Stashu's and Sons - Moline, IL

One of my favorite places to eat calzones in the world is in Moline, IL. I’m sure part of it is because I was raised on this place and my father used to take me here when we were kids. Flash forward years later and Coach and I used to eat here at least once a week when we worked up the street from the place. Still, this place is at the top of the list. Since I was home and Coach was working, I talked him into having lunch with me at Stashu’s, for old times’ sake.

Coach called in the order for us. The usual: Mini Regular Calzones for both of us. If you’re a regular customer like we are, you figure out what you like and then you call it in, especially if you’re on a time schedule like those people who actually have jobs. Ha ha, suckas. And yes, we order minis for two reasons: the minis are plenty big enough for one person’s lunch (even me) and they’re also much cheaper than the regular sized. Stashu’s is also cheaper than any calzone place in the Quad Cities, which is convenient because they are also the best calzones in the Quad Cities. We arrived about the same time, got our drinks (they have DEW), paid, and sat down. 2 minutes later, our food appeared.

The food is always awesome here. They make their own dough and hand toss it (they also do pizza and some other things like Stromboli and sammiches). Our calzones were perfect, as usual. Awesome crust and crumbly sausage on the inside with ricotta and mozzarella cheese inside and slices of ham. The sauce is good, but I’ve heard SOME people complain about it not having enough flavor – those people are obviously crazy – but I feel I must give them a voice here so they don’t complain to me.

Stashu’s is also a meat/butcher shop. So you can pick up packages of brats or Italian beef or barbequed meat, or half baked calzones and pizzas. It’s hard to go wrong here. If you’re throwing a party of any sort, consider swinging by here and grabbing some brats or various meats you can throw in a crock pot and throw together the perfect carnivore party. You won’t be sorry.

I’m too biased to give an accurate Top 5, so you’ll just have to deal with it.