is.
Jody was doing double duty behind the counter making the pizzas with Knute and serving up drinks on this end. Cheers!
There's a dining area opposite the ordering counter...
But I decided to sit up here in the front dining room.
I parked my beer at this table and while the pizza is cooking we'll take a little tour of Brienzo's Wood Fired Pizza.
The oven they cook all the pizzas in is a custom built Italian wood fired oven.
The oven gets cranked up to 800 to 900 degrees and bakes the pizza pies in minutes. Staring at this oven brings back a Crazy World of Arthur Brown flashback!
In addition to Italian Neapolitan styled pizza, Brienzo's also offers up craft beer and wine on tap.
Here's a half dozen of the craft beers that you can choose from.
I may be wrong here, but I think this is the only place in Peoria that has wine on tap. Pretty cool!
Meanwhile back at the table I discover that the only hot sauce available is the always present, Frank's Red Hot Sauce. Damn, I need to start bringing Ragin' RR's giant Tabasco bottles along with me!
Okay, here we go, Knute delivers up pizza number 41 to our table!
I got bacon, cheddar, onion and mozzarella for toppings on the pizza pie and it looks and smells great! Knute told me he takes special pride in the fresh cheese he adds on top of his pizzas and that he wants the first taste from the pie to be the cheese and then the other ingredients.
This pizza is fresh out of the oven and is piping hot, so I'm letting this slice cool as I go to get another beer.
The pizza is really good and Knute was right about the cheese, it's the first thing you taste followed by the savory toppings and the homemade tomato sauce. I really like the crust here too, it's light and flaky and has a biscuit-like quality that's really unique to any other pizza in Peoria. Very tasty pizza!
On the way out, Knute told me to check out a pie he was taking out of the oven...
This is the Margherita pizza pie, a pie made with olive oil, fresh basil, San Marzono tomatoes and Ovalini mozarella cheese. This is a signature pie here and I need to try that one on the next visit here!
After the pizza, on the way to the car I had to get a shot of the Junction City water tower, an iconic Peoria sight that has loomed over Prospect Road for years.
Time for the next day cold pizza challenge and yes, the craft beer corner is still void of any craft beer, but here is a giant can of unsweetened Arizona green tea standing attention back there.
It's delicious! We'll see you all tomorrow!
Pizza Rating
Three And A Quarter Chef Boyardees—Very tasty pizza with an emphasis on the cheese and really light and flaky crust. if you haven’t checked out Brienzo's, I highly recommend you give them a try.
Brienzo’s Wood Fired Pizza
Junction City Shopping Center
5901 N. Prospect Road • Suite # 2
Peoria
309-966-4185
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Laying it on some,
Playing with it some,
When I...I woke up with wood.
Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!
P.S.
Happy Veteran's Day and thanks to all of you who have served this country, MBIP salutes you! Cheers to all of you and have a wonderful day!