Good Pizza

“MSN had a link to who makes good pizza in Washington State. I did find a good privately owned shop in Tacoma, but otherwise, Costco makes a good cheap pizza. Others voted for Pagliacci's which is a chain. Anyone been there? I finally went. It was okay, but expensive. A very small pizza (personal pan size) w/half pepperoni and onion (they only put two super thin rings) was $9.

Does anyone have recommendations for pizza in their town or chain pizzerias that are good? Geez, is it too late for me to back out of this question. I was just at the "what's for lunch" thread and saw pizza mentioned and started this stupid thread. Okay, so I'm hungry, can you tell? I also love pizza and vote for my home made pizza as the best w/my home made sauce.
last edited: 12/22/05 12:26:26 PM”

“my in-laws get that pizza from costo a lot but, if you have them, i think papa murphy's makes a much better take and bake pizza

we have a great mom and pop place just a couple blocks from my house called Barlo's”

“Pizza Hut, Dominoes and MarkOs are all crap...CRAP I say! We have a Chicago grill chain around here called Unos that has awesome pizza. The Papa Murphy's that are in a lot of Walmarts are better than most delivery places.”

“There is a place in Baltimore called Egyptian Pizza.

They have some Mid-East food and interesting pizzas, though I have had better.

One item on the menu is The Al Pacino Pizza.
It features shrimp........(he is a runt!!)”

“Pizza Uno isn't bad, but I prefer NY style pizza.

There use to be a place near me called Oma's. Their pizza was probably the best in town.
last edited: 12/22/05 12:39:16 PM”

“Whoa, a virtual tie!!!”

“double post
last edited: 12/22/05 12:39:34 PM”

“Our best local pizza is Casanos. They use lots of provalone cheese and they have their own sauce that is the best.”

“uno's is da bomb...i always forget about them cause i don't have one on my side of town...i've been to the original in chicago too...i've got the recipe for their crust too”

“Hands down best pizza? Pepe's or Sally's in New Haven, Connecticut. (both are on Wooster Street about 2 blocks apart)


In the even we can't get there, then mine. I make a fantastic crust and sauce.”

“The little "Mom and Pop" places make the best Pizza, the big "chain stores are crap!”

“Miguel's Pizza in the Red river Gorge is very hard to beat.”

“Chain store sucks. Give me any of the old world pizza joints on the streets of New York any day! And there's lots of 'em here...”

“yuk, not a big fan of new york pizza...it's like sauce on a piece of paper...give me something i can sink my teeth into...though i'm with ya, i'll take new york pizza over some of the chains, especially papa jons...that shouldn't even be called pizza”

“Only true of certain places, thrifty. You gotta sample what's out there, because there are so many of them in this town. You'll stumble on a number of places that make it heartier than the thin crust and bardely any cheese and sauce...”

“Guido Sarducci's Pizza is quite nice”

“thrifty, NY pizzerias make what's called a Sicilian pizza that has a thick crust and made in a high sided pan. I like both styles, but I don't like really thin pizzas also and I'd say Pagliacci was like that. Making extra thin pizzas adds to their profit level, because now you use less sauce and mozzarella, because otherwise it would overwhelm and thin crust.

No Unos in WA.

I tried Papa Murphys and Papa Johns. I believe it was the Papa Johns I liked better. I think the Murphys is the take and bake one unless they both do it.

Go to the chain Ray's Original Pizza in NY and you will get a thicker crust and so much mozzarella that you can only eat one slice. It's very good.

I had someone recommend a pizza place that's privately owned and it's advertized as NY pizza by New Yorkers. Well.....it was very thin, had some strange spice, and worst of all, left an odd after taste which is something I had never experienced and left me wanting to use mouthwash.

Not having a lot of good options and no one nearby, I did like Pizza Hut, but they are overpriced and okay, but not great. New York does make the best pizzas without having to do any real searching.”

“that's funny, i'm making pizza for dinner tonight! i finally found some semolina flour at the store, it makes a much better crust than one with only regular flour in it. i'm putting a crapload of black olives on it, yum!

they have a chain up here called Ramunto's that i like...NY style pizza.”

“They make a nice Tomato pie in Norristown.”

“Essex area (east of Baltimore) has a place called Pizza John's. No, its not related to the big-name Papa John's. Their stuff is excellent.”

“Store bought: Tony,s cheap and yummy
Chain in Maryland: Ledo's
private owned:
Rocky's New York Pizza in Thurmont, Md.
Rocky's is the Bomb! not kidding I take my pizza seriously. Its worth the drive from anywhere in the Balt.- D.C. area”

“Vinny's in Ruckersville is OK / better than most around here”

“I like Nancy's pizza (Chicago chain) for pickup. For sit-down it would have to be Giordano's. I like the pepperoni charred and the cornmeal they use in their crust is out of this world.”

“Making extra thin pizzas adds to their profit level, because now you use less sauce and mozzarella, because otherwise it would overwhelm and thin crust.

that's pretty sad...one of the things i took away from being a restaurant manager was finding out that pizza is the most profitable restaurant category there is”

“Guiseppi closed up shop, so I am again looking for a good pizza shop. Does it ever end???”

“I make my own - and it rocks. But --- Brother Bruno's in the K-Mart Plaza northeast of Pocono Manor (Poconos, PA) makes some kick butt pie. The smell will reassure you when you walk in. It is just a cheezy (no pun intended) location.”

“Lyra, if you want to cut corners, your bakery should sell semolina dough you can use for pizzas since they probably make a semolina bread. I've bought semolina bread dough from my bakery. My mom just bought regular bread dough from her bakery in NY to make a pizza. It was $1.

Store bought frozen, I've haven't tried many, but I took a liking to the Red Barron's called something like "extra rise". It takes longer to cook and rise, but it's pretty good. I bought the pepperoni.

I would only buy Costco's from now on if I didn't make my own. I add some oregano and a drizzle of olive oil to the top.”

“We do Papa Murphys the majority of the time-I love the stuff. Been eating it since I was 16.....half my life ;-) You just have to learn how to cook it perfectly. I like it since they are usually very flexible on how you top it-for instance, I'll get a thin crust (less calories and sodium) and put the low carb sauce on (tastes fantastic!!), and they halve the cheese for me. I love the BBQ chicken they do every couple months.
But if you like greasy pizza, PM's doesn't do it-considering that many pizza places still put oil on top to keep the cheese flexible...blech!
I will say though, for upcoming chains, the Extreme chain is dang good-my boss loves to order it-it has an awesome sauce, and it isn't all heavy in the dough/sauce area.”

“sarbar1, Italians do drizzle oil on the top for flavor. It's like when Mario Batali from the tv cooking show tops his finished food dishes with a drizzle of olive oil. If olive oil is used, it's okay. If it's vegetable oil, it greasy and would have a greasy taste and that would definitely not be good.

I haven't seen or noticed Extreme by me in Federal Way or in my travels. I'll have to look for it, but then again, I'm starting to diet so I can't really do any taste testing. I'm cutting out the mozzarella topped dishes I make or eat.

I think Pizza Hut made a bbq beef pizza once many many years ago and that was tasty. I'll add broccoli to my pizza or plops of ricotta. Maybe that's why I need to diet, plus I've added pasta (ziti) w/sauce and ricotta mixed with that to top a pizza. The serving size was very small with all the extra calories. I ended up freezing pieces of it. I had tried that in NY and liked it.”

“My favorite Papa Murphy's is the classic Italian. Their sausage is awesome. I normally get whatevers on special. Last New Years Eve we fed four adults and two kids for $25 and there was a bunch left over.”

“I think the best around my area is Cottage Inn, and Ann Arbor chain. Its all good, whether its your traditional peperoni, or one of their specialty pizzas. Dang good stuff!”

“It is in Issaquah, LH :-) I know my man saw one in Telluride, CO last Januaury.

I don't mind olive oil persay.....but I try to avoid the extra fat since cheese is already so fatty ;-)

I do though make an excellent homemade pizza...all from scratch, I cook the sauce for 2-3 hours, and cheat and make the bread dough with my bread machine ;-)”

“LOL @ RLC!

I make my own crust in the bread machine too. It's the only way to go. I can't do sauce for crap though.”

“sarbar1, what I do and I bet you do to if you get pepperoni on a pie is to drain that sucker of all that grease that comes off of the pepperoni. That is really bad unwanted grease if I ever saw it.

I make pizza with a marinara sauce which means a quick sauce that cooks up within 1/2 hour. I carmelize some onion and add garlic before it's quite there and then add water to stop the carmelizing so it doesn't burn, the add tomato paste and water until it's the right consistency with extra water that will evaporate during the cooking process. I only add a bay leaf, basil, salt and maybe a dash of sugar to it. That's how I make my pasta sauce too, but that is what I cook for 2-1/2 hours to make the beef and pork in it tender and give the sauce a more cooked flavor.

Some Italians just sautee some arlic, and/or onion and diced fresh tomatoes and cook it for a few minutes and top the pasta with that. I don't like seeds in my sauce or that type of sauce which really isn't a sauce so much as it is tomato chunks and pasta.

I use a garlic press. A garlic press is a Godsend if you use garlic alot. I like my garlic so small you can't see it or chew on it. You really want to cook garlic for only a few seconds until you smell the garlic. You don't want to brown it or get it dark at all or it can become bitter and bad tasting.”

“Dog-gone-it, all this talk has made me hungry. I'm going to make a trip to Publix Supermarket and get some micro-wave pizza and some other food. Egg nog disappears fast here.”

“If you find yourself in Estes Park, CO, go to Chicago's Best Pizzeria. They have the best pizza I have ever eaten! Adventurist can vouch for it.”

“Rocco's in Madison NJ is one of the best.

When I make mine, I use a flour tortilla recipe for a terrific crust that comes close to NY style.”

“I'm back from the supermarket with some frozen pizzas. But I bought two real pizzas last night and shared them with 2-daughters and a granddaughter. So, after returning home I put some White Castle cheeseburgers in the microwave. Ate two and am now going for two more. After that it's ice cream time!”

“are you nownotsoslimmer?”

“After that, go here: http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread/33677,5.php”

“Nigal, here is my oh-so-easy pizza sauce recipe. (it's a sweet one)

3 c. tomato sauce (1 15-ounce can and 1 8-ounce can)
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons oil (use olive if you have it)
3 teaspoons parsley
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon oregano
dash pepper

Mix all ingrediants in sauce pan over medium heat for a few minutes. Enough for two pizzas.
last edited: 12/22/05 9:20:40 PM”

“I may try an easy workout tomorrow, if my knees hold steady. I went shopping and carried things in from the car. Did not use my crutches the whole trip, but I did use an electric shopping cart. Let's see: Should I put the ice cream on some apple coffeecake or save the coffeecake until tomorrow. I'm actually pretty full. Maybe I'll settle for a cup of yogurt. Yep, I having a strawberry yogurt now. Hmmmm, good.”

“Sorry about eating like that in front of you. But I was hungry and at times like that I forget my manners. So please excuse me.”

“Nigal,

Check out my post a few above Ruby's for my pizza sauce recipe too. It's fool proof, not that I'm calling you a fool, lol:) It's a basic marinara sauce recipe that can be used as a pasta sauce recipe when you add meat to it and cook it longer. My marinara sauce can be cooked anywhere from 20-30 min. It's long enough to bring out the flavors of all the ingredients and cook the sauce enough so it's not raw. Cooking it longer does not do a thing to increase the flavor at that point. It's good for putting on chicken parmesan too.”

“The best Pizza I ever had was in New Castle, Pa. It was a pizza shop called Augustine's Pizza. Anyone from the area will still say it's the best and I think it is still made, but haven't been back home since '81 so I don't know. Mtngirlutah is from the area so maybe she knows if y'all haven't run her off yet.”

“Best pizza in Arvada, CO is Lil Nick's.

well, so far anyway, i've not had time to do a thorough study, but I'm workin on it.”

“LH...reason I cook mine so long (about an hour to 2 hours) is that I use unsalted tomato products...and they take waaaay longer to get any flavor into them ;-) I like to also use whole tomatos sometimes, and let them just fall apart. For me, a pinch of sugar is a must though-you have to have something to make up for no salt..lol!”

“I usually make my own (I use a whole wheat flour recipe) but when we order it's from a store that's at the end of our street, American Pizza. We get a large one topping (usually onions or black olives) for $6.30. It's delicious.

Pizza Popalis is my favorite chain around here. Amazingly good pizza.”

“Sally's or Pepe's in New haven


We were at Sally's about a month ago.



Other than that .. .my own.


procuitto and calamta olive
shrimp asparagus”

“Here in the Freehold area of New Jersey, the best pizza is from a restaurant called Federici's.
- Scott”