Not all Pizzas are created equal

[aja8888]

I was nuts about Southern New England pizza, like New Haven or Bridgeport or Providence.

Ha

Yeah, that's my favorite stuff. But in TX it's hard to find, and I have not found it after 20 years of looking here.

 

[martyb]

One of the best pizzas I ever ate was cooked in a brick oven in Aviano, Italy. It was nothing like the "pizzas" we are used to in the states. Or at least in my experience. Of course, I've never eaten pizza in NY or Chicago.

 

[eytonxav]

I was nuts about Southern New England pizza, like New Haven or Bridgeport or Providence.


Ha

+1 New Haven is best pizza on earth

 

[scrabbler1]

I like the classic NYC pizza best. It has to be too hot to hold or eat when it gets put on the table. It has to be runny and gooey, and oily, and steaming. Yep, the bend in the middle is OK too. Pepperoni is the preferred topping, but ham topping is OK too. Crust should be thin and crispy and partly blackened. And it has to be from an independently owned pizzeria. Don't mean to be snobby, but the national brand pizzas are horrible, IMO.

When I lived and/or worked in NYC, I ate lots of pizza. Famous Rays ofn 6th Avenue in the Village was the best back then and still good into the 1990s and early 2000s. But when I was there in late 2012 for the first time in 4 or 5 years (it had changed hands in that time) I was very disappointed at its ordinariness. Now Caruso's near the World Trade Center area is so gooey I have to use a knife and fork because the crust can't support the weight.

Worst pizza - Sbarros. It's not really edible. Also bad is Domino's which is sauce and cheese on cardboard. Pizza Hut and the other national brands and chains are okay at best but I don't seek them out any more.

 

[Meadbh]

I bet a national brand invented that atrocity called Hawaiian pizza - pineapple and Canadian bacon. Was somebody drunk when they thought that up?

Actually no, it was invented in 1962 by a Greek-Canadian restauranteur in Chatham, Ontario. He was apparently quite sober at the time.

Canadian invented the Hawaiian pizza | Canada | News | Toronto Sun

 

[braumeister]

Since I grew up in NYC, I'm obviously an expert on "proper" pizza, so thin crust is the answer.

But although that style is my default, I also love the thick crust pizzas that DW prefers, and many others. I've even had great pizza in Rio de Janeiro, so I have to assume that it's the pizza maker that makes the difference, not the location.

But since I got my Big Green Egg a few years ago, I've learned that it's really not that hard to make your own pizza at home that is perfectly to your liking.

 

[panacea]

I LOVE pizza. More cheese the better. I like any and all meat toppings, nothing else. I eat Tombstone Brickstyle pizza nearly every single night. I'll occasionally splurge and get a Meat Lover's from Pizza Hut but can't afford delivery very often. Pizza is one food I can eat every single day and never get tired of it. Some days i'll even have two of them. For the record, I have a 21.2 BMI and have great labs and vitals. Pizza must not be as bad for you as some people claim.

There's no way you're a day over 29. At least that's the last time I could eat like that. Lucky you!

For the record, we prefer "home made," meaning we buy the powdered crust mix where you add water and bake it (Martha White brand), Contadina pizza sauce in a can (YUMMMMM) and then our toppings. I think our favorite is spicy Italian sausage, thick cut pepperoni, green peppers, onions, light mozzarella and then fresh mushrooms on half to make DS happy. Oooohhh baby that's good.

 

[aaronc879]

There's no way you're a day over 29. At least that's the last time I could eat like that. Lucky you!

I'll be 35 in August. I finally noticed my metabolism slowing down at around the time I turned 33 but I can still eat nearly 3000 calories a day and gain very little weight even with a rather non-active lifestyle.

I think i'm going to go pre-heat my oven now.

 

[NYEXPAT]

I realize most people have never tried real Pizza and in Chiraq they do not know about a real hot dog either. Respect to all who answered "New Haven", and my disappointment with scrabbler who mentioned "Ray's" in NYC. Living on long Island he might have mentioned "Umberto's" in Mineola or "Little Vincent's" in Huntington or Lake Ronkokoma but Pizza in NYC must include "Lombardi's" in the Village and any NY'er (worth his salt)has ridden the "cyclone" and then taken his date here:

 

[audreyh1]

One of the best pizzas I ever ate was cooked in a brick oven in Aviano, Italy. It was nothing like the "pizzas" we are used to in the states. Or at least in my experience. Of course, I've never eaten pizza in NY or Chicago.

The best pizza we ever ate was in Florence, Italy. "Quatro Staggione" -four seasons: 1/4 each artichoke hearts, mushrooms, prosciutto, and black olives. Uber thin crispy crust. And there they eat their pizzas with knife and fork.

 

[Tree-dweller]

My family visited family in Italy a few years back, and my son came back raving about the potato pizza they made in the village they were visiting. My wife tried making it when they came home, and it was way better than it sounds! Me, I need thin bubbly burnt crust, cheese not gooey, 'roni, green pepper, onion, and garlic. And you know, I've had pineapple on a pizza: also better than it sounds.

 

[Chuckanut]

One of the best pizzas I ever ate was cooked in a brick oven in Aviano, Italy. It was nothing like the "pizzas" we are used to in the states. Or at least in my experience. Of course, I've never eaten pizza in NY or Chicago.

American pizza is not the same as Italian pizza.

 

[calmloki]

Really? No one has mentioned the most awesome pizza of all? Refrigerator pizza, served between cool and cold on day two. I fantasize that it is kinda like a shooter's sandwich.

 

[keegs]

doing a round of the top 5 pizza places of NYC is on my bucket list.

 

[FIREd]

And there they eat their pizzas with knife and fork.

Is there another way? That's how I eat my pizza too.

I like my thin-crust pizza baked in a wood-fired brick oven if possible. But I'll eat any pizza that looks good. Since moving to San Francisco, I have discovered sourdough pizza. Pretty good but not my favorite. I make homemade pizza pretty often. Last week, I used tomato sauce topped with pancetta, arugula, and goat cheese. Simple but tasty.

 

[RunningBum]

Hawaiian pizza is one of my favorites, along with hamburger and mushrooms. To each their own. I don't really care for pepperonis.

If you're ever in Nebraska, try Valentino's. It's not quite like it was 30 years ago but still very good. For national chains, I really like Papa John's. Mellow Mushroom is another good chain, mostly in the southeast I think but expanding. But I agree with whoever said they make you thirsty. I'm afraid to check the salt content in those pizzas. That's one reason to make your own, to keep it healthier. Most of us can't each pizza like Aaron!

Want the best pizza? Spend the day in some really cold weather, then you could put ketchup on cardboard and it'll be the best ever. Twice I've had pizza after being out in -50+ wind chill for hours (once my car got stuck in snow and broke down, the other time was skiing) and the pizza I had (one in a restaurant, one homemade) was incredible. My ex- generally made good pizza but that time after skiing was either exceptionally good or we were very receptive to it.

 

[Chuckanut]

We have some real gourmets here.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

Another fan of NY style pizza here. Locally, I only go to independently owned places and my favorite is pizza margherita...thin crust, thinly sliced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese cut in rounds, scattering of fresh basil. I also like mushroom pizza. Not a fan of any kind of meat on pizza but will eat it with anchovies.

 

[davemartin88]

We built a pizza oven last summer, Neopolitano style, cooked quickly at about 850 degrees, takes about 3 minutes to cook a pizza. Dough is thin and you get some bubbles when cooking. Tomato based sauce, slightly sweet, plenty of cheese. For toppings, I like pepperoni and canadian bacon, DW likes pepperoni with mushrooms and olives.

It takes about 2 hours to fire up the oven but it stays hot enough to cook a whole chicken or bread the next morning, try to use it about every 10 days or so.

Will also eat some frozen pizzas, not the same but better than no pizza, I like Tombstone brand with added cheese and toppings.

 

[chilkoot]

This post will really make me sound like an outlier...

Here in SoCal there's a chain called Número Uno and I've always been a fan of their product. Their crust is slightly sweet, so it tastes more like a donut than plain bread. And (this freaks people out for some reason) they use tomato chunks instead of just sauce.

The chain's heyday has come and gone but there are still a few around.

Have to agree with Walt though about the anchovies. That's just bait.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

When I lived and/or worked in NYC, I ate lots of pizza. Famous Rays ofn 6th Avenue in the Village was the best back then and still good into the 1990s and early 2000s. But when I was there in late 2012 for the first time in 4 or 5 years (it had changed hands in that time) I was very disappointed at its ordinariness. Now Caruso's near the World Trade Center area is so gooey I have to use a knife and fork because the crust can't support the weight.

Worst pizza - Sbarros. It's not really edible. Also bad is Domino's which is sauce and cheese on cardboard. Pizza Hut and the other national brands and chains are okay at best but I don't seek them out any more.

Ray's in the Village was our favorite pizza, too, back in the 70's. After eating a couple of slices there, my husband and I stopped at A & P for a half gallon of Louis Sherry ice cream which we polished off in one sitting. We were young and walked a lot so none of this impacted our skinny frames.

 

[scrabbler1]

Nyexpat, were you referring to the Umberto's on Nassau Blvd. in Garden City (near Mineola), near Adelphi University? I've eaten there several times in the last few years. It's good but nothing spectacular.

I was disappointed with Ray's in the Village (not called that any more, though). Back in the 1980s it was a lot better. Some U.S. college kids studying in England flew to NY in 1983 just to buy 50 half-baked pies to take back and finish baking them for them and their friends.

 

[MRG]

........snip....... About the only pizza we eat on the road other than Park Pizza in Williamsport PA. All thin crust and exceptional taste.

Wow that brought back 36 y.o. memories.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

One of the few things I like about my current j*b is I get to occasionally travel internationally. Naples Italy has the world's best pizza. Very different from American pizza. Thin crust (supposedly they have to apprentice for years just to be allowed to make the dough), very fresh tomato sauce, fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese, a few basil leaves and good olive oil, baked in a blazing inferno of a wood-fired oven. Mama mia! that was good! Had to get used to the fact that everyone gets their own pie that's not cut, and it's eaten with a knife and fork. Say what you want, New Yorkers, but when in Naples, ...

 

[anethum]

I saw the strangest thing in a small French town in the Alps a few weeks ago. It was a pizza vending machine. First you pick your language, then your toppings, then whether you want to take the pizza home and bake it yourself or let the contraption bake it for you. My friend and I were astonished by it. No, we didn't try it. We had just eaten a proper French dinner in a restaurant and were walking around afterwards when we saw this little storefront. I wouldn't have been so surprised if we had seen the vending machine in a large city as opposed to a small town of 7,000 people.