Enjoying Imo’s Pizza far from Home

I first wrote about eating Imo’s in Boston in 2015. Then their online ordering system went away. Now it’s back with the help of Goldbelly. And since I have tried it out, thanks to a birthday gift from my mom, I can put this post back up. Edits have been made, particularly to the section on ordering.

If you grew up in St. Louis and then moved away like I did, I’m sure there are many things you miss about home and undoubtedly many are food related.  I can’t help you with Vess soda or pork steaks, but Imo’s Pizza, well that’s another story.  Keep reading and soon you will be enjoying Imo’s just like you were back in the Gateway City.

I realize that not everyone likes Imo’s Pizza, even some St. Louisans, but I do.  Every time I go back home the first night back I have Imo’s for dinner.  My order is always the same an extra large (16 inch) sausage and pepperoni pizza and a house salad with house dressing.  Recently my Imo’s of choice has been the one on Manchester Road in Des Peres (that was 2015, in 2023 I’ve been getting Imo’s from the one in Kirkwood), but my first Imo’s memory was in the City at Gravois and Arsenal.  When I was in college I missed Imo’s so bad my dad would freeze it and bring it to me when he came to visit.  Now when I miss Imo’s I follow the following battle plan.

1. Step One: Order

When you ordered directly from Imo’s, they delivered everywhere except Alaska, Hawaii, and places with brick and mortar Imo’s. Now that they use Goldbelly, you can get Imo’s anywhere in the United States. Simply go to the Imo’s store on their site. Here you will find pizzas, salad dressing, provel cheese, and even 175 count box of toasted ravioli.  That’s down from the 260 pack of toasted ravioli Imo’s used to sell. But don’t worry you can just buy two boxes if 175 isn’t enough.

Let me warn you.  It’s not cheap.  It wasn’t cheap in 2015 and it’s more expensive now. The cost for six medium pizzas is $95.95 but shipping is an additional $35. That works out to be almost $22 per pizza. When you get desperate, you do desperate things. Or better yet, you get your mom to buy you some for your birthday. And then you wait.

 Step 2: Your pizza arrives

About a week after you place your order a box will be waiting for you when you get home.  Inside will be your pizza and maybe a little dry ice.  Carefully unpack and put your pizza directly into the freezer. Imo’s gives you lots warnings about what to do if there is remaining dry ice; after reading them I had nightmares about dry ice.  Anyway, you are now prepared to have Imo’s whenever you want. I’ll note the packaging has been updated since 2015, but I figured I’d leave the retro pictures.

Step 3: Cooking your pizza

There are directions on the pizza that tell you how to cook it.  If you follow them your pizza will be bad.  Well maybe not bad, but I wasn’t impressed.  It took me about four pizzas (read $84.40) to get this right, but now I can make a pizza almost identical to the ones I get at Imo’s.

The instructions say to cook your pizza at 450 degrees, but this isn’t nearly hot enough.  I tried it and I tried 500.  Neither made the crust crispy and the cheese never cooked up the way it’s supposed to.  It was always white, never that shade of yellow distinct to Imo’s and provel cheese.  Once I turned the oven up to 550 I started to get the desired result.  I also moved from the rack as called for to a pizza stone.  If you don’t have a pizza stone, it’s okay you can cook it on the rack.  Your pizza just won’t be quite as crisp.  If you do have a stone, make sure you let your oven heat up for an extra fifteen minutes or more to get it fully heated.

Next you need to figure out the right amount of time for your pizza to cook.  For me at 550 it’s nine minutes.  Remember at this temperature things move fast. I would suggest the first time you cook one you start at seven minutes then watch for the moment when it is done.  The pizza should be bubbling and the cheese golden with a little bit of char on the edges.

My new oven doesn’t get to 550° (and I’ve learned how to type the ° since I first wrote this). I just crank it up as hot as it will go and make sure I keep it at that temperature an extra 15 minutes to get the pizza stone nice and hot. Longer than 15 minutes is great if you have the patience. I usually don’t.

Step 4: Wait

Sorry.  This is important.  Remove the pizza from the oven and place it on a cutting board or cookie sheet and wait.  You should wait about five minutes.  I set a timer so I am not tempted to wait less.  This allows the pizza to set up so that when you try to cut it the topping will stay in place.  I tried to cut one right out the oven and the cheese and sausage piled up.  This will also protect your mouth.  I can’t tell you how many times I have killed my tongue on some Imo’s.  Protect yourself and wait.

Step 5: Cut

This is easy but the first time I did it I screwed it up.  I guess I have been foolishly cutting other pizzas into triangle for years and forgot how to cut a square slice. If you plan to cut your Imo’s into triangles, please stop reading now and go away.  To get a perfect cut simply cut the pizza in half and then cut each half in half again.  Then rotate the pizza 90 degrees and repeat.  You will have sixteen pieces, four insides, eight outsides, and four corners, which are my favorite.

I have to admit that these days, I’m more of a three cuts one way, two cuts the other. But as long as you’re making squares, who cares!

Step 6: Eat

You did it. You can now enjoy an Imo’s pizza far from home.  I think you will find it hard to distinguish what you just made from what you get in St. Louis. Believe it or not the ones I make this way are better than some of the ones I get at home.  So now all you need is a Vess Cream Soda or my favorite a glass of milk from Prairie Farms Dairy. Cheers!