2 Questions re: The Best Pizza You Ever Had...
Mates,
Following on the heels of the 'Marijuana and Work-Out' thread, it seems apropos to ask about your favorite pizza. Back in the day deep dish was the 'new' pizza. IIRC, there was an "Uno's" on S. University over by Washtenaw Ave that majored in deep dish. Later on, stuffed-crust pizza is/was all the rage and now its come back around to thin crust in many places. So today's questions are these:
1. Where did/do you get the best pizza you ever ate?
2. What is your favorite frozen/store-bought pizza?
XM
Picture here to get you in the mood to 'dish' on your favorites....
For deep dish in Ann Arbor, I like Anthony's Gourmet pizza, particularly the Carnivore Delight. A large pie must weight at least five pounds.
For thin crust, Silvio's.
Outside of A2, lots of places including Italy and France and, of course, NYC.
Anthony's is absolutely the best in AA.
Anthony's is the correct answer. My mom made amazing pizza growing up but Anthony's is king.
was ordering dominos for a while but started making my own at home. king arthur flour's website has a good dough recipe that is similar to Uno's. i've used the james beard deep dish dough recipe as well. bought a cast iron pizza dish for $20 from the amazonbasics line and i'm digging it. also, kneading dough may be the best hand/grip work out ever.
as for frozen, freschetta is ok but their new sauce gives me heartburn which is something i normally never get. Digiorno has a weird texture to their crust and their sauce is bland. CPK has a shit crust with no flavor.
I live in Houston now and I maintain that the vast majority of Texas pizza is trash, but Home Slice in Austin is legitimately great. I haven't had Via 313 yet, but I hope to next time I'm in Austin (Detroit-style deep dish).
Vitale's in Ada, MI, where I grew up, was great in the restaurant and somehow horrible on carry-out/delivery. My family used to stock up on Dearborn Italian Bakery take-n-bakes whenever we were in Dearborn, which was a lot because we have extended family there.
Via 313 in Austin is legit awesome Detroit-style pizza. I introduced my wife to it a couple years ago, and she demands to go there a couple times a month. Make sure to try the 'Ambassador Bridge':
Chopped Garlic, Natural Casing Pepperoni, Sausage, Ricotta
They also have Faygo on the menu.
via 313 is garbage.
Vitales was great. haven't had that in decades. is it still around?
I think so, but I haven't been in that area for 5 or 6 years. They were doing quite well before that though - they moved to a new space in the early 2000's with a full bar room. My family were regulars there after HS sports events and until we all moved out of state post-college.
There are several Vitales sprinkled around West Michigan. I believe each is owned by one of the sons.
Its good Za
I totally agree with masotta - the pizza in Texas is complete garbage. I used to live there and would get Pizza Hut over any local stuff.
My fiancee absolutely loves Dearborn Italian Bakery pizza. She grew up in Dearborn Heights so we stop in whenever we visit her parents. l could take or leave the pizza, but the cannoli make it worth it to me!
Pequod's in Chicago. I'll third / fourth / fifth that.
In Metro Detroit, I'd go with Buddy's insofar as chains are concerned, but there are some non-chain places that serve decent pizza too.
It had to be a topic on which there will never be agreement, eh?
I concur as to both Pequod's and Buddy's, though I've found Pequod's can be inconsistent.
Atlantic Street Pizza in Seattle was absoultely amazing 12 or so years ago. I've heard it's still around but am not sure if the tastiness has changed. Also in Seattle is Serious Pie, which I love but what I really like there are the weirder options that are a long way from traditional pizza.
My girlfriend and I have been opting for cauliflower crust frozen pizza and this one from Costco is by far the best one we've found. It still gets crispy even though it's cauliflower and it's a much better price than the cauliflower crust frozen pizzas at the grocery store.
You know Donnie died from a heart attack at the end of that movie, don't you? He shoulda been on a Keto diet...
Wrong movie gramps
I...I don't know what you're talking about. Is this real?
Hey, I was skeptical at first too. But the cauliflower crust is 1/2 the calories. You can eat the whole frozen pizza and keep it under 1000, whereas with a Digiornio you're over 2000. Some of them suck, but the one I linked definitely holds up to other frozen pizzas in terms of taste.
Fresh
- Detroit style: Buddy's
- Chicago style: Pequod's (Lou Malnati's is probably the best chain)
- Thin crust: Home Run Inn
- Sicilian: Original Cottage Inn
Frozen
- Detroit style: any good ones?
- Chicago style: Fitza Pizza
- Thin crust: Home Run Inn
- Big name brand: Freschetta
Enricos is good!
Club 28 in Wakefield, MI.
From one extreme to another- the original Gino's East just off Michigan avenue in Chicago (deep dish) to Fricanos in Grand Haven Michigan (very thin), but I'm also in the it's (nearly) all good school.
For frozen, Home Run Inn, Jack's and Red Baron are pretty good.
Always try to go to the original locations.
Buddys... 6 & Conant. None of the satellite locations compare. (They just make the pies without measuring ingredients.)
Jets... 14 & John R. For some reason the pies taste better from this one.
And if you want a nice pie from an actual restaurant, try Vince's on Springwells in Detroit.
In NYC, Joe's in the Village is great for a slice. I happen to live right by a great place called Babbalucci in Harlem.
(I miss the days when I could really eat pizza... now it's a couple slices at most when there is a lot of cheese. My body just can't handle it.)
Yeah, I do better if I run a mile for each slice and that is getting harder to do. I miss the days . . .
Silver beach pizza St Joe and major tomato in Allen Park
Fun topic! I'm from mid-Michigan, so I have to shout out to Pizza Sam's in Alma and good ol' Main Street Pizza in St. Louis, MI. Have lived in the Bay Area for going on 10 years and nothing out here has really come close, except maaaaybe some of the Chicago-style deep dish out here. But that's really a whole different animal...
Sadly, I've never fallen in love with Main Street. I grew up in the founding town (Ovid) and can never figure out why my friends are addicts.
I’m combining the weed thread and pizza thread. First time I ever got stoned was as a sophomore or junior in 1996/97. We went to NYPD (it had just recently opened a year or so earlier). Being a Midwesterner, I had never had NY style pizza. I ate 4-5 slices while trying to convince my friends I was not stoned at all. To this day, I recall it as the best pizza I’ve ever eaten. I’m sure it is demonstrably not the best pizza. And subsequent visits, sober or not, never recaptured the same level of joy I experienced that night. But from that time on, no singular pizza eating experience has come close.
Best frozen pizza is Jack's. Cook it for an extra 3-5 minutes so it's extra crispy.
Cloverleaf is the best place for me. Gratiot in Eastpointe (was East Detroit when I grew up there). Whenever back in MI I have to eat there at least once a trip, sometimes more. Square, thicker but not crazy thick, slightly burnt edges on the crust. The best.
My understanding is that the guy who started Cloverleaf and the guy who started Buddy's were...buddy's.
Don't remember the last time I bought a frozen pizza. 15 years or more.
Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix is without question, the best pizza I've ever had.
Ugh. Great topic, horrible topic.
Great because, c'mon, it's pizza. Pizza is delicious, fun to eat, and satisfying. It can be so many different things to different people--supreme for the textures and the flavors, basic pep, a place for parm or hot sauce or ranch dressing. It's so good.
Horrible because recent health changes have almost eliminated it from my diet due to significant carb restrictions. I can have like a slice now for a meal. So this is tough for me to read, especially before dinner.
But read it I shall.
*for the record I'm big on pan crusts / delivery-style deep dish, loaded with cheese, pepperoni, and perhaps bacon or ham, topped with Tabasco and other hot sauces on alternating slices.
Frozen? Aldi's basic frozen pizza is pretty good, but I'm actually a mark for Tony's frozen pizza with pepperoni. It's just really good.
Carbs are like a death sentence once I turned 50. Each serving means I should run a mile before or after or I feel like garbage the following days.
1. Pizza House deep dish when it was in the house behind East Quad, circa 1996-1997. But Oenotri wood fire pizzas in Napa are the best currently available reasonably close to where I live.
2. Trader Joe's actually has reasonably good frozen pizza
Agreed on the Trader Joe's, although they make them too small.
La Casa Pizzaria in Omaha is probably best I've had. Definitely the best of the Omaha style pizza.
Nino's in Buffalo used to be amazing, kind of gone downhill last time we were back there, though Buffalo has many great pizza places. The wings and beef on weck get all the attention from outsiders, but Buffalo has a unique style of pizza as well that is outstanding.
Frozen? I've not tried many, but the stuffed crust DiGiorno are fine.
In the Detroit area, Loui's in Ferndale is a great deep dish. Also, best BBQ Chicken pizza comes from Jets.
I thought it was in Hazel Park.
If you're not telling me about a slice you had in New York City your answer is as weak as Midwestern pizza.
New York 'style' is laaaaame! Give me some deep dish all day every day (or at least a "pan" pizza).
Deep dish is Pizza cake.
Ok. Here's my gripe about a slice in NYC. I've tried on countless occasions for my NY friends to take to their best pizza slice place. And every single time it comes up short because the pizza is NEVER fresh. The standard pizza slice place has several kinds of pizza sitting on that metal tray for god knows how long, and when I order they throw the slice into the oven like they are trying to bring Frankenstein back to life. The pizza tastes OK, but its noticeably (in look and taste) old. Very meh.
I'll say its' fine pizza no doubt, and it serves a purpose, but its probably the most over-rated food out of NYC. There's so much good food in NYC, pizza is not one of them.
What the fuck, dude. You order a slice and what should they do? Make a whole pie, cut out your slice,
and toss the rest?
Um. You order a whole pie and have fresh at it home (or at the restaurant) with your family and/or friends like the vast majority of the pizza eating world.
And you don't complain about a slice that isn't freshly made when you only order a slice and not a whole pie. Like the vast majority of the pizza eating world.
I love that we're now both on the same wavelength here.
I’m not really complaining dude. You made some snooty claim about NYC slice pizza. I provided my $0.02. Simple as that.
Be chill now
It's all in good fun. We're talking pizza, not politics or religion. But note that were complaining in your first post. You complained about not getting a freshly made slice when you only order a slice. But...whatever.
I don't know if I had a "best pizza ever" now as an adult, but I remember when Pizza Hut did the stuffed crust way back when, as a kid I lost my mind.
Red Baron frozen pizza.