From Par to Pizza ... a Perfect Week Was Had by All!

CONSTANCE: Sometimes we don't decide on our weekly Erie Pizza and Wing Blog Spot until Friday after work. Did any coupons come in the Val-Pak this week? Did any friends suggest a spot? Phone book or online discounts? But to my pleasant surprise this week, our decision was made Wednesday night during weekly golf league.

I'm a substitute and new to the Orchard Ponds golf league, so each week, it's been fun to meet new friends while golfing and striving to get better each week. This week, my friend Jenny joined me along with Annie and Mary Ann. It was Annie's birthday and we joked that she got to deduct a stroke per hole! She shared with us the details of her great day, which included a trip to the casino. That reminded me of last week's blog spot - Country Tavern, and how good the pizza and wings were. I was excited to share with our foursome the great experience Mathias and I had had. Come to find out, Mary Ann owns a bar and challenged us to come taste Erie's best pizza and wings there.

I asked about signature pizzas they had, and special wing flavors too. I was so intrigued by the red hot raspberry wings. They also have unique pizza offers, including meatball, chicken and white. But, Mary Ann said that the pepperoni was to die for. I couldn't wait to get home to tell Mathias how excited I was about trying Uptown's ... and having the decision made for us so early in the week was kinda cool too. So excited!

Almost as excited as I was about how great my golf game turned out that night. I had a bogey (but bogey and pizza didn't flow for a catchy blog title!) on hole one. But, holes 2 through seven were painful; I had a 15 on hole five - shameful. But, thanks to the coaching of Jenny, Annie and Mary Ann, I had killer holes on eight and nine. I missed the water obstacles and I had the best drive of my life on nine - yes, I overshot the hole! Oh, it was pretty and it all came together. I hope I can remember what I did for this week! Love finishing on a high note like that.

The other excitement this week was cool too. We got a new deck built and it's done already! Mathias took credit for building it on FaceBook. Well, not entirely true, but we had some fun with it joking about how he's my Amish boyfriend and all. Having a deck has been our dream for three years now. Year one we bought a book on how to build decks. Year two we talked, planned and designed our ideas. And year three - we hired someone to make this dream a reality. And it's only June so we can enjoy this all season long. Maybe next week we'll even eat our za and wings on the deck and post a photo.

And, the best news in our perfect week? Mathias got his dream job! I'll let him tell you more about that. So come Friday, we had reason to celebrate this week.

I had driven past Uptown's a zillion times, totally unaware of the surprise that would wait for us there someday. Our selections were predetermined (the pepperoni and the red hot raspberry wings), so we phoned in and headed over. We got to drive by the gargoyle on 29th Street by Alfee's too. I'm amazed at how wicked cool that is and it never gets old!

Mary Ann was talking with another customer right by the door when we got to Uptown's. And we also saw Annie and also another woman from golf was the bartender. What a small world! Introductions were made and we were so excited to try our newest discovery. Mary Ann said to be brutally honest with our review. And we promised we would.

I'll tell you what! I'm so proud of Erie for so many reasons, and the high quality of our local pizza and wing talent is at the top of my list. When we started this weekly blog, we knew we'd discover some new favorites and non-chain places. That's been really fun - each week, anticipating each new discovery and supporting our local community - keeping jobs here and talking up all that is great - right here in our own backyard. Plus, the serendipity of how we were lead to Uptown's made this week really fun and special too.

And now for our honest review?

One of my Erie favorites is Luchetti's and Uptown's built on what I like best about Luchetti's. The hand tossed dough crust ... but a little thicker and chewier than Luchetti's. The sauce that I love from Luchetti's but a little tangier - loved this! The cheese had everything Luchetti's has but more layers of flavor- hard to describe but I'll give it my best shot - kinda like an extra type of cheese was thrown in there with the mozzarella, maybe Parmesan? And the pepperoni is the little saucers that curl up with flavor. I wanted to eat four pieces, but I was full at three. So there would be leftovers for breakfast Saturday a.m.

The raspberry wings were delicious and so different from any other wings we've tried in Erie ... or anywhere else for that matter! I love Wasabi hot, and while these were called red hot raspberry, don't let that deter you if you shy away hot. They were tangy but not overbearing, bus sinus clearing, yes ... The raspberry was just so unique and added a nice flavor burst to the wings. The drummies, my favorite, were very plump and full of meat. And Mathias loved the other wing pieces - we're perfect like that together!

Uptown's has nearly 20 wing flavors on the menu, but Mary Ann says they'll make up any flavor upon request.

We had a reader comment recently ask us what was our favorite Erie Pizza and Wing spot so far. I'd now have to say Uptown's ... it was a crazy coincidence about how we discovered it. The wing flavors were so unique (and I forgot to mention on the crispy side - just the way I like them!) and the hand tossed dough and saucer pepperoni was outta this world - better than my other Erie favorite, Luchetti's.

Eight out of eight slices, and then some is my rating! Forgot to mention that our large one-item pizza and 30 wings was $18.50. They also have daily specials that include Greek night, quesadilla and burger nights too. I don't think you'd ever get tired of Uptown's.

When you go, tell Mary Ann that Constance and Mathias sent you ... hope you enjoy as much as we did!!

The 411:
Uptown's Corner Pub and Kitchen
264 East 30th
Corner of East 30th and German
Phone: 455-8696