OK, What about Pizza?

H_Rocket said:

I work in New haven

I have

Pepe's, Sally's, Abatee, and Modern - all within a 20 minute walk.

And BAR (yeah it;s a place called BAR) across the street.

It is ground zero for the Pizzaholic.

I also have a killer local chain called Illianos about 10 minutes by car from my house.

And I have to watch my carbs! The torture!


Oh yes...It is heresy to use Domino's, Little Ceasar, Papa Johns, or the word Hut in the same sentence as PIZZA.

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We Connecticut residents are lucky to have so many top notch pizza joints to choose from. Mozzicato-DePasquale's Bakery in Hartford invented thick, Sicilian style pizza. There's also Lena's for thin crust, Sicilian and Chicago style pizza, Joey Garlic for New York style, and hundreds of others for Italian, Sicilian and Greek styles.

I agree about Domino's and the other chain pizza joints. Those are only for late night delivery when the good ones are already closed.

( ^^-- rocketry and Mellotrons in the same sig, awesome )

Anyone ever try Wildwood, NJ pizza? They seem to have developed a very specific bastard-son-of-NY pizza style that may have you fondly thinking of chain pizza. I've actually enjoyed it, and the slices are as huge as you get, but it's so strange and every place in that town uses that style. There's plenty of places in Virginia with a better take on NY style.

I hate really generic tasting pizza but find the chains sometimes get it right enough. It's not really magic but there does need to be a certain alchemy occur somewhere in that oven. Whenever someone orders Papa Johns with veggies you know it won't be close to cooked enough .... I mostly go for frozen pizzas now since it's cheap and I usually want them going on midnight and I don't live in town. Those can be hit and miss too, I've had great results with the Red Baron pan pizza but the last one didn't turn out right.

Best pizza I ever had was from Chicago .............. airport! About 25 years ago, just perfect.

I love NY style myself. Chicago is ok, but NY is better in my humble opinion.

We have pizza every week around here with youth football practice twice a week and scouts in between.

usually pizza hut as it is the only one out here and that is 17 miles to town.
the best is PAPA JOHN's with extra bannana peppers on the side

Pizza Hut = Grease
Papa John's = Creepy commercials and bad pizza
Domino's/Little Ceasers/etc = Yuck

Locally, we have the Godfather's chain, which varies a bit between restaurants, but is good. Zio's is a very small local chain that's New York style pizza, and very good -- lots of variety on toppings, too! We also have Valentino's, whose sauce is a bit sweet, for my taste.

I'm not much of a fan of the Chicago deep-dish stuff. To me it has so much sauce and cheese on it that it has no flavor.

The pizza we eat the most of is probably Papa Murphy's -- not the best, but convenient and comes at a bit of a nicer price point.

What's amazing is just how different pizza is between various restaurants, and different parts of the country. I've had really good pizza at a number of places, as well as some, well...yeah. It was food, that's all I can say about it.

-Kevin

troj said:

Pizza Hut = Grease
Papa John's = Creepy commercials and bad pizza
Domino's/Little Ceasers/etc = Yuck

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Little Ceasars = Little Greasers

If you ever make it to Savannah, Vinnie Van Go-Gos is pretty good. I also like Bitos. Route 66 in Jacksonville is ok also.
I really like Romas in Augusta, GA, but ti is pretty greasy.

I never met a pizza I didn't like. Of course, some are better than others and like others; I'm not into chain restaurants, but that's never stopped me from eating their pie. If you're offering; I'll eat it and enjoy it.

I lived in Philly for quite a few years and then across the river in NJ. I was pretty much spoiled. I've tried all the pie joints in the town where I now live and have my preferences.

Bocci's Pizzaria and Tratoria. Absolutely amazing. Gourmet pizza that I eat a whole box of.

BobH48 said:

I guess that's my problem... I don't like beer and I don't drink Coke.

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Milk is also a good alternative.

Little Ceasars = Better off eating the box
Papa Johns = Chef Boyardee sauce, kids like it
Pizza Hut = Not bad if you can get past the giant cockroach at the door
Dominoes = Best of the four since the revamp two years ago

Homemade = The best option within 75 miles, resist the temptation to put on ten pounds of toppings

With a teenaged son in the house, pizza is a staple in our family. And, when you think of it, typically has the five essential food groups:
Grains
Dairy
Meat
Veggies
Grease!

We have many of the typical U.S. pizza chains up here, as well as our own home grown brands like Pizza-Pizza, Pizza Delight and New Orleans Pizza. Many feature a "Canadian" style pizza, which usually involves a combination of ingredients like ham, bacon, and mushrooms (don't know what that says about our country, but it is what it is). There are many independent local pizza shops as well, whose products range from the sublime to the inedible. One of the best of these was run by a member of a church that I once served at in Shawville Quebec, "Billy T's Pizza" -- slightly chewy crust, delicious sauce and gargantuan slices of meat that are placed ON TOP OF the ooey gooey cheese. There's also a variety store in Shallow Lake Ontario that has a custom blended cheese topping for their delicious home made pizzas that will undoubtedly clog your arteries, but you will die a very, very happy foodie.

My personal fave combination is bacon, pepperoni, mushrooms and onions. If the sauce doesn't have enough sodium in it for my taste, I'll get green olives added. Shhh, don't tell my doctor!

Pizza is one of the best foods ever invented, IMHO. A great all around food, best enjoyed with family and friends.

For chains, Papa John's (because of our restricted diet). California Pizza Kitchen and Collena's are pretty good. I have yet to find a "This is It" place for me.

I may want to take note of some of the establishments mentioned on this thread when I need to travel.

Greg

Nothing like Chicago style stuffed pizza--Giordano's is my favorite.

dixontj93060 said:

Nothing like Chicago style stuffed pizza--Giordano's is my favorite.

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Generally, I'm not a huge fan of Chicago-style pizza, but Giordano's is the exception. In Chicago, my fave is My Pi - fantastic sauce, very fresh!

It's encouraging to see how many appreciate the local independent pizza places. It seems like the chains are more interested in Quantity than Quality.

Here in Wash DC, my favorite is Vace (pronounced "Vah-chay), an Italian deli 5 minutes from my house. They don't deliver but you phone it in & pick it up in 20 minutes. It's real good & it's even cheaper than the chains.

I make my own most of the time.

When i am up in Burlington, VT I like American Flatbread (who also make the only frozen pie I can tolerate). They have a nice brewery as well.

Here in central NH there isn't much to get excited about pizza-wise. Lots of decent places but I can make my own better. I can get a passable crust on a cast iron plate in my oven. It isn't the same as a real pizza oven but it works. I have a beer-based pizza dough recipe which is awesome that a firend who has an outdoor stone pizza oven shared with me. It is basic but it works. The key to a good dough is planning!

In fact I might have to get out some dough for tonight!

I have had pizza from a coal-fired brick oven in Brooklyn, thin & crispy and amazing flavor.

I have had pizza from Duo in Chicago, 1.5" thick and piled high with toppings - yummy!

I have had good and bad delivery pizza from all the chains, and even the worst pizza I've ever had was still pizza.

My current favorite is a local chain call Ledo's Pizza, with a flaky crust that tastes of butter and garlic, and tangy sauce, and just the right volume of toppings.

Any way you slice it, pizza is crucial to happy living!

G.D.

gdiscenza said:

Any way you slice it, pizza is crucial to happy living!

G.D.

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I'll drink to that!!

gdiscenza said:

I have had pizza from a coal-fired brick oven in Brooklyn, thin & crispy and amazing flavor.

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Reminds me of superb brick-oven fired pizza I used to get at an Italian restaurant outside of Oppenweiller, Germany where I used to live--thin crust, fresh tomato chunks in the sauce and somewhat quirky topping choices like artichoke, but absolutely fabulous!

jsargevt said:

I make my own most of the time.

When i am up in Burlington, VT I like American Flatbread (who also make the only frozen pie I can tolerate). They have a nice brewery as well.

Here in central NH there isn't much to get excited about pizza-wise. Lots of decent places but I can make my own better. I can get a passable crust on a cast iron plate in my oven. It isn't the same as a real pizza oven but it works. I have a beer-based pizza dough recipe which is awesome that a firend who has an outdoor stone pizza oven shared with me. It is basic but it works. The key to a good dough is planning!

In fact I might have to get out some dough for tonight!

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Jason, next time you're over by Franklin, NH, try Wild Fire Tavern (the name may now be Wind Fire). They've got a nice wood fired oven and some interesting toppings. If you don't see the combo you like, they'll be happy to put together whatever you like of what they have (kalamata olives and bacon, if you have a hankerin' for salt).

My company has a plant in Franklin but I haven't been to Wild Fire for over a year. If it's still there, it'll be good food.

Still holding those Star Wars kits for you.
Kenn

The worst pizza I've had was in Rome. It was gigantic, but loaded with things like boiled eggs, artichoke hearts, small fish, and...one lousy slice of salami. Oh, and it had this flaming (literally flaming) pile of candied fruit in the middle. I decided at that moment, Americans had perfected the pizza. The best pizza I've ever had was in some dinky pizzeria in mid-town Manhattan. The slice was huge and best of all, it cost 2 bucks.

KennB said:

Jason, next time you're over by Franklin, NH, try Wild Fire Tavern (the name may now be Wind Fire). They've got a nice wood fired oven and some interesting toppings. If you don't see the combo you like, they'll be happy to put together whatever you like of what they have (kalamata olives and bacon, if you have a hankerin' for salt).

My company has a plant in Franklin but I haven't been to Wild Fire for over a year. If it's still there, it'll be good food.

Still holding those Star Wars kits for you.
Kenn

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I'll have to check it out! I don't head to Franklin all that often but it is pretty close by. I did forget about Elvio's which is up in Lincoln. THAT is a decent pie!

Waiting for the next launch for the SW kits.
Jason

troj said:

Pizza Hut = Grease
Papa John's = Creepy commercials and bad pizza
Domino's/Little Ceasers/etc = Yuck

Locally, we have the Godfather's chain, which varies a bit between restaurants, but is good.

-Kevin

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Back in the mid 70's, my room mate brought home some Godfather's and left me some in the frige.Back in those days it was a new company and they made an awesome pizza. It actually had a pie shaped dough (much like an apple pie would) and it was filled with a 1.5" or so pile of goodies and topped with cheese. Never seen anything like it before and it was the best I ever had. 3-4 years down the road though, they went common, got cheap and turned into an average place for pizza.

My dad always says that Hungry Howie is hungry because he refuses to eat their terrible pizza.

I liked Shakeys back when I was a kid, but I suspect it was because of the ragtime piano player and not the pies.

We have a wood fired place in town Ceritanos in Blacksburg - it's good for thin and crispy; Sals, another local place (maybe 3 locations?) for "regular" pizza. A place called Backstreets used to have the best pizza in town, but switched to parbaked crusts a few years ago and had some serious quality control issues so I gave up on them. A place called Benny Marzanos just moved into town; not sure if they're regional, but they make a decent pie - if a bit oversized at 30".

As chains go, I'm not a fan...except that I love Papa Johns crust - it's just the right consistency and the dough has a light but elastic quality I really like. Shame the sauce and toppings are sub-par.

Toppings: Italian sausage, green pepper, tomato (raw or roasted, not dried); pepperoni when it's solo; never mushrooms, fish, or pineapple; banana peppers and/or onions if the mood strikes.

Higgs Flyer said:

It's encouraging to see how many appreciate the local independent pizza places.

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Unfortunately the best local pizza place here closed in July. It was a mom and pop and the owners decided to retire due to declining business. We still have a couple of other local pizza parlors but they aren't as good. With all of the military families here (major off-base choice for personnel based at Edwards AFB) you'd think we could support a thriving food industry, but the cost of living is getting ridiculous. Gas is well over $4/gallon and it's at least a 45 minute drive from here to anywhere worth going. Makes it hard for folks to have enough to afford to eat out.

If you get to Berkeley, CA try out the stuffed spinach and mushroom pizza at Zachary's.

I used to eat Papa Ginos pizza. Been over thirty two years since I had their pizza. Greasy!

I used to work on and off part time in a restaurant called the Keg Restaurant in Hartford. The best pizzas were always made with one day old dough. Sauce and toppings would go on the crust, bake until light brown, add sliced mozzarella and bake until finished. The mozzarella on top held it all together.

Sometimes I would make one for myself, with anchovies, but I always rinsed them in cold water first to get most of the salt off.

My usual pizza is hamburg, mushrooms, onions and peppers (roasted peppers if available). For some reason, I prefer canned mushrooms over fresh ones. Another combo I like is breaded eggplant, mushrooms and onions.

You guys are making me hungry. Problem is that I often eat pizza more than once a day. And I'm not eating the good stuff either, I'm talking about cheap frozen pizzas that I heat up in the oven (or often I just nuke 'em) coupled with the nasty cafeteria pizza here at college . . .