Tower of Pizza: The old-school stop on the Quest for the Best Pizza (2024)

You readers have steered us right every time. The tasting team for the Quest for the Best reader favorite pizza went to Tower of Pizza in Metairie on Thursday (June 4) for an old-school favorite.

We had a blast.

The usual tasting team --Liz Williams, founder of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum; Dillard University's Zella Palmerof the Ray Charles Program for African-American Material Culture; dining writer Todd A. Price and food editor Judy Walker-- wasjoined by guest judge Ed Branley.It turns out that the local author and historian, known to many on Twitter as @YatCuisine, grew up right across Veterans Memorial Boulevard--and in Tower of Pizza's predecessor.

"When I was a student at UNO, we would go out to Artista on Sunday nights after fraternity meetings," Branley said. "One of my fraternity brothers comes here every Friday for, easily, 30 years."

"Is that Dougie?" said Ashley Guzman, the de facto manager. "Wears the Hawaiian shirts?"

Branley said yes, Doug DeCota. Guzman said the kitchen staff now wears Hawaiian shirts on Friday nights because of DeCota.

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Walter Forschler, Sr. was a lineman for the telephone company when he opened his first pizza place, Artista Pizza Kitchen, on Franklin Avenue in 1958. In 1965, he opened Tower of Pizza on Downman Road, where it remained until Hurricane Katrina, said his son, Walter Forschler Jr.

"He was always trying new things to make extra cash," Forschler said of his dad, who died two years ago at age 85. "He hustled soft drinks at Tulane Stadium and Tad Gormley Stadium."

Within six months, he was making more money on pizza and wentinto it full-time. Hewas among the first to make pizza in the New Orleans area.

"My father knew the guy from over at United Bakery, Dominick Logiudice. He helped my father formulate the dough," Forschler said.

Dino's, in the Veterans location, was opened by the Forschlers in 1971. After another pizza restaurant was opened by the family on Williams Boulevardin Kenner, his cousin (who was managing the Downman Roadlocation) suggested they all have the same names. They became Towers of Pizza.

Forschler grew up working in the family business. The Metairie location is the only one now.

But the pizza is the same.

"We've been consistent," Forschler said. "I've been here since 1976, and I took over in 1987. Two guys who work for me have been here over 30 years. My brother in-law has worked here 17 or 18 years.

And, Forschler figured, why change?

"Everything's the same. I'm not one to change," he said. "My father had something good. It's a pretty simple operation. All we sell is pizza, spaghetti and salads."

The dough is made fresh, and they make the sauce from scratch. Meatballs are made in house. They have one kind of salad dressing: Italian.

They had to switch to a different blend of olive and canola oil when their supplier, Progress Grocery, couldn't get the brand they used anymore.

"That's the only thing we changed," Forschler said. "All these other places added pizza with chicken, white sauce, alfredo. We haven't done that. We have red sauce pizza."

Tower of Pizza doesn't advertise or have a website, although Guzman recently made a Facebook page. The waitresses read about the NOLA.com | Times-Picayune Quest for the Best pizza competition and asked him if they could print out stuff and ask customers to vote.

Tower of Pizza only started opening for lunch three years ago.

"I'm not one for notoriety," Forschler said. "I work hard and put out a good product. If people like it, they will come."

It brings in a loyal clientele, but more and more of their customers don't know the pepperonis are under the cheese.

"We put pepperonis under the cheese. When you cook them on top, it gets very greasy," Forschler said. But so many new pizza places have come into the market, he said, he gets more people asking, 'Where's the pepperoni?'

The judges knew those pepperoni were under there. We also sampled the Tower Special, with pepperoni, onions, green bell pepper, mushrooms and a fennel-laced Italian sausage.

"This place hasn't changed a lick," Branley said of the Tower, which has wood-paneled walls and vinyl red-and-white checkered tablecloths. "You either know about it or you don't. It's Metairie before people in Metairie were trying to be pretentious."

Guzman said she has been on staff 15 years.

"We've all been here for years," she said. "We're like family. We all take pride in this place. Some of the customers have been coming 20 years. I've seen kids trying to decide where to go to high school now coming back with their own kids."

Also on hand at Tower of Pizza was retired Gentilly resident Mike Walker, who moved to New Orleans from Biloxi, Miss., two years ago and is steeping himself in the local cuisine. He was there for the first time because of the NOLA.com | Times-Picayune Quest for the Best readers' favorite pizza.

"I love New Orleans food and dining; the neighborhood restaurants and stuff," he said. "The pizza places are a part of that I think, definitely."

"I was just following you all, checking out the (best) pizza in New Orleans, top five. Since some readers, viewers recommended it, I wanted to check it out. I ordered the Tower Special. I think you all are getting that, too. I'm always curious what the house specialty is; that's always good. I like the combination of meat and vegetables."

Mike Walker may have been a newcomer, but for the family at a nearby table, Tower of Pizza is a long-honored tradition.

"The children love to come here because they love watching through the window," said grandmother Susan Bradley, referring to the see-through pizza kitchen where chefs toss disks of dough high over head.

Bradley said things haven't changed much in her decades of patronage.

"It's still the same delicious pizza. We almost always get the artichoke salad. We get a large and split it. And always a large pizza, cheese or pepperoni."

Bradley's daughter Kimberly Bradley Shirer saidnot much is different from when she began coming to Tower of Pizza as a small child.

"I feel at home, nostalgic. They brought me here when I was little. We played the jukebox and the video games. Not much is changed. Well, the jukebox is changed; it's a little more modern."

Shirer reported that when she asked her 4-year-old son, Jett Senia, where he wanted to eat on Thursday afternoon, he chose Tower of Pizza.

"I've been here when I was a baby," Senia said proudly. His younger brother, Jensen Senia, was busy stabbing at bite-size bits of pizza on his plate.

On Tuesday (June 9), our judging panel will travel to a 1 p.m. tasting at Pizza Delicious(617 Piety St.) in Bywater. Joining us as our guest judge will be Lena Prima, musician and daughter of one of New Orleans' most famous Italian sons, Louis Prima. Anyone who wants to meet Lena and our crewis welcome to stop by.

It's the next-to-last stop. On Thursday, June 11, at 11 a.m., we go to Pepperoni Ray's for the final judging. The winner will be announced on June 15.

You can follow our pizza quest at NOLA.com/eat-drink.We are all over Twitter at @NolaDining, and follow tasters @JudyWalkerCooksand Todd A. Price @Tprice504. If you want to eat and Tweet, please use the hashtag #noladining.

-- Doug MacCash contributed to this story