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This is all really silly. Pizza is Pizza. I don't care what kind it is, Pizza is just plain fun to eat, and what's wonderful about it, is that there are so many different styles out there. It has a lot of variety, and I totally dig that about pizza. It is singly my favorite fast food. Whether you are from Chicago (Which I am), New York or Italy, at it's core is a fun food to eat. I absolutely love Deep Dish Pizza, like Gino's East, but I don't eat that all the time. I actually also like thin crust pizza's and generally I think most Chicagoans eat thin crust more often than not. I've had pizza in New York and although the flavors are different, it's still very good. If nothing else, it has the novelty of being new. I've always liked the fact that when you order a whole pizza in new york, it comes in pie shaped slices. Here, we do the square shaped slices, producing more pieces. The deep dish pizza is my favorite style, because you are just stuffed by it. The crust is so thick and crunchy that it's a major part of the experience. They tend to be monster sized, but two slices of that, small slices, will fill you up completely. They also use very fresh produce, producing what I've always thought were exceptionally flavorful pizza. To me this is pointless to make it a contest, because pizza is meant to be shared and enjoyed. Instead of focusing on the "who's best" angle, I'd rather appreciate the fact we are so lucky for the large variety of styles out there. Pizza is never boring because of this variety we all get to enjoy really good pizza anywhere we go. I'm sure New Yorkers can appreciate our thick crust pizzas.

the roast middlewhite with lentils looks DEVINE.

how do you eat the marrow? just scoop it out and then put it on the toast with a bit of salad?

Oh, marrow! I am so jealous right now. So Jealous. So very, very jealous. It looks lovely. Thanks for posting this one. Especially the marrow. (I'm going to the butcher now.)

New York is best -- truth made manifest with a sprinkling of grated romano.

I rarely get to travel; and when I do, it's with the family--so meals are usually sandwhiches or some bland, pathetic northern (all of my extended relatives live up north, while I grew up in Louisiana and Texas) attempt at southern homestyle cooking. I can't say anything about where the best pizza might be found.

Locally; people swear by Napoli's, but I found it nothing special. The crust was barely better than Cici's, and it's only visible quality was quantity--of ingredients and the size of the pie. The best pizza I've had was at Carmine's, off of Spring Valley and Montfort in North Dallas. I'm not a fan of crust* but theirs was good, and the sausage on the pie was real slices of spiced sausage--not that crappy hamburger looking junk that normally shows up on the pizza scene. Strangely enough, the second best pizza I've had was at a Chinese buffet of all things. It was a pepperoni pizza with a fluffy crust, with cheddar interspersed with the usual mozzerella. I can't remember the name of the place, but it's found at the intersection of Skillman and Audelia. Third best pizza? At another buffet, simply called 'Pizza Buffet'; owned by an Asian family, but the chef is an Italian transplant from NYC. I particularly loved his stuffed pizzas and calzones. None of the pizza was bland or possessing of the usual 'overcooked' quality that I usually find on just about any buffet item.

*Regarding the 'first pizza' theory--doesn't apply to me. My first taste of pizza was homemade pizza. My mom would toss some homemade crust brushed with vegetable oil onto a pan sprinkled with cornmeal, spread some canned sauce, sprinkle mozzerella, arrange pepperoni, and bake. Sounds pretty nice, right? It was gross. There was wayyyy too much cornmeal on the crust, the sauce was little more than red water, and the dough was atrociously mealy. It was like eating hard flour. Thus began a lifetime of usually only eating the toppings off a slice of pizza and trashing the rest.
Impending hatefest for my wastefulness coming my way in 5...4...3...2...1...
:P

NYC.
My problem with the Pizza Cognition Theory is that it implies that people cannot appreciate a BETTER pizza if it is from a different area. Me, I'm from New Jersey and I appreciate some good New Jersey and New York Style pizza more than any other kind, but I have found many others from many other places who have concluded that New York Style pizza is truly the best. For those people I created the New York Pizza Finder Web Site (And I will be adding Mario & Luigi in New Bern and Moorehead City right away!)

New York is the best.
I've also had New Haven and Chicago.
New Haven: went to Frank Pepe's was amazed at how unimpressive the pizza was. Just really unremarkable and greasy.
Chicago: have only had deep dish. I'll go with Ed in his book where he says that Chicago pizza is tasty but it's not "pizza."

Two votes for Buffalo. Trust me on this-- Buffalo pizza is dreadful. It is doughy, and gloppy, and the sauce is too sweet. I was appalled when I moved here, and one of the first things I do when I hit NYC is to get a slice of the real deal.

Having grown up in the environs of Buffalo NY, I have to say that I have never had pizza anywhere in the states as great as the pizzas from all of the family-owned pizzerias around town. Now that I live in the South, good pizza is the one thing I miss the most.

Village Host in Belmont, CA is my favorite. Grew up eating the mushroom and sausage pizza and still love it everytime I'm back home. I live in NYC and Lombardi's is pretty fantastic but Sam might have it right.

Hmm...much as I just want to shout Chicago! from the rooftops, I don't think you can really compare the Deep-Dish--which Chicago IS the freakin' best at--to, say, the ultra-thin Roman pizzas.

But hell, who wants complexity in this already complex world?

Chicago!

Buffalo, NY - home of LaNova Pizza, among others....there is a pizza place on nearly every corner...how could you go wrong?

Never been to Connecticut, I like some pizza in Austin, I really like some pizza in Chicago, but best I've had was NYC, decided when I was still living in my hometown and still eating Austin pizza when I knew there could be better. The theory is kind of ridiculous.

I like pizza.