By Sasha Moedt (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: September 3, 2014
I go to Cultus Lake in the summer for old time’s sake. As a child, the area was huge to me; the lake was warm, the beaches clean, the waterpark vast and magical, and the amusement park bright and attractive.
When I walk around the small, touristy strip now, things look over-priced, kitschy, and germ-ridden. Don’t even get me started on the beaches, which are actually just a mixture of dirt, goose poop, and children’s Band-aids.
But I still love Cultus. It’s great for tourist tourism (did I coin that? It’s basically a category of people-watching), hikes, and, if you can swim past the weeds fast enough, the deeper water in the lake is cleaner.
After a day of people-watching, J Beethoven’s is the place to go. Locally owned, with recipes from ‘70s NYC, Beethoven’s does pizza right.
The first time I went there, it was a warm spring evening, and we were some of the only patrons. We just ordered a basic large cheese pizza to share. We sat in the patio area, which is quite spacious; you can see the waterslides and the amusement park from there.
When the pizza came out, I regretted just ordering the cheese. Not that the pizza in front of us was bad, but it looked so good that I was sure their specialty pizzas would have been mind-blowing.
It was big and square. The pieces had the perfect ratios of bread, sauce, and cheese, and of crispy and gooey textures. The sauce didn’t take away from the pizza — sometimes specialty pizza places try too hard to make their sauce memorable, and it wrecks the pizza. Beethoven’s was classic. It went well with ranch dip, and it hit the spot.
The service was almost too friendly. Not in the “my server is awkwardly chummy” way, but just that they asked how we were doing almost every five minutes. Not only that, but they topped up my water so often that at one point I spilled it on my lap because I didn’t expect it to always be so full!
Since then, I’ve been there almost every time I go to Cultus. Their menu has a good selection of pizza. They have such interesting varieties — some of the ones on my to-do list are the Beethoven’s Special (salami, ham, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, pineapple), boneless BBQ pork rib pizza (pork ribs, onions, green peppers, tomatoes), and the New Yorker (Italian sausage, onion, green peppers, tomatoes, garlic).
They also do a smaller selection of other Italian-inspired dinners, such as pasta, submarine sandwiches, and BBQ chicken meals. But the pizza is the star of the show.
Give Cultus one more chance. Beethoven’s pizza will make it worth your while.
