Now, i was a bad blogger and didnt read the "History of Rafferty's" section of the menu thoroughly, so i cant explain exactly why Rafferty's is an IRISH-THEMED PIZZA RESTAURANT. but i find that pretty hilarious. their mascot is a little leprechaun, and their logo is all green and orange and white. lolz. fortunately [or maybe unfortuantely, for the hilarity factor], their restaurant is not decked out like its st patrick's day, but instead covered in "classic Brainerd" memorabilia, which is basically "lots of Paul Bunyan shit." 

[edit: here is the afformentioned pizza-wielding leprechaun:

You can find the "Rafferty's Legend" here on their website. its pretty retarded. back to the memoribilia.]





I enjoy the memorabilia. the restaurant has nice dark wood panelling, and seating along a raised platform or up a flight of stairs, which means lots of nice privacy. and a happy Jesi. you order up at the counter [which is why no photos of the leprechaun on the menu], get a number, and they'll bring it out to you if its slow or call your number if its busy. note that all three times ive been to Rafferty's, ive been served by bratty teenagers, but thats a small price to pay [i did end up leaving a nasty comment card one time, because they girl THREW my  credit card back at me. you do not THROW shit at Jesi, she will go medival on your ass].



Since we go so seldom, i decided to go all-out and order an appetizer in addtion to my 10-inch pizza. i love the breaded mushrooms at Buffalo Wild Wings, but they were sold out last time i went there and i nearly cried [Jed still talks about how i was like, "Seriously? NOOOOOOOOOO!" to the waitress], so i decided to get my mushroom fix on at Rafferty's. comparing the two was perhaps a mistake. B-Dub's mushrooms are roasted garlic-flavored, and Rafferty's were pretty bland. they were also served with nacho cheese, which i really dont like, instead of B-Dub's southwest ranch. they were okay though, and it didnt stop me from eating almost all of them.



Jed got cheese bread. i appriciated its uber-cheesiness and non-burniness, but it was kinda bland also. no seasoning or garlic flavor. maybe Brainerdians all like bland food... Jed kinda does, and its the way his family cooks. must be an up-north thing. 

But like the mushrooms, it didnt stop me from eating a slice, and coveting another peice as well. i dont argue with cheese!



But oh, then my pizza came. Rafferty's has a pretty big selection of specialty pizzas, including Jamaican Jerk and other kinds i really want to try, but i just CANNOT order anything but the Nicholas' Seafood Supreme. I CRAVE IT. ive been craving it for about a year. it has a thin, slightly crunchy crust, but its not ALL crunchy, just the very bottom, and its firm, not burned. the upper layers of the crust are bready and delicious. it doesnt have any end-crust to speak of, but i kinda prefer that. and no burniness! it comes with a very light amount of white sauce, which doesnt have too strong a flavor, and is topped with little shrimp and imitation crab, lots of melty cheese and some delicious italian herbs. the imitation crab couldve been chopped into smaller pieces, rather than in the full-size chunks, but thats about my only complaint [well, it would be better if it were real crab of course]. but man, otherwise everything about it is AWESOME. its just... perfect. the cheese, the shrimp, the crust, and the seasonings are all perfectly balanced. i ate... five peices of it. then forced myself to stop. i COULD have eaten the whole thing, but i got to the point where i stopped tasting and enjoying and i was like NO, DONT WASTE THIS PRECIOUS PIZZA BY STUFFING IT IN YOUR FACE MINDLESSLY. SAVOR. SAVOR THAT BITCH! 

OMG, i get just EMBARASSING when i eat this pizza. i just cant stop making yummy noises, and repeatedly saying 'this is so awesome!!"

You can see Jed's Hawaiian pizza above. i dont like Hawaiian much so i didn't try it, but it smelled good. Jed seemed to enjoy it as much as i enjoyed mine. he actually worked at Rafferty's for a while when he was in high school.

Overall, i still say Rafferty's is the shizznit. we really dont have pizza this good in St Cloud. House of Pizza comes close, and i love their Pizza Bianca [which is shrimp also], but i realy dont like their crust as much. next time Jed and i are going to split the Jamaican Jerk, so i'll let you know how that is. i might still get a smaller [6 inch] seafood pizza on the side, i just dont think i can live without it.

In other news, we went to Prince Caspian afterwards, and it was really good! i'd even see it again.

http://www.raffertyspizza.com/