America's 101 Best Pizzas. Number [x] will shock you!

[LawBeefaroni]

#4 Pequod's (Chicago, Illinois)

No argument here. And good to see a lot of love for Detroit style, topped by:

#5 Buddy’s Pizza (Detroit, Michigan)

Full list.

[Jag]

As long as Frank Pepe is #1, all is right with the world.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

I am shocked, shocked!, that Imo's Pizza isn't on there. Who doesn't like pizza that tastes (and looks) like cardboard?

[LordMortis]

Buddy's is very good but they are there on reputation from history and the need to represent the marvelousness that is Detroit Deep Dish from the first known makers. But as example, Vizzy's was just voted best locally

https://www.topratedlocal.com/blog/awar ... za-palace/

And when you are in the mood for the old fashioned pepperoni on very greasy very dense round pizza, the are awesome. And even better when you get a pie (which is almost a stromboli rather than a pizza, but soooo good.)

We are so blessed to have so many different kinds of pizza that is so friggen good, it's disheartening the Buddy's is the representation. History be damned, on most days, I'd rather do a Jet's 10 deep dish than a Buddy's traditional Deep Dish (again even if Buddy's is a fine fine pizza)

Man, now I want a Vizzy's meatball pie.

[em2nought]

Oh man, now I'm hungry for pizza.

[naednek]

How is #61 even on the list based on the picture. My son's school pizza looks better than that

[Isgrimnur]

How is #61 even on the list based on the picture. My son's school pizza looks better than that

[Daehawk]

A lot of those look awful. My favorite is still Pizza Hut. Its a smaller town with no nice specialty places. Besides I dont car for most specialty places.

[Z-Corn]

I really wanna try Pequod's some day.

I like Buddy's. I like it a lot. But I make a better Detroit style pizza than them.

I'm very critical of all my cooking so I don't say that lightly. I've been making Detroit pizza almost every Friday for about a year and a half and I've got it down. Going to make tomorrows dough in about an hour so it can ferment in the fridge for 24 hours.

I use peanut oil in my pan. That's my secret.

[em2nought]

When I watch Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives I always think to myself that there should be a travel agency geared toward food destinations.

Trying the top ten pizzas might be fun. I'd also be down for the ten best sandwiches in America too. Ten best wings. Ten best burgers. Ten best Cubans. I'm not sure how Guy isn't a balloon.

[Rumpy]

When I watch Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives I always think to myself that there should be a travel agency geared toward food destinations.

The problem is you'd probably get overcrowded tourist traps. It does remind me of a show I liked to watch called the thirsty traveler though. He'd visit places around the world based on their beer/wine/spirits history. Made for a pretty entertaining show with an interesting perspective.

[Jeff V]

When I watch Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives I always think to myself that there should be a travel agency geared toward food destinations.

Trying the top ten pizzas might be fun. I'd also be down for the ten best sandwiches in America too. Ten best wings. Ten best burgers. Ten best Cubans. I'm not sure how Guy isn't a balloon.

What's a "travel agency"?

That list is lacking some notable Chicago icons. Pizzeria Uno is iconic and referenced several times in offspring that are listed (Lou Malnati's and my personal favorite, Pizano's). And then there's Gino's East. On one of my trips to the Philippines, I brought a frozen Gino's East pizza but even in one of those foil cooler bags, it was thawed after 24 hours of travel. It still was in one piece though and I cooked it immediately. While cooking it, my wife was watching a show on the Filipino version of the Food Network and there was a show about the best pizza joints in America. Gino's East was one of them!

[AWS260]

On one of my trips to the Philippines, I brought a frozen Gino's East pizza but even in one of those foil cooler bags, it was thawed after 24 hours of travel. It still was in one piece though and I cooked it immediately. While cooking it, my wife was watching a show on the Filipino version of the Food Network and there was a show about the best pizza joints in America. Gino's East was one of them!

I love this.

[Isgrimnur]

Gino's East.

There's one nearish my work. I will be making the trip for a Italian beef. I see no calzone/stromboli, however.

[Kraken]

I suppose they had to focus their list on major cities, there are so many pizzerias in the US...glad to see two icons from Boston's North End on the list; Pizzeria Regina in particular has legions of fans. But my two favorites are both in the Berkshires -- Baba Louie's in Great Barrington (sourdough crust ftw!) and Hot Tomatoes in Williamstown.

[Blackhawk]

Mother Bear's is at #99, and it is actually fairly near me (~50 miles, when the others are all hundreds of miles.) I've driven by it a few times. I need to make a trip there sometime.

I'm honestly jealous when I hear the people from New York and Chicago argue about things like pizza and hot dogs (or beef sandwiches, etc.) I've never had either style of either one, and there is nowhere to go to try them. So, everyone who lives near good food, enjoy it for me!

[Jeff V]

Mother Bear's is at #99, and it is actually fairly near me (~50 miles, when the others are all hundreds of miles.) I've driven by it a few times. I need to make a trip there sometime.

I'm honestly jealous when I hear the people from New York and Chicago argue about things like pizza and hot dogs (or beef sandwiches, etc.) I've never had either style of either one, and there is nowhere to go to try them. So, everyone who lives near good food, enjoy it for me!

If you can manage a bit of a road trip and our spare bedroom remains available (uncertain at the moment), you can come up and visit. While I'm in the hinterlands, there is Lou Malnati's (pizza) and Portillo's (beef and hot dogs) not far away. Pick the right weekend (maybe shoot for an Octocon weekend) and we can hook up with Lawbeef, ILB, and maybe Hepcat and Hentzau at Pequods. Lawbeef, ILB and Brian met up there some years ago when Brian came to town.

[Zenn7]

On one of my trips to the Philippines, I brought a frozen Gino's East pizza but even in one of those foil cooler bags, it was thawed after 24 hours of travel. It still was in one piece though and I cooked it immediately. While cooking it, my wife was watching a show on the Filipino version of the Food Network and there was a show about the best pizza joints in America. Gino's East was one of them!

I love this.

Tried a Gino's East frozen deep dish cheese pizza a couple years ago. It immediately became my #1 frozen pizza. Unless I'm in the mood for something different, I generally prefer that to most of the local pizza places I've tried or that we get at work.

The exception being Pizza Papalis. We get that sometimes at work, deep dish! Chicago Deep Dish is my favorite style of pizza. Detroit's deep dish isn't bad. Not so crazy about NY style thin pizza.

[Blackhawk]

Mother Bear's is at #99, and it is actually fairly near me (~50 miles, when the others are all hundreds of miles.) I've driven by it a few times. I need to make a trip there sometime.

I'm honestly jealous when I hear the people from New York and Chicago argue about things like pizza and hot dogs (or beef sandwiches, etc.) I've never had either style of either one, and there is nowhere to go to try them. So, everyone who lives near good food, enjoy it for me!

If you can manage a bit of a road trip and our spare bedroom remains available (uncertain at the moment), you can come up and visit. While I'm in the hinterlands, there is Lou Malnati's (pizza) and Portillo's (beef and hot dogs) not far away. Pick the right weekend (maybe shoot for an Octocon weekend) and we can hook up with Lawbeef, ILB, and maybe Hepcat and Hentzau at Pequods. Lawbeef, ILB and Brian met up there some years ago when Brian came to town.

That'd be awesome. I'm honestly hoping to pull off Octocon next year. It'll just take a lot of successful saving without any financial surprises.

[em2nought]

If you can manage a bit of a road trip and our spare bedroom remains available (uncertain at the moment), you can come up and visit.

That'd be awesome.

I think his wife typed that, she's trying to hook you up with the new roommate.

[LordMortis]

I use peanut oil in my pan. That's my secret.

The right Pan plus the right heat plus a good peanut oil isn't a secret, it's the starting point, isn't it? Without the crust is wrong, and everything else follows.

...
I generally prefer that to most of the local pizza places I've tried or that we get at work.

The exception being Pizza Papalis. We get that sometimes at work, deep dish! Chicago Deep Dish is my favorite style of pizza. Detroit's deep dish isn't bad. Not so crazy about NY style thin pizza.

I don't know anything about the west side of the state I have so many local pizza places I love. Some are M&P. Some are small chains. Jet's is pretty big chain that I . And I am so sad to see some unique places go under. I pizza from the Roman Forum and I the white seafood pizza there and I will never get to enjoy that again.

As much as I've had and as much as I love different kinds of pizza, I've never a NY style from NY, so I'm not fit to judge. I am dubious of the hype. I mean, I love margherita from that area, but it's no better than margherita pizza from anywhere else and margherita pizza doesn't stand head and shoulders about other pizzas. It's a nice bit of variety as long as your woodburner doesn't make the pizza taste like campfire but it is not a Michael Jordan of pizza or anything.

[pr0ner]

I haven't even heard of the lone DC area entry on this list.

[Kelric]

Pepe's is not #1, but it is very good. Also had #7 (Pepe's is better than them), but I'd vote their #20, Modern, as the best.

[Rumpy]

Being Canadian, I find it interesting how diverse the Pizza is in the States. I don't really think we have anything comparable to spurn so much debate. At least in my area, all I know about Pizza is from chains and there little to few standalone pizzarias. Although come to think of it, there was something new that appeared in town early this summer, and I don't know what to make of it. It was like a Pizza vending machine, again part of a franchise. You'd put your money in or swipe your card, select from the available pizzas and then you'd wait 3 min while it cooked it for you on the spot. I didn't try it, but saw a news report on it.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/ ... -1.5200563
https://www.thesudburystar.com/news/loc ... in-sudbury

When I grew up, we used to go to a pizzeria that was a fairly big sitdown restaurant, which I later would learn was actually part of a franchise, Mother's. But this place would show Laurel & Hardy films while you waited for your pizza. It was an incredibly charming place and I have fond memories of it. This was in the 80's, and sadly after the place closed down, the building sat unused for more than 20 years. Everytime I'd visit town and drive by the place, it would sadden me to see it abandoned, and it's only been torn down this year.

[hitbyambulance]

i was informed that the lone Seattle place on the list has no business being anywhere on here (i've been there once and thought it 'ok'). i have been to Pizzeria Lola in Minneapolis and that was pretty all right. i miss the 99 cent slices i had in Manhattan, in any case...

[Smoove_B]

welcome to the thunderdome @chicago. ur pizza is a casserole.

YES

[ImLawBoy]

welcome to the thunderdome @chicago. ur pizza is a casserole.

YES

I'm shocked (SHOCKED!) that twitter is being used to spread lies and ignorance.

[Smoove_B]

It's the official Twitter account of NJ. If that's not a full-on statement of fact, then I don't know what is.

[ImLawBoy]

We're supposed to trust New Jersey now?

[LordMortis]

And here I thought you brought this up because the place that brought Chicago style deep dish to Detroit when I was still a kid has decided to add square deep dish to the menu.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/enter ... 907124002/

I'm gonnahafta shuffle on down to the Taylor spinoff location and give it a try.

When it comes to Chicago-style pizza in Detroit, Joe Sheena's PizzaPapalis is the undisputed king. Now, the longstanding Greektown restaurant owner is evolving with the times and has added a different kind of famous deep-dish pie to his menu.

Known for huge, heavy, sauce-topped pies with layers of cheese, meat and veggies, the Chicago deep-dish style has been serving the business well since Sheena opened PizzaPapalis in 1986 after an inspiring Windy City road trip to see the Lions play the Bears.

Pizza has been Sheena's whole world for three decades. He attends and competes at pizza conventions in Las Vegas frequently, picking up on trends and tips from industry leaders. When he saw Neapolitan-style pizza was in vogue about 10 years ago, he opened NeoPapalis Pizza in Ann Arbor.

Now, it's clear the growing trend nationwide is Detroit-style pizza. Being that his pizza business is based in the the heart of that city, he decided to add it to the menu after 30-plus years of serving a style of pie that put the 312 on the pizza map.

[stessier]

I should not have clicked on this thread while eating my afternoon apple snack.

[Smoove_B]

Bad news folks - NJ is #1:

They say revenge is a dish best served cold. But if vindication was a dish, it would be pizza. New Jersey pizza.

The Garden State, long an unfair national punchline and overlooked culinary destination despite a rich food culture, received perhaps the ultimate cuisine compliment. Food & Wine just named New Jersey the best pizza state in America.

“New Jersey is the best place to eat pizza in the country right now,” David Landsel wrote for Food & Wine. “The state is one in an elite group remaining true to their heritage, through long periods of time when others were too busy crashing ahead into the future to care about theirs.”

[Jaymann]

I'm shocked!

[Holman]

Number 2 Son is downstairs making pizza right now!

Whole-wheat dough, olive oil, farmers' market mozzarella, fresh tomato slices, fresh basil leaves, and a smattering of sardines.

It won't be perfect, but it will be loved.

[LordMortis]

I thought you guys had an irrational thing against square pizzas. ..."But it's not pizza..."

[Jaymann]

What irks me is the trend of drowning pizza in cheese, while I prefer to drown mine in sauce.

[Isgrimnur]

Porque no los dos?