St. Paul, MN: Carbone's Pizza

Finding good pizza in the Twin Cities is not that hard to do, there's plenty of small Mom & Pop shops to be found.  But finding a good pizza joint that you can get into without having to wait in line to get inside, is another story.

Enter our friend Lucky.

Being the author of "Great Motorcycle Pizza Tour", a blog about motorcycling with an emphasis on finding great pizza pies, we were directed to a dimly lit corner shop named "Carbone's" in the Groveland community of St. Paul.

Folks in the Twin Cities might already be familiar Carbone's, however, this is not the same Carbone's with some 30 locations across the state.  In 1962, Jack and Dee Newman opened this location as the 4th Carbone's of the chain.  Within a few years, Jack bought out this location and operated it independently.  After 25 years, Jack and Dee sold the shop to their son John who is still running it today.

Just as Sash and I pulled up to the corner on my motorcycle one evening, we saw Lucky himself pulling up as well on his Triumph.  After some cordial handshakes and hellos, we walked inside of Carbone's and were quickly seated at a booth.

Pizzas are cut up into small squares, made from Carbone's own handmade dough.  Sauce and toppings are made fresh, including their own sausage and meatballs.

View Larger Map

Inside, the decor is a throwback to an older time when downtown Italian restaurants were known for dim lighting, violin music, and portraits of the owner's family on the wall.

The three of us chatted over saucy, cheesy, gooey pieces of pizza, sharing tales of motorcycle riding and comparing our favorite motorcycle blogs.  Lucky told of his days riding in Arizona and compared it to the Land of 10,000 lakes.  The atmosphere inside Carbone's was lively but still quiet enough to hear each other without shouting.

Having ordered two large pizzas, the three of us still couldn't finish off the abnormally large portions that Carbone's serves up.  It turned out Sash and I had nearly a full pizza to take back to our hotel for breakfast the next day.

(Note: this is our first article in the last 16 days after dealing with strep throat due to getting sprayed by a crop duster, and my laptop crashing over a week ago)

Carbone's
1698 Randolph Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55105
(651) 698-0721
http://www.carbonesonrandolph.com/

Two large pizzas at Carbone's is still too much for three people.

Lucky, Sash and Highway

What was still left over with one pizza

Inside Carbone's Pizza

Full bellies and big smiles afterwards

Posted by Anonymous at 12:19 PM

Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook

Labels: Minnesota

Location: Saint Paul, MN, USA