Casey’s General Store

Many of us have a special, nostalgic tie to Casey’s Pizza. I remember getting Casey’s after baseball games when I was a tot and eating with lots of friends and drinking lots of soda and gatorade. My favorite thing was the thicker crust that had some air bubbles. The cheese had that giraffe-​speckled look where the cheese blend melts differently under the oven heat. If you were awesome, you would save the sides of the boxes and get a free pizza after you had 10, or whenever the paper clip couldn’t hold them any more.
But that was 15 years ago. Casey’s has gone through some changes since then. Most significantly the recipe has changed slightly as it has changed owners (I work with the lady who’s brother developed the recipe-​cool!). The lady and I called in an order after being denied food in many other top choices because of the black hole day that is Sunday in the bible belt. Its tough being a foodie/​atheist… We went for a large sausage and onion pizza (which was on special for $ 10). Most significantly, the crust no longer has that nice bubbleyness, its now a thin rail of a crust. The dough tastes similar to the old days, where the homemade-​ness shone through, but the toppings still slide off the first bite like nobody’s business. It was still, thankfully, very cheesy.
Overall, it was disappointing considering our memories. But what do you expect? Instead of getting it from a Casey’s that was right next to a lake, we got it from the corner of Grand and Grant where we could have easily bought drugs, arranged a hit, or paid for sex from ¾ of the people in the parking lot and we almost had a collision with a mid-90’s ice blue Oldsmobile full of «lower SEC people» who were waving around a half-​empty bottle of Stolichnaya. So there you go. Things change. The employees inside however betrayed the customer shittiness and were very nice. Ultimately though, if you are in need of a pizza fix, Casey’s isn’t a bad option really-​as long as you can find one.