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June 23, 2020wfnycraig – Today’s roundtable topic is one that’s near and dear to my heart. Maybe mostly in my arteries, but we’re talking about pizza. I want to know two things. What kind of pizza do you consider “standard?” Like, maybe it’s the pizza you grew up with ordering on Friday nights. Maybe it’s the one you and your friends crushed in college. What’s the baseline standard pizza in your world? Conversely, what’s the very best pizza you ever had in your life? Drunk on the streets of New York from a storefront, or drunk in the haunts of Chicago with a lasagna-thick pie, or maybe even “Congratulations San Francisco. You’ve ruined pizza!”
gerbs – This is my time. I started working for a school in the tech department in 2017, and as soon as I did, I started what I called Pizza Friday’s. That just meant I went and got the $5 Little Caesar’s Five Buck Lunch. I love pizza in all shape and forms but the only thing I require is pepperoni.
wfnycraig – I’m with you there. The old cliche that bad pizza is still pizza rings true for me. If I’m answering my own questions, I’m going with standard midwestern pizza. I grew up eating Augie’s and Guido’s in South Russell and Chesterland, respectively. I never gravitated toward the chain pies. In college we ate a very cheap and midwestern style pizza in Boston because they were on our block. It’s no longer there, but it was called Boston Pizza Express. The best pizzas ever? Lou Malnati’s in Chicago is my go-to when we visit. I had some New York style foldover on the streets of Montreal during a bachelor party weekend. I’ll never forget that slice because it allowed us to survive the rest of the night drinking. Lastly, my current go-to in suburban Ohio is Gionino’s. There are many solid midwestern pizzas near me, whether we’re talking about the aforementioned Augie’s or Guido’s, the Master Pizza, or Zeppe’s. I’ll make time for them all, but my preference at this point in time is Gionino’s. They’ve got the best balance of toppings to bread ratio, and the sauce flavor that hits the spot most with my family. Although my eldest son has started to experiment with Hawaiian pizza, so he’s on his own with a personal pie at this point…
mgbode – Not sure if it is even still there but Angie’s pizza in North Royalton was always a personal favorite. Mama Santas in Little Italy was my college pizza. Unos on Chicago visits a must. Have no qualms about chain pizzas as they can be an affordable way to feed the family… don’t sleep on Costco for take-n-bake either. My favorite though are pizza twists my wife makes. Just a perfect snack/meal.
mitchell – Despite living in Chicago for a few years, I’m definitely on the New York side of the debate. Still, two Chicago pizzerias stand out. I would say Pequod’s is the consensus choice for a “true Chicagoan’s” favorite deep dish, though I’ll admit to enjoying Malnati’s and Giordano’s a lot (never actually been to Uno). The other place is call Oven Grinders, which makes what is best described as a pizza pot pie with the crust being kind of a bread bowl. It’s as good as it sounds.
mitchell – Still, the Platonic ideal pizza pie can’t really be an American style, can it? I think the Neapolitan pizza is the purest style out there, and it’s also probably my favorite. I mean…
mitchell – Also, shout out to Sicilian style
davesterling – I’ll be the Akron guy here. Every time I start to think that Luigi’s is overrated, I have some and it blows my mind. Thick bread, tons of cheese, slightly spicy sauce. It is my favorite pizza in the world, no matter how in-authentic it is.
andrew – I’ll admit, I’m not all that crazy about pizza. I mean, I certainly like it, but I’m not particular about it. I don’t even mind pineapple on pizza (I know, the horror!). My standard pizza most of my life has just been pretty much whatever delivers. Ate a lot of Pizza Hut as a kid, then lived on Catfish Biff’s when I lived on campus at Ohio State, and now Domino’s tends to be my go to. However, the best I’ve ever had is definitely Adriatico’s in Columbus. I also really enjoy Harvest pizza in Columbus and the Tito Santana pizza from Dewey’s is insane and I’m sad it only comes around once a year.
mgbode – OK, but is pizza a sandwich?
wfnycraig – Only when it’s wrapped around an Italian sausage and eaten on the streets of Little Italy during The Feast.
mgbode – What about calzones?
wfnycraig – Wonderful food, but not a pizza.
mgbode – Oh? Not only not a sandwich but you’ve evicted it from pizza?!
gerbs – Love calzones, but Ben Wyatt be damned, it’s not pizza. Pizza flavored deliciousness
wfnycraig – What’s the difference between a calzone and a stromboli?
mgbode – I don’t even want to ask about Bagel Bites and Pizza rolls now.
gerbs – Sauce
wfnycraig – If you ask about Pizza Flavored Combos or lunchables, I’m going to find you and fight you.
mgbode – Have always eaten stromboli sliced. It’s never made in a personal application that I have at least had.
I’m always down for a good tussle. Just let me get my knee brace on first, please. I don’t need to go through that again. Pizza combos are certainly not pizza. They are more in the pizza-flavored cheetos category though when you get the pretzel-pizza ones they are certainly delicious.
As for the sandwiches, I am personally much more in the categorization-style thought.
Pizza – open-faced sandwich
Calzone – folded flat-bread sandwich
Pizza folded around a sausage – hey, it sounds great and I’m mad I never stopped at that stand at The Feast of the Assumption.
davesterling – A guilty pleasure of mine are Totinos party pizzas, thin and crispy. My Dad used to (and probably still does) call them “cardboard pizza”
wfnycraig – We used to eat little round Red Baron microwave pizzas as kids. They microwaved on a little grey sheet that I think was supposed to make the microwave cook it better, but they were always pretty dismal as far as pizza goes.
mitchell – @andrew Adriatico’s and Dewey’s are both absurdly good
joshpoloha – So, is this when we kick Andrew out of the #foodtalk channel for not being big on pizza *and* liking pineapple on pizza or no? I always used to love Romeo’s and Master Pizza in Medina (and still do), but right when the quarantine started, I decided to make the 25-minute drive to Ohio Pie in Brunswick and it was the best pizza-related decision I’ve ever made in my life. I may or may not have had it each of the last five Fridays (I’m not ashamed). When in the CLE area, it has to be Slice in Tremont; when in Columbus, it’s Adriatico’s. As far as a “standard” pizza, I feel like it’s just cheese, pepperoni, sausage, or a mixture of those. I haven’t had a throw-in-the-oven pizza since college so I can’t answer which is my favorite of those.
andrew – Yeah, Mitch, I would get Dewey’s all the time if they delivered because there’s one not too far from my house. Which, of course, means I could pick up pizza since they’re so close, but… I’m lazy.
davesterling – I dig a Hawaiian pizza with ham and pineapple. Fight me.
scott – @mgbode Angies is still there but it’s not the same. Not sure if they changed managers or what. It’s a shell of what it once was.