A’mis taking old Tumo’s space in St. Louis Hills
Ami’s Manhattan-style pizza as served in O’Fallon. (Photo by Katherine Bish)
Here’s an excerpt from my 2007 review of the O’Fallon location:
I’ve always been a fan of its multiple-style approach to pizza. You can get cracker-crust St. Louis style, made with mozzarella and provel unless you ask for just provel; two variants on midcrust New York style, one of normal size and one dubbed “Manhattan, ” which is a good foot-and-a-half in diameter; and a deep-dish Chicago style that takes half an hour to 45 minutes to prepare.
On one of our visits, we brought some friends and tried all four styles. Aside from having never acquired the enthusiasm for provel that native St. Louisans seem to be born with, my biggest gripe about many St. Louis-style pizzas is that the ooey-gooey consistency of provel frequently softens the pizza crust. Our St. Louis pizza at A’mis, however, maintained a cracker crunch throughout our meal, even after sitting on the table for a lengthy period of time.
The two New York-style pizzas also had the lovely, crusty undersides that come from cooking in hot, brick-lined ovens. The so-called Manhattan style was, as noted, enormous, although it was cut into about two dozen slices. The “regular” New York style was cut into wider slices, making it easier to fold over in true New York fashion.
The Chicago deep dish was OK, a slightly smaller diameter cut into four slices (each of which we then halved for easier sampling and sharing). My favorite Chicago-style memories come from visits to the original Uno’s and to Gino’s East, both close to Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, and I’ve generally found St. Louis renditions to be underweighted.
The crust on the A’mis version was nicely crisp with just a touch of fluff, a good job of not overdoing the bready texture. But the filling was too heavy on tomato for my taste, with proportionately less sausage and cheese than I would have preferred.
The New York and Chicago style pizzas use 100 percent mozzarella cheese.
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Joe Bonwich has been the restaurant critic for the Post-Dispatch since 2002 and has covered the local food scene for various publications for more than 25 years. He does his best to maintain his anonymity so that he isn't recognized in restaurants (which is why his picture looks like it does). 
Glad to see he’s having some success in spite of the economy! The O’Fallon location has some great food. Hopefully, the new one will be just as good.
I am glad Ami’s is doing well. The Rock Hill location always struck me as a grade “B” location with the wait staff smoking cigs out in the dining area…in spite of my OCD I do enjoy the food (I just close my eyes and go to therapy).
Having lived here now for 38 years and moving from New Jersey as a kid I still have to tolerate St.Louis/Imo’s/Farotto’s thin pizza since my kids enjoy it. Ami’s was one of the first serving a true NY style pie. I glad to see we have the new location coming soon. We use to walk up there when we lived in the neighborhood across the street in Rock Hill.
It’s great having some different options now with the afore mentioned as well as Racanelli’s, Onesto’s, and the Good Pie.
Chicago style I have been to the same places as you Joe. Could never acquire a taste for it.
So when does the new Ami’s location open on Hampton? Looking forward to frequenting it.
BTW, I do agree with the previous comment on the wait staff and the smoke.
I love their lasagna, their salad, and of course…the pizza. I live near the ofallon location, which is WAY too small, and I ashamedly admit that I don’t order from there as often as I should.
I think a larger facility (with a counter at the entrance instead of a window counter at the kitchen - in the middle of the dining room) would attract more customers. I hope they don’t close the Ofallon store, but I understand if they must.
The Hill should be good for them, and I hope that the news of their delicious food is spread far and wide. Just PLEASE….Improve the dining room space and ambience.
moe, You should visit the O’Fallon location again because they have more than twice the size than they did before. I agree with everyone else, the food is very good.
Glad to see them in the neighborhood.
Craig, have you tried Ferraro’s in Soulard? I think you’d seriously dig it.
I don’t understand the big deal about this place. Several months ago my husband and I decided to try it and although the place was half empty, we waited over 10 minutes just to get drinks. Our server was too busy sitting down and flirting with two obnoxious guys in the booth behind us, to the point that my husband actually had to lean out and around the back of his booth to try to get her attention. The food was absolutely nothing to write home about and my husband’s plate had a grease pool on top of it, in fact. The interior was grungy and the restroom was borderline at best. We will never be back.