Week 15: Element Pizza (Northeast Minneapolis)

When you eat pizza every week, you become more attuned to what’s trending in the wild world of pizzerias.  And what’s trending now is the wood-fired pizza.  Whether it’s branded as “authentic Neapolitan” or just plain “wood-fired”, these trendy little joints are popping up all over the place.  Some are chains like Punch Neapolitan, which we visited week 8, and some are small, independent knock-offs, like the place we patronized on our 15^th week of consecutive pizza consumption. 

Week 15 found us once again on West Broadway Avenue, but this time, we were solidly in Northeast Minneapolis at Element Pizza, a place recommended by my mom (see, Mom?  I do listen to you!) and also by my NE-dwelling friends, Jon and Jennifer. 

A somewhat alarming trend has emerged over the past few pizza-eating weeks.  Specifically, the hubby and I spend all day anticipating our future pizza consumption, and, because we are concerned about spoiling our appetites, often forgo our traditional breakfast, lunch, and snacks in order to “save up room” for pizza.  Unfortunately, this tactic has backfired because by 3 PM, we are a bit peckish.  The rumbling of our tummies, low blood sugar, and a general feeling of shakiness and lightheadedness makes us anxious, panicky, and cranky.  And nothing good can come from that.  Thus, our dinner hour has gotten earlier and earlier and earlier week after week after week – and instead of a pizza date night, we’re heading toward a pizza brunch at this rate.  It’s only a matter of time before we’re foraging for pizza for breakfast.

On our 15^th week of consecutive pizza consumption, we gave in to our mid-afternoon hunger and I am only mildly ashamed to report that we departed Golden Valley at 3:30 PM for pizza.  Desperate times call for desperate measures, folks.

Pre-Pizza Moods

Princess D: You won’t like me when I’m hungry.  I don’t like me when I’m hungry.  You also won’t like me when I’m tired, having a bad hair day, or feeling fat.  All of the above were going on last weekend.  Even so, I picked myself up by my bootstraps and for you, my loyal readers; I forced myself into a pre-pizza mood of 5.  You should be very impressed because all signs pointed toward a full-fledged campaign for Mayor of Crankytown.

Hubby:  The hubby, who is often a happy-go-lucky kind of guy and whose pre-pizza mood typically rivals my own, had a headache.  Probably due to missed meals and hunger, but I’m not a doctor so that’s just a guess.  He was also slightly horrified to be having our pizza date at 3-something in the afternoon.  He clocked in at a 5 also.

Parking Situation:  When you have your pizza date at 3:30 PM, you miss both the lunch and the dinner crowd.  In this case, that was definitely a good omen, since Element possesses a petite parking lot.  During the lunch and dinner rush, I imagine it is challenging to park – and I am not going to chance it myself.  In their defense, Element’s website owns up to the fact that their parking situation is less than optimal and patrons are informed that they have a “small parking lot” and you’re encouraged to avail yourself of free parking on residential streets if the parking lot is full. 

Exterior Appearance: It’s not much to look at from the outside.  Element Pizza is in a small, rectangular, single-story building with painted red brick.  They’ve done their best to make a squat, nondescript building look appealing.  They have a patio that might be larger than their dining room (!), dramatic awnings, and sweet flower boxes.  But you can only do so much with a squat building.  Points for effort, though.

Entrance/Welcome: Like its Neapolitan pizza competitors, Element Pizza has counter-service.  When you walk in, you’ll first notice the rustic, cabin-style interior.  Bright windows, woodsy décor, and the smell of wood-fired dough embrace you with a big, welcoming hug as you enter.  Element is family owned and operated, so odds are that you’ll see the patriarch of the family working behind the counter.  He wears many hats and odds are, he’ll be baking pizzas, taking orders, ringing people up, and serving drinks.   The open floor plan allows you the opportunity to watch your pizza come to life before your eyes.

Clientele/Overall Vibe: In spite of the early hour, we were not the only patrons at Element!  A steady stream of take-out clients were in and out, and there was another first-time couple there as well.  How do I know it was their first time at Element?  Because they got there before us and we had to wait an agonizingly long time while they tried to navigate the menu and decide on their order. 

Wait Staff: I can’t rate the wait staff since this is a counter-service restaurant.  However, I would like to comment briefly on the counter service, since not only did we wait there for a long time, but the girl who took my order failed to pour my beer and then patently ignored me while I stood there waiting and tapping my foot impatiently.  She refused to make eye contact with me and eventually, the multi-tasking patriarch noticed me looming over the counter and eventually, poured my beer.  Since I actually tipped her when I paid my bill, I was not super-thrilled with the whole, “I won’t give you your beverage or acknowledge you” vibe. 

Menu Selection: All Element pizzas are 12 inches and feature San Marzano tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella cheese.  Those of you who passed high school chemistry or my fellow liberal arts college attendees who took an introductory philosophy course may vaguely recall a lesson on the classical elements; fire, water, air, and earth.  Element is embracing this concept in their menu, which features pizzas cleverly named after the elements.  You can also build your own.

Since we couldn’t agree on a pizza, we decided to order individually.  I ordered the Element, which featured sun-dried tomatoes, roasted eggplant, arugula, and basil.  The hubby ordered the Fire, since he likes a little spice in his life.  The Fire is comprised of spicy sausage, roasted red pepper, goat cheese, and basil.

Food Wait Time: I can’t comment since I was consumed with trying to get someone to give me my damn beer.

Drumroll, please . . . the pizza itself:  Better than Punch?  Definitely.  Element uses fresh ingredients and they take a lot of pride in delivering a fresh, tasty, wood fired pizza.  It goes well with a delicious, fresh spinach salad (I have to eat my veggies, folks) and that beer I eventually received washed it all down nicely.  If you’re bought into this wood-fired pizza fad, you could do worse than Element.

My hubby liked this pizza almost as much as he enjoyed Pizzeria Lola, but we both agreed that we preferred the ambience, people-watching, and pizza itself at Lola to Element.  My hubby is developing a taste for the Neapolitan pizza.  I’ll probably have to start pinching pennies to save up for a trip to Italy next . . .

Price & Value:  You get a lot of food for your money at Element.  However, it’s hard to feel like you’re getting a real bargain when you’re shelling out $40 to eat at a place featuring counter service.  I’m torn on how to rate the price and value.   The food was exceptionally fresh and the servings were generous, which has me leaning toward giving Element a passing grade on price and value – but $40 for a pizza date is still on the pricey side of the equation.  I’ll let you make the call. 

Post-Pizza Mood: We left Element hovering around a 7.  My hubby was all gung ho to go forth and embark on a post-pizza adventure, whereas I wanted to lay down for a long winter’s nap.  We ultimately headed back to Golden Valley where we separated; he to the living room and the television and I to my nest (aka bed) with my Kindle and my cookie monster jammies. 

Bottom Line: If you like-a the wood-fired pizza, you might-a like-a Element.  Or you might not.  Superior to Punch, certainly – and all the elements are in place for this to be a winner, but something is just a tad bit off.  I can’t put my finger on exactly what was amiss (aside from my missing beverage), so if you’d got an extra $40 in your pocket and a rumbly in your tumbly, you might head over to Element and check it out for yourself.