Friday, March 7, 2014

Tavern Pie Confidential: The Boar's Nest



Where They're Located:
1000 N State IL Rt 29

Athens, IL 62613

Call 'Em:
(217) 636-8630

The Pizza:  Bacon, Black Olive & Jalapeno

The Crust:  Thin

The Dish: 
Not a lot to dish as my order for tonight was carry out.  The Boar's Nest is a busy spot on Friday nights during Lent.  You can get some of the best walleye, buffalo and catfish to gnosh during the holy days at The Nest... so rolling up at 7:00 PM is going to be a tough time to find a table or booth.  Incidentally... The Nest has some of the best slaw I've ever tasted.  I would love for them to do a bbq slaw dog or slaw brat in the summer time.  Oh, the possibilities.  For Nest newbies there is seating in the main dining area that includes tables and booths and also seating in the bar which has stools, high top tables and regular tables.  Most weekends you'll find live music in the bar area.  Music helps digestion.

How'd It Eat?
A couple of things about this pizza off the bat... The crust appeared thinner than it has in the past and that is a good thing.  I enjoy a tasty, crispy crust.  I prefer it to be crunchy and not doughy.  Secondly, my pie was party cut.  Good lord I love a party cut pizza.  For those who don't know what this means, party cut means
the pie is cut into squares and not slices.  You can get more squares than slices, hence "party cut."
Anyway, I was messing around chipping ice off the sides of the inside of my basement freezer and I was a little slow in picking up this pie. So of course by the time I got it home it was no longer hot.  So I cranked up the broiler to put a quick melt on it... problem solved..
I've eaten several pies from Boar's Nest...  They are consistently good pizzas with an ample amount of mozzarella and toppings with a nice balanced sauce.  This one falls into that classification.

You can't go wrong with a pizza from the Boar's Nest.  The atmosphere is excellent and the pie is some of the best you'll find in Menard County.  Not a pizza fan?  Check out the horseshoe....  or the tenderloin.

SPP Rating:  8.8