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RJM62

RJM62

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Geek on the Hill
The best and worst chain-company pizzas.

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food...-chains-we-live-for-and-those-we-dont-2470766

On a sad note, it appears Sbarro has filed for bankruptcy. That's sad not only because their restaurants serve halfway-decent food of predictable quality, but because the company is a true American success story. They started as a Mom and Pop operation. I still remember their first Salumeria in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn on (I think) 65th Street; and their first restaurant in the Kings Plaza mall, also in Brooklyn.

Sbarro's pizza was never considered a serious contender for Best Pizza by anyone in Brooklyn (the home of the world's best pizza, and therefore a place where pizza is taken very seriously), but it was always considered abbastanza buona and a better bet than anything else available to eat at the mall.

I hope Sbarro survives. It would be sad to watch another American success story fall victim to the recession.

-Rich
 
I consider myself a pizza aficionado. There is New Park Pizzeria on Cross Bay Blvd in Howard Beach and Amore Pizzeria in Flushing. Then Little Vincent's and Filetto's in Suffolk. It's the water...and da sauce. And if the pie ain't oily they're using fake cheese! Chi Town can bite me! OK, I'm done.
 
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Papa John's beat Pizza Hut and Domino's...

Dengue Fever beat Ebola and Necrotizing fasciitis...
 
skylanerg said:
I consider myself a pizza aficionado. There is New Park Pizzeria on Cross Bay Blvd in Howard Beach and Amore Pizzeria in Flushing. Then Little Vincent's and Filetto's in Suffolk. It's the water...and da sauce. And if the pie ain't oily their using fake cheese! Chi Town can bite me! OK, I'm done.
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You forgot Lenny's on 5th Avenue and Prospect in Brooklyn, and Luigis's on 5th between 20th and 21st.

Luigi's is actually run by suo figlio Giovanni now. But Luigi, who opened the joint back in the late 1960's, had previously been a pizzaiolo for Lenny. So Luigi's started with an impeccable pedigree.

-Rich
 
RJM62 said:
You forgot Lenny's on 5th Avenue and Prospect in Brooklyn, and Luigis's on 5th between 20th and 21st.

Luigi's is actually run by suo figlio Giovanni now. But Luigi, who opened the joint back in the late 1960's, had previously been a pizzaiolo for Lenny. So Luigi's started with an impeccable pedigree.

-Rich
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I bow to you sir. However, I stand by my equally scrumptious pies. Let's not split hairs. Great is great. We may be dealing with an uninformed crowd here. My brother has lived outside Roanoke for 35 years. The local paper ranks Pizza Hut the best pizza every year - talk about clueless... My Bro needs a pizza tour every visit to NY.
 
skylanerg said:
Trapper John said:
Papa John's beat Pizza Hut and Domino's...

Dengue Fever beat Ebola and Necrotizing fasciitis...
Click to expand...

Sir, may I respectfully suggest that you may be pizza impaired?
Click to expand...

No kidding! PJ's is WAY better than the Slut and Domino's.

I used to like Pizza Hut... But somehow, they went from pretty decent to "crap" in short order. That's why they have their "WingStreet" gimmick to try to get people to come back.

Domino's... Worst of them all, IMO. Even the "new" stuff, which admittedly is better than before, is pretty bad. And that whole "crusts made fresh in stores daily" is total bull****. How do I know? I used to (until August, when I went back to school) haul frozen pizza crusts to Domino's distribution centers. They're made at a factory in Chicago, and they sit in a cold storage facility in Delevan, WI until they're trucked to Domino's DC's and then they go from there on a Domino's truck to the stores. Hello, false advertising...

Of course, I kinda like Little Caesar's - Though it's more for the Crazy Bread than the pizza. And the fact that I could get it at a couple of truck stops in Nebraska. (Haven't had it since.)

The best "chain" pizza, though: Rocky Rococo. But you'll only find them in Wisconsin, with two exceptions: Brooklyn Park, MN and Spokane, WA.
 
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skylanerg said:
I bow to you sir. However, I stand by my equally scrumptious pies. Let's not split hairs. Great is great. We may be dealing with an uninformed crowd here. My brother has lived outside Roanoke for 35 years. The local paper ranks Pizza Hut the best pizza every year - talk about clueless... My Bro needs a pizza tour every visit to NY.
Click to expand...

That's an infamnia!

But yes, great is great. And New York being the center of pizza greatness, it's rare to get a truly bad pie from any of the independents.

-Rich
 
flyingcheesehead said:
No kidding! PJ's is WAY better than the Slut and Domino's.

I used to like Pizza Hut... But somehow, they went from pretty decent to "crap" in short order. That's why they have their "WingStreet" gimmick to try to get people to come back.

Domino's... Worst of them all, IMO. Even the "new" stuff, which admittedly is better than before, is pretty bad. And that whole "crusts made fresh in stores daily" is total bull****. How do I know? I used to (until August, when I went back to school) haul frozen pizza crusts to Domino's distribution centers. They're made at a factory in Chicago, and they sit in a cold storage facility in Delevan, WI until they're trucked to Domino's DC's and then they go from there on a Domino's truck to the stores. Hello, false advertising...

Of course, I kinda like Little Caesar's - Though it's more for the Crazy Bread than the pizza. And the fact that I could get it at a couple of truck stops in Nebraska. (Haven't had it since.)

The best "chain" pizza, though: Rocky Rococo. But you'll only find them in Wisconsin, with two exceptions: Brooklyn Park, MN and Spokane, WA.
Click to expand...

Sorry, really sorry, but that is the definition of clueless. I'm really, really sorry. And the sad fact is...most people raised on chain pizza think anything else is, well, yucky. Go figure.
 
skylanerg said:
Sorry, really sorry, but that is the definition of clueless. I'm really, really sorry. And the sad fact is...most people raised on chain pizza think anything else is, well, yucky. Go figure.
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Hey now... You ever had Rocky's? It's unlike any "chain pizza" I've ever had.
 
skylanerg said:
Sir, may I respectfully suggest that you may be pizza impaired?
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The ranking was from the linked article - sorry, should have put it in quotes. I think the chains are universally awful. But they're everywhere in our suburb. We have one mom-and-pop and that's where I go. Nice thin, crispy crust baked in a real pizza oven, not a conveyor. Probably couldn't compete with the best of NYC, but it's still pretty darn good.

I can make a much better pizza at home than any of the chains. Have to plan ahead with the dough-making time, but it's fun for the kids, too.
 
skylanerg said:
I gotta disagree. Crap is crap. Including pizza in NY. And there's a bunch of crap in NY.
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Are you from Chicago? You probably like Domino's pizza.

flyingcheesehead said:
No kidding! PJ's is WAY better than the Slut and Domino's.

I used to like Pizza Hut... But somehow, they went from pretty decent to "crap" in short order. That's why they have their "WingStreet" gimmick to try to get people to come back.

Domino's... Worst of them all, IMO. Even the "new" stuff, which admittedly is better than before, is pretty bad. And that whole "crusts made fresh in stores daily" is total bull****. How do I know? I used to (until August, when I went back to school) haul frozen pizza crusts to Domino's distribution centers. They're made at a factory in Chicago, and they sit in a cold storage facility in Delevan, WI until they're trucked to Domino's DC's and then they go from there on a Domino's truck to the stores. Hello, false advertising...

Of course, I kinda like Little Caesar's - Though it's more for the Crazy Bread than the pizza. And the fact that I could get it at a couple of truck stops in Nebraska. (Haven't had it since.)

The best "chain" pizza, though: Rocky Rococo. But you'll only find them in Wisconsin, with two exceptions: Brooklyn Park, MN and Spokane, WA.
Click to expand...
:wink2:
 
skylanerg said:
I consider myself a pizza aficionado. There is New Park Pizzeria on Cross Bay Blvd in Howard Beach and Amore Pizzeria in Flushing. Then Little Vincent's and Filetto's in Suffolk. It's the water...and da sauce. And if the pie ain't oily they're using fake cheese! Chi Town can bite me! OK, I'm done.
Click to expand...

If you're in New York and you want great pizza, you'll have to go to Chicago.
 
Last night I made my own pepperoni and onion pizza at home (would have added green pepper and mushroom, but we were out of those). Homemade crust (AP flour, bread flour, and whole wheat flour, with real yeast, a bit of olive oil and salt, and a quarter teaspoon of sugar for the yeast proofing -- in a food processor), homemade sauce (fresh tomato, some onion, a clove of garlic, herbs [oregano, basil, parsley], and enough tomato paste to get the right consistency -- blended, not pre-cooked), with three cheeses (mozz, prov, parm) and a 500F convection oven with a thoroughly preheated pizza slab. I took two bites and thought to myself, "Why would I ever want chain-store pizza when I can have this?"
 
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So far the only real pizza I have seen anyone mention is Kent with Rocky Rococo. The rest if just greasy cheese bread or NY Style to the great unwashed masses.

Earlier this week I had a California Pizza Kitchen pie. YUCK! I should of just ordered Domino's.

Well when y'all wanna talk real pizza then we can either discuss the Sorrento take on the Naples style or Napoli style itself or Chicago stuffed and thin crust. Until then y'all enjoy your Stouffer cheese bread wanna be pies.
 
roncachamp said:
If you're in New York and you want great pizza, you'll have to go to Chicago.
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What is made in Chicago is not really pizza. Some of it is good to eat, but it isn't pizza. The people in Chicago didn't come up with another name for their creation.

Pizza is a flat bread with a small amount of some topping. It's not cooked in a pan with a large amount of filling like some sort of pie.

I was surprised how similar pizza in Naples (visited on business) and good NY pizza were in flavor.

A Naples or NYC pizza is put in the oven and is baked in a few minutes. A Chicago pie takes 40 to 50 minutes to bake.

It's like saying that these two fruits are the same thing and one is better than the other.
220px-Red_Apple.jpg
250px-OrangeBloss_wb.jpg
 
Cap'n Jack said:
What is made in Chicago is not really pizza. Some of it is good to eat, but it isn't pizza. The people in Chicago didn't come up with another name for their creation.

Pizza is a flat bread with a small amount of some topping. It's not cooked in a pan with a large amount of filling like some sort of pie.

I was surprised how similar pizza in Naples (visited on business) and good NY pizza were in flavor.

A Naples or NYC pizza is put in the oven and is baked in a few minutes. A Chicago pie takes 40 to 50 minutes to bake.

It's like saying that these two fruits are the same thing and one is better than the other.
Click to expand...

You don't know pizza.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
What's the incorrect part of what I wrote?
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That you think Chicago Pizza is not pizza. From that hypothesis the rest of your thesis is based. If the first part is incorrect, all of it is wrong.

The Chicago stuffed style represents the culmination, evolution and perfection of the dough, sauce, cheese culinary marriage. While pizza had been stuck in the greasy cheese bread backwater style of the Brooklyn pie for a long time, innovation was forced to occur outside of the narrow minded and gastronomicly retarded NY Pizza chains. They had no reason to innovate as their clientele could hardly be describe as discerning.

Ike Sewell, a former U of Texas football star (any relation Spike?), developed what has become known in all food circles as the perfect pizza pie.
 
ScottM said:
That you think Chicago Pizza is not pizza. From that hypothesis the rest of your thesis is based. If the first part is incorrect, all of it is wrong.

The Chicago stuffed style represents the culmination, evolution and perfection of the dough, sauce, cheese culinary marriage. While pizza had been stuck in the greasy cheese bread backwater style of the Brooklyn pie for a long time, innovation was forced to occur outside of the narrow minded and gastronomicly retarded NY Pizza chains. They had no reason to innovate as their clientele could hardly be describe as discerning.

Ike Sewell, a former U of Texas football star (any relation Spike?), developed what has become known in all food circles as the perfect pizza pie.
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you may want to go a bit further back in time...New York had little to do with it as it is essentially made the same it was in Italy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pizza
 
Cap'n Jack said:
you may want to go a bit further back in time...New York had little to do with it as it is essentially made the same it was in Italy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pizza
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That is exactly the point. NY Pizza is a poor copy to Naples style of pizza, which BTW is very good. NY ruined what was a great style of pizza with their overuse of grease and cooking style that allowed the crust to become a soggy mess. Their continued ruination of pizza would go unnoticed were it not for the noble pizza innovators in Chicago, who during the last century saved this country from being overrun by inferior grease-cheese-bread known as NY style pizza.
 
Ron Levy said:
Last night I made my own pepperoni and onion pizza at home (would have added green pepper and mushroom, but we were out of those). Homemade crust (AP flour, bread flour, and whole wheat flour, with real yeast, a bit of olive oil and salt, and a quarter teaspoon of sugar for the yeast proofing -- in a food processor), homemade sauce (fresh tomato, some onion, a clove of garlic, herbs [oregano, basil, parsley], and enough tomato paste to get the right consistency -- blended, not pre-cooked), with three cheeses (mozz, prov, parm) and a 500F convection oven with a thoroughly preheated pizza slab. I took two bites and thought to myself, "Why would I ever want chain-store pizza when I can have this?"
Click to expand...

Oh man... I made the exact same homemade pizza last night..... Thats twice in a week or so that Ron and I agreed on something..... :hairraise::sad:

Well, on second thought I also added anchovies so maybe I get a free pass.:dunno:

Quick..... someone shoot me...:cornut::cornut::cool2:

Ben.
 
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I know you east coasters think out here in the wild west we cook our pizza's over the campfire beside our covered wagon. But frankly NY. Chicago, Boston, whatever , if it is east of the rockies I have no use for it. You keep it all. I got shrimp on the BBQ. Dave
 
ScottM said:
The Chicago stuffed style represents the culmination, evolution and perfection of the dough, sauce, cheese culinary marriage.
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Chicago deep dish "pizza" really should be called "casseruola di pizza". Doesn't mean it doesn't taste good, though.
 
I like my pizza topped with hot dogs and ketchup.
 
Neither Chicago nor New York knows Pizza.

Albuquerque....that's a pizza: Lobo Style, with Green Chile, Pepperoni and either Hamburg or Sausage (not italian) depending on where you go.

New York Pizza beats Chicago (hands down). Albuquerque beats all. Haven't found NC pizza yet, but I can't wait to try it.

BTW, if you want a great "Lobo Style" pizza and you're in Albuquerque, try Dion's. Sure its chain-ish, but its not a bad pie.

Also, Giovanni's "New Mexican Style" pizza is good too....green chile, chicken, ricotta, and onions (I always leave those off). Good ****.
 
SkyHog said:
Also, Giovanni's "New Mexican Style" pizza is good too....green chile, chicken, ricotta, and onions (I always leave those off). Good ****.
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How bad is the pizza that putting chile, chicken, and ricotta (blech) on it improves the taste?:D
 
We haven't ordered a pizza in memory. We make our own, and it's tons better, even with jarred prepared sauce. We even started making our own frozen pizzas to cook in a pinch. All those chains suck canal water, and even the little hole-in-the-wall places don't do it as well as us.
 
Although it's not a chain, Jo's Pizza in Purcell, OK is the best in all the world. Never found any other pizza like it in my travels. I quite literally salivate excessively whenever it comes to mind. Like right now.


I'm not sure there's such thing as bad pizza. Some are just better than others. :wink2:

Sbarro is good stuff. I wish they would have expanded past the malls. I think they could have been quite successful as a real restaurant chain. Chik-fil-a is gettin it done.
 
roncachamp said:
If you're in New York and you want great pizza, you'll have to go to Chicago.
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+1

But there's the old saying: pizza is like sex--even when it's bad, it's still pretty good. :wink2:
 
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