Why do college students love pizza?
Not a trick question- in your opinion, what makes pizza the perfect college food?
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31 Comments:
-fast to make/order
-easy to customize
-cheap
-doesn't require plates.
-good for breakfast, lunch and dinner
-seems a healthier alternative to fast food burgers (olives are vegetables, right?)
gingercookiewithlime at 9:37PM on 04/10/09
This is interesting, particularly for me because pizza -in absolutely any variety- is an obsession of mine. (mostly very innovative and/or artisanal). And I'm a college student. So, I will entirely contend that pizza IS THE ultimate student food: I really do primarily subsist on great frozen ones! Either that or leftovers I've brought up from home.
It is the ultimate because a) I am up for great pizza any day of the week b) requires no energy or time to heat c) several nutrients in one dish for very little cash!
emilytaylor at 9:49PM on 04/10/09
In my experience, most people are going for cheap chain pizza like Dominos or Papa John's, and getting it delivered, often late at night. Here's some reasons that I remember using anyway:
Fast to order and no effort
Relatively inexpensive and there are usually coupons
Delivery (no car and/or too drunk to drive)
Pizza places open at 2am
Good for group of people
Leftovers are great (if there are any...)
cycorider at 9:57PM on 04/10/09
still good to eat the next morning even without heating it up
Ultrateg at 12:35AM on 04/11/09
Because a cheap large carry-out pizza can last for at least 2, usually 3 meals for around or under $6.
That or as others said, you can get it delivered late for (mostly) cheap when you're too drunk or otherwise incapacitated to fetch yourself ready-to-eat food.
joyyy at 12:57AM on 04/11/09
Who else is going to deliver food at 4am? It is a great inexpensive group food that everyone can pitch in $ and eat. Plus look at all the different types of toppings, there is something for almost everyone. If there is any leftover have it for breakfast the next morning, great hangover food. Speaking of hangovers it can also be a hangover preventative, just think all the dough and cheese and whatever to soak up the over indulgence of booze. But I must say that pizza is not just for students, pizza just happens to be one of my all time favorites for eons and eons to go.
pjracz10 at 4:31AM on 04/11/09
It is not just college kids.
Pizza is the perfect meal.
derosa at 8:56AM on 04/11/09
It's cheap, requires no utensils, no effort on your part apart from dialing and talking, and most people don't object to it. I can't think of a single person who says they hate pizza, whereas many of my friends will claim to hate say... thai food, or ethiopian. Plus, it's good with beer.
Aynsl156 at 9:49AM on 04/11/09
Who doesn't love pizza??
caramel at 11:16AM on 04/11/09
Beer and marijuana.
bobbob at 12:27PM on 04/11/09
For me it was: cheap, easy and available late at night. Easy to share was a big factor when I had a roommate - we could each get what we wanted on our half. And it was hot food. Our dorm only had one microwave per floor and the dining hall had awful hours as did the school store. (I lived on a very small college campus a LONG time ago. We didn't have the food courts that many colleges have now.)
CooksForOne at 6:18PM on 04/11/09
I was not a big consumer of pizza in college. There was an amazing pizza place near where my dorm was, but it wasn't a typical pizza place, and it didn't deliver. The kids who did the typical college student pizza binges were those who would sleep all day, waste their parent's mandatory meal plan purchase (on some very good food) and then order pizza after engaging in a long debate over Dominos (cheaper but then supported anti-abortion causes) versus Pizza Hut (more expensive, less reliable delivery, but better tasting).
I can't eat late and I like to have dinner before 7pm--even as a college student. Late at night, I was more apt to hit the cookies and the coffee.
HeartofGlass at 7:53PM on 04/11/09
pizza is pretty much perfect in college. don't get me wrong, i love to cook and make something relatively tasty and healthy. in fact i do on a regular basis. but when its late, or you're mid-way into pulling an all-nighter to pass your bio exam, or you've been out drinking, or your team just won the national championship (UNC!) then pizza just fits the bill... :)
vanillapudding99 at 8:05PM on 04/11/09
Pizza is for all ages, not just college. I don't think a week has gone by since I moved to New York that I haven't had at least one slice. And I've lived here a very, very long time.
chisai at 3:07PM on 04/12/09
Because pizza raises your IQ. If you didn't know that, then you haven't been eating enough pizza.
Channa at 11:15AM on 04/13/09
Bread (the dough), dairy (the cheese), vegetables (tomato sauce even though they are technically a fruit but then there are onions, mushrooms etc often included as toppings) and protein (the meat).
All those food groups in one simple item... you can fold it and eat it while walking or driving and often don't need plates... and it's pre-portioned? Perfect college student food.
phaelon56 at 12:02PM on 04/13/09
i am in college and i can't stand pizza ... well, i cant stand dominos, pizza hut, those kinds of chains. i only like the super thin crust, lightly "cheesed" brick oven fire grilled pizzas with tons of flavors and veggies.
my housemates and friends order pizza allllll the time and i don't understand why. Its greasy, and totally overkill on the palette ... its like they mask the lack of flavor and quality of ingredients with heaps and heaps of oozing cheap cheese. BLECH!
i suppose they enjoy it because its cheap, easy, greasy, and goes good with crappy beer ..
i prefer to make my own
Deeberry at 12:07PM on 04/13/09
I'm in college, and I'd never had bad pizza... until I ate in the stuff from the dining hall. It's so bad that it really can't be called pizza. Eating enough of that stuff nearly put me off pizza for good. Side note, I love Pizza Hut. I worship the cheese-stuffed crust.
blackrose42 at 12:59PM on 04/13/09
Anyone mention the "ritual" aspect of it? Though college was quite a few years ago now, I recall ordering pizza as a sort of communal ritual, where the word got out on the dorm that someone was ordering and to let them know if you want to be in on it. Taking a break from studying to sit around the box on the floor and munch on pizza and shoot the sh*t is a great memory of college years.
Lorenzo at 1:01PM on 04/13/09
i agree with what most people said - its cheap, and they deliver almost 24 hrs a day. almost all the pizza shops on my campus are open into the wee hours and we even have a few 24 hour shops.
plus, its the perfect pre-party food. what better to soak up all that alcohol than greasy pizza? at least thats what we do. drink tons of water and eat tons of pizza, and you are ready for a night out.
listener at 1:17PM on 04/13/09
When I was in college, I know I ordered pizza quite frequently due to the fact that it could be delivered. I didn't have to drive to get it, which is always a plus. Also, it is relatively inexpensive, which is important to every college student. And it's still great cold.
KatomRS at 4:58PM on 04/13/09
I forgot to mention that having cute plates is always a plus....so check these out.
KatomRS at 5:07PM on 04/13/09
because its a crowd pleaser, and in the morning if there is any left you dont have to leave for breakfast.
CATERPILLARGIRL at 5:23PM on 04/13/09
The title of this post should be "Why does EVERYONE love pizza!".
Stacey Snacks at 9:01PM on 04/13/09
its cheap. cheesy. quick. delicious. good cold or hot. perfect morning or night. and in, college you can eat whatever you want!
_greenbean at 9:09PM on 04/13/09
Well. I'm kind of a pizza snob. I will not order any sort of chain pizza.I'll definitely go to Wegman's and have some of theirs though. It's a cheap meal, I always get some vegetables in and it's a party food.
HOWEVER. If I have been drinking, there's a place that has $1 slices of pizza. I consume that merely to soak up some of the alcohol. I don't even know what it really tastes like sober, and I would never, ever want to find out.
Pizza is fabulous though, and it is something I routinely crave. I don't think it's just college kids...my 4 year old sister and 87-year old grandma loooove pizza too.
sweethunibabi at 8:56AM on 04/14/09
i am no longer a college student (sadly) and i agree with stacy snacks.. who doesnt love pizza!? my tastes might have changed in the few years i have been out of college but if someone threw Domino's green pepper and onion pizza in my face, i wouldnt throw it back... one of my fav. memories from college is ordering one of those with my best friend and drinking beer and BS'ing...
hungrygrl7 at 10:14AM on 04/14/09
When I was in college (2000-2003) the local Papa Johns had a deal that was 2 large 2-topping pizzas for $12. Add on a few bucks for delivery/tip/tax and you've just fed 4 hungry college guys for $15 in the comfort of their own home.
As a value/taste equation for broke college kids who aren't that picky about quality food, it's damn near impossible to beat pizza.
JGordon at 12:45PM on 04/14/09
I think we all like pizza as much as college kids, they just have an excuse!
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 4:41PM on 04/14/09
Are there people who don't love pizza?
ReneeRobinson at 9:55PM on 04/14/09
Bobbob nailed it.
Raiders757 at 11:01PM on 04/14/09