We’re going to end this MBIP Year of Pizza tour right back where we started: Agatucci’s Pizza. And that’s not cheating, I never said I was going to 52 different pizza places, just eating pizza for one day a week for a year. I wanted to end it the same way I started it, with my friends at Agatucci’s, which is one of the revolving MBIP spots that I’ve become a regular at since I moved back here. It’s Peoria’s oldest pizza restaurant and they make a great pizza pie there. Let’s go and finish up this tour at a Peoria place I love: Agatucci’s!

Here we go, off and blazing along at a sock-tugging speed of 20 MPH on this last night of our Year of Pizza Tour!

Drive-by shot of Agatucci’s!

We’ve parked and I just about got run over by some hooligans in a pickup truck as I tried to get this shot! This can be dangerous work at times!

Okay, let’s go inside, after that pickup truck near-miss I need a beer or three!

The bar is crowded, but I called ahead and asked Tony to save me a seat down by the end of the bar, my favorite spot there.

And sure as shit on a shingle, there was a seat, I snagged it and here’s Tony with a beer. So far, so good!

Gumby wasn’t at the first night a year ago, so I thought I’d bring him along tonight. Here he is presenting the first beer of the evening. He always wanted to be a hand model, but his lack of fingers hurt his chances in that field. The little freak.

These three were enjoying a beer at the end of the bar, from left, Mike, Mitch and Alex. Mike and Alex bartend here and Mitch just drinks here. Cheers to all three of them!

Grant was on the other side of me and here he is posing with the aforementioned fingerless and freaky Gumby.

There’s another familiar face down there at the end of the bar...

It’s Dan Agatucci who came down and posed for this photo with Tony. These are two of the nicest guys behind a bar in Peoria! Just don’t try and rob them, though. They’re not too nice then! In fact they go from nice to badass in a mere matter of seconds!

And now we go back to the kitchen to watch the 52nd pizza of the tour get assembled!

Tony said he'd make me a special pizza with one third sausage, another third "special" with green peppers, onion and mushrooms and the last third pepperoni. Here he is ladling the homemade Aggatucci's sauce on the pie, while Mike looks on. If you remember, Mike made the first pizza of this tour!

It's tricky making these one third pies and here's Mike stepping in to help Tony out.

Eventually Mike just took over and is completing the pie. Just like a year ago, things have come full circle, funny how things work out.

The special pizza pie is just about done...

Into the oven it goes. While that cooks up, we'll take a walk around Agatucci's.

Here's the dining room which sits behind the front bar area.

I love the wine bottle lamps that swing from the ceiling and hover over the booths in the dining room.

Here's the legendary backwards Agatucci's clock. Dan said this clock has been hanging on the wall since 1952.

And as this neon shows, it's Cardinals country in here!

Further proof that it's a Cardinals bar is this tap topper over here...

And one more over here. And check it out, an Amber sighting! Sadly it's just the Michelob Amber Bock tap but feel free to have a drink anyway. Rumor has it that the real Amber may be back here this Friday, so stay tuned for that!

Speaking of Michelob, there's a stained glass Michelob light hanging down in the center of the bar.

Here we go, Mike serves up the 52nd pizza in this year end finale.

And here's the two sauces for the pizza, the Agatucci's homemade Tiger Sauce and a bottle of Sriracha hot sauce. Nice to be Frank's free on this final night!

Here is the 52nd and final pizza pie of the tour! And it's all sauced up and looks delicious.

I took a piece from each section and placed them on a plate to begin the all-important cooling process.

They were all really tasty, but I like the sausage section the best. Agatucci's pizza is a family recipe that's been handed down through the year's and it's really a Peoria tradition built into a tasty pizza pie.

Here I am taking a bite of the 52nd pie in so many weeks. It's been quite the cheesy year!

As you can see I ate equal sections of all three of the varieties. I thought it was the fair thing to do. This was one of the best pies of the tour and I thank Tony and Mike for taking the extra effort to make me this specialty pizza pie.

Tony gave me three doggie bags, one for each section of the pie. Woof, woof!

And now for the final next day cold pizza challenge. And notice in the corner is the gigantic Tabasco collection sent in from Ragin RR! Thanks again for that RR! Much appreciated!

It's delicious! Thanks to Tony, Dan, Mike and everyone at Agatucci's for a great ending to this Year Of Pizza Tour! I'm going to put up a wrap-up of the entire year next Tuesday, so stay tuned for that and we'll see you all tomorrow!

Pizza Rating

Four Chef Boyardees—They pulled out all stops making the three-in-one pizza pie. A delicious way to end this journey!

I think I’m going back...

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

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Bonus Vintage Agatucci’s Photos From Dan Agatucci!

There’s a slide show of some old photos of Agatucci’s that plays behind the bar. Dan was kind enough to send me some copies and here they are with captions supplied by Dan.