Pizza Pizza!

[btrage]

So the family is getting pizza tonight. We will be ordering from Happy's Pizza, a chain that started in Detroit in '94 and has since expanded, largely in the Detroit area, with locations elsewhere in Michigan, and a few in nearby states.

As a kid growing up, my family would get Little Caesars (another Michigan based chain) ever Friday. I still like Little Caesars, even though some people despise it, especially since they went to their $5 Hot-N-Ready a while ago.

The Detroit area is also home to 2 other chains, Hungry Howies and Dominos.

Detroit even has it's own "style" of pizza.

There are several mom-and-pop pizza places that I've frequented and enjoyed over the years. JB's Pizza Parlor has been a favorite since I moved near it a few years back.

I generally prefer New York style pizza, or some variation on that style. My favorites toppings, besides cheese of course, are pepperoni, green olives, mild peppers, bacon and onion. I rarely get the green olives or peppers since my wife is not a fan.

To me, pizza is the best. Like sex, even when it's bad, it's still pretty good.

What say you about pizza?

[Maister]

I understand Domino's sales and stock prices have taken off since introducing their 'new' pizza campaign. I'm sure you've seen the ads where they bald-faced admit their old pizza tasted like 'cardboard'. I haven't tried a Dominos pizza in years but admit I'm curious enough to try one out now.

[wahday]

Family pizza night is an almost weekly event for us. We often get together with another family or two that live in the neighborhood, drink and eat. Its a smashing good time. The funny thing is we are usually done by 10pm at the latest, what with the kids and all. So, we party it up, get responsible, put the kids to bed and settle in for a movie before most people are even figuring out where they are going to go on a Friday night.

Recently, there has been some dissent regarding the consumption of pizza. But the kids are still committed to the name as an abstract concept. So, last week we ordered out from a noodle place, but everyone insisted it was still Pizza Night.

We have three local pizza joints near us (used to be four, but one closed) that we can ride bikes to and one delivers. We spread the money around to all of them over time. Each has its merits and drawbacks. There is also a brew pub we can bike to and we usually get a growler or two of something delicious!

[Hink]

I can't stand Chicago style pizza (sorry IP). Too thick and doughy. New York Style is best... but it is tough to get good NY Style outside of NY.

Locally we have East of Chicago, Marion's, Dominos, Donato's, Papa John's, and Godfather's. We also have Fox's Pizza, which I will say is much better than you would imagine. I find it amazing how some places can make pizza not taste amazing.

I am not sure I have ever had a bad pizza, but I sure have had some average ones. Keep it simple stupid. Nice crust, tomato paste, and good ingredients... easy as (pizza) pie

[Planit]

Same as wahday - we have pizza & movie night (usually Friday, hey that's tonight!). Great social interaction with friends and great family time when its just us.

Pizza obtained from local pizza joint run by a guy from Naples Italy. Almost everytime we go in there he teaches our daughter a word in italian - last week it was "maestra."

[TexanOkie]

I enjoy most all varieties at different times. I have a soft spot for Chicago styles - both deep dish (how can you not enjoy a pie from Gino's East?) and thin crust (nearly all of my uncles worked at an Aurelio's location in high school).

There's a local greasy-spoon-like pizza joint in Round Rock that serves up good Brooklyn/New York style pizza by the slice, and there's an Italian place in Austin called Mandola's Italian Market that serves Italian-style pizza and gelato. Those are probably our favorite local places.

Fast food chains - I generally prefer Pizza Hut, though Dominos is also good since their re-imaging campaign. I don't care for Papa John's or Little Ceasars, the other national chains with presences in Austin. There's another chain that's more regional down here called Gatti's. I don't like their food, but it's a fun place to bring young nephews & nieces, since it's like a cross between a Pizza Hut and Chuck E. Cheese's if you eat in.

In Oklahoma, it was always mostly national chains. Norman had a local cheapo place called Pizza Shuttle which was great for parties and made excellent cheese and garlic breads. Hideaway Pizza was also big, and is probably as close to unique a style as Oklahoma gets.

I also enjoy CPK.

[jsk1983]

Little Caeser's isn't the best by any means, but at $5.00 a pizza you can't go wrong. Even the good frozen ones can cost more than that if they aren't on sale.

HInk_Planner, most pizza consumed in Chicago is not the deep dish variety. Normal Chicago pizza is thin crust which I'm not the biggest fan of. I wish I could find Buffalo style pizza here, but I don't think that's going to happen.

[dandy_warhol]

I LOVE PIZZA!

We have lots of great pizza places in our city. You can't walk 5 steps without seeing another local pizza/Italian restaurant.

Around here growing up in certain neighborhoods/parts of town definitely equates to restaurant/pizza loyalty. Now, that I live 1/2 hour away from my hometown Italian restaurant, I will still drive to that location to have my pizza and gnocchi fill. Yum!

That said, I actually don't mind Domino's pizza. We often get a Domino's pizza delivered on a rainy Sunday afternoon or the day after a night that went a little to late and a little too long.

[NHPlanner]

Same as wahday - we have pizza & movie night (usually Friday, hey that's tonight!). Great social interaction with friends and great family time when its just us.

Couldn't let this go without a link to one of my kids' favorite songs....

[Bubba]

We have most of the larger regional and national chains here in the ATL, but Little Caeser's is the only one of those we ever patronize (cheap, quick, and edible)...otherwise it's a couple of local joints when we want to sit down somewhere for pizza and beer.

I wish I could find Buffalo style pizza here...

One of the best pizzas I ever had was from a place in downtown Springville, NY (about 30 minutes south of Buffalo) - I'm going to assume that was Buffalo-style. Good stuff.

[Raf]

I love me some pizza! We have our national chains here as well (with the exception of Pizza Hut / Little Ceasers). I tried Domino's the other night and it wasn't that bad. But alas, my heart sticks with a main regional chain, Round Table Pizza which has a lunch time pizza buffet with killer bread sticks and cinnamon twists, not to mention a really good pizza sauce. Round Table was my go to pizza chain with the exception of my old college haunt, to which i live by again and now my daughter absolutely loves:

Woodstock's Pizza.
http://www.woodstocksslo.com/

It is a local pizza place that is a chain with locations at universities in California such as Santa Barbara, Chico, San Diego, Davis and in Oregon. They have an awsome pint night as well as the great wheat crust pizza. Supper yummy and a apple dessert pizza to die for.

When pizza is called for in the east bay, i turn to Zachary's Pizza. Great Chicago style pizza and has been named on of the top Pizza restaurants in the nation. Go check it out if your in the Bay Area (east bay specifically)

http://www.zacharys.com/

[Tranplanner]

I usually make my own pizza on pizza night (which means it is a weekend thing not a work night thing). If we order 'za, it's usually a Canadian (Bacon, mushrooms, pepperoni) from Gabriel's.

[dandy_warhol]

You guys are killing me. I'm trying to limit my carb intake until the wedding. All this talk of pizza is enough to push a girl over the edge. *twitches*

[Gedunker]

It's cruel to have a pizza thread before lunchtime. Cruel, dammit!

We have the four major nationals. There is an ancient Gatti's pizza nearby, CiCi's, and newly opened Papa Murphys (frozen carry-out).

For Pizza Night, we fluctuate between Pizza Hut, Papa John's and a local joint called Wicks. (I like Wicks' crust, but they sweeten their tomato paste, which I don't like). PH thin-and-crispy, is pretty good, IMO. We'll sometimes get Arni's pizza, but it's carry-out only. (Their pepperoni is nice and spicy, but they slice round pizzas into square slices. Sacrilege! ) There's also a Pizza King locally, but we don't get their pizza very much. We'll sometimes patronize a local brew pub/pizza joint that makes excellent calzones (and fantastic brews).

In undergrad, a place called Brother Bruno's made THE BEST NY STYLE PIZZA. Damn, I miss that pizza! Back east, Chicago style is called 'Neapolitan' -- probably to keep Chicagoans in their place.

I wish more places around here would sell pizza by-the-slice, but that model really isn't offered unless there's a Sbarro at a mall somewhere.

[TexanOkie]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJKtlG7bOtU

"Ready to go get some 'za?"

[ursus]

To me, pizza is the best. Like sex, even when it's bad, it's still pretty good.

What say you about pizza?

To me, personally the best pizza is cold leftover pizza for breakfast with a glass of milk. That is heavenly.

[kalimotxo]

To me, personally the best pizza is cold leftover pizza for breakfast with a glass of milk. That is heavenly.

So glad I'm not the only one.

If I'm ordering chain pizza, it's usually Papa John's. I have bought Domino's a few times since the Transformation and, while it's not that great, the level of improvement from their old pizza makes it seem relatively delicious.

I have two primary pizza weaknesses: 1) the super thin crust NY-style pizza at a dumpy strip mall pizzeria called Brothers Pizza outside of Fredericksburg, VA and 2) any generic "jumbo slice" pizza after a night on the town in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of DC.

[Mud Princess]

Having grown up on neighborhood pizzerias run by actual Italian families, the whole concept of getting pizza from a national chain is anathema to me. I've never understood the appeal of Pizza Hut - I don't think their food is very good - although I have gone there when traveling in places where there are few or no vegetarian options.

One of my favorite places to get pizza is a family-friendly, small-town tavern about 20 minutes away. I started eating pizza there with a friend and her parents when we were kids - really! I don't know how to describe it, but the crust is divine.

(Uh-oh, I should have had lunch before I started typing this...)

For delivery pizza, we used to order from a nearby pizzeria that was run by Serbians or something. Service was nondescript, but I really liked the pizza. Unfortunately, the place is under new ownership and the pizza just isn't the same.

We've also been buying the store-brand "self-rising"-type pizza from the frozen section of our supermarket. I decided to try it one day when it was on sale for a mere 4 bucks... and it turned out to be really good. It's good to keep in the house for those nights when we don't feel like cooking, but don't have the $$$ to order take-out or go to a restaurant.

[wahday]

To me, personally the best pizza is cold leftover pizza for breakfast with a glass of milk. That is heavenly.

I have a phobia of cold tomato products. I can deal with salsa or gazpacho, but anything cooked down or pasted and cold? I don't even want to touch it. And yes, that includes ketchup...

[dandy_warhol]

We've also been buying the store-brand "self-rising"-type pizza from the frozen section of our supermarket. I decided to try it one day when it was on sale for a mere 4 bucks... and it turned out to be really good. It's good to keep in the house for those nights when we don't feel like cooking, but don't have the $$$ to order take-out or go to a restaurant.

We do that too. We like the DiGiorno spinach, mushroom, and garlic pizza. Delicioso!

[H]

My wife is from the Saint Louis area of the world and I have been turned on to "St. Louis Style Pizza." I must say, it is my favorite.

It is a really thin crust with a cheese blend of Provolone, Swiss, and White Cheddar - the pizza is then cut into squares (not triangles like the typical pie).

As a side note, any place that serves STL style pizza is also most likely to also serve toasted raviolis - an area fav. I have never eaten STL style pizza without a side of "t ravs," so I thought it prudent to include with this post (since they go hand in hand).

[btrage]

Our favorite frozen-style is the Fruschetta Naturally Rising Supreme.

[ursus]

I have a phobia of cold tomato products.

a) I don't want to know how one develops a phobia of cold tomato products.

b) I'm so sad for you, because cold pizza is the best pizza. Especially the really saucy saucy kind of pizza.

On the frozen pizza front, I don't even mind the $1.25 Totinos frozen party pizzas. I think I could eat about a dozen of them. No such thing as bad pizza.

[Maister]

In the frozen pizza division I award the blue ribbon to California Kitchen's pizza,

[NHPlanner]

For my kids and I, store bought Mystic Pizza...good stuff.

Otherwise for ordering, I stick to the local joints.