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I'd make english muffin Pizzas (which can be really tasty actually), over buying "pizzas" from any of these tasteless chains. Yet in still, much like Food Network who aired a Burger King versus McDonald's special a few yers ago...I realize that a true Pizza sounding board like slice needs to cover all bases and include "chain" stories.

If "laemtandrew" was serious about "MVP", etc, at least the comments ended on a hilarious note.

thevortexbarandgrill.com

And I just noticed that its 18 and older only...I didn't know that.

Fuddruckers is really the best, but they closed in our area (Bucks County,PA) Second best is Outback and Cheesburger in Paradise (which are owned by the same company). Still looking for another Fuddruckers.

@casmil226 - I agree, Logan's makes a great burger. I think it's the best thing on the menu.
Houston's and J. Alexander's also make delicious burger.

I would try Max & Erma's. I know there are locations in PA but they are worth it. I am picky and while I like Red Robin you can't compare to Max & Erma's. The only other comparison was the Ground Round back in the day when they had like a WinSchulers soft cheese topping. They stopped doing it back in the late 70's and after trying them twice after the change I never would go back.

http://www.maxandermas.com/menu/default.aspx?category=Burgers

Please take time to review Fuddruckers. I am very picky about my burgers, and they have the best of all the national chains I've tried. You gotta love a place that actually offers a full one pound burger patty!

I'm not entirely sure if there are other locations outside of california, but there are at least a couple lin the bay area It's called Kirk's Steakburgers. They have the most tender hamburgers i've ever eaten, and you only recieve the patty and the bun from the cook. You get to choose from a variety of sauces and condiments to put on your burger yourself.

I've been in Texas for 2 years and apparently a great Texas burger is a very thin, wide, well-done cooked piece of meat, and sometimes topped with tostadas or beans, etc (man, that's funny!)...definitely not my "thing". However, even though MOST of the folks in Texas don't seem to know much about great burgers (for god's sake Whataburger is the most popular burger chain here and they are awful). There is a really good local place that just opened up calleD BIGZ Burger Joint. Although most locals will slam the place because it's owned by a popular local gourmet chef and it caters to the local Hummer yuppie crowd, the burgers here are thick (each patty is 8 oz), cooked perfectly as a burger should be just as the menu says "with a little pink inside unless requested otherwise" , juicy and very, very tasty. It actually gives Fuddruckers, which is by far and away one of the best burgers you can get ANYWHERE, a run for its money.

I spent 20 years plus running around the country in the military. I've had pizza around the country. NYC, Chicago, Old Forge style, every chain there is, and my personal favorite, Erie pizza.

There's a lot to be said for pizza you grow up with. I'm from Erie, PA and our pizza, especially the crust, is quite unique. They usually use par-baked shells that are somewhere between thin and thick crust. I know it sounds sacreligious, but I've never had better. The ovens are seasoned from high use and they add a nice char taste to the bottom. The sauce is spicy and plentiful, and they have an enticing aroma that hits you as soon as you walk in the door.

I live in California for now (0 good pizzas in this state), but I was just home a couple of weeks ago, and I can't get over how much I love Erie pizza. Erie's such a small town that I don't expect our food to reach much of an audience, but if you ever travel through, try Patti's, Skipperino's, Valerio's, Serafini's, Presque Isle, or one of the other mom and pop places.

We had a Domino's in the heart of downtown Erie, but it went out of business. For a town of around 100K there are more mom and pop pizza joints than any other food, Erie's a great wing town too. Like NYC, Erieite's take their pizza seriously. Before you laugh, think about it, not one Domino's. I don't have anything against Domino's other than the fact that I dislike their food.

Yes, we're more famous for Brian Wells, the "Pizza Bomber", but Mama Mia's where he worked is a great shop as well.

Donato's is the biggest chain in Cincinnati. The quality of their toppings is very good, but sorry, that "cracker" crust is a big turn off to me. NY style fresh dough is great, but that's not what Donato's is. Tasty pizza due primarily to the quality toppings, but lousy crust in my opinion. They cut their round pies in to whacky squares too. I don't care for that either.

The comments about St Louis and about people that moved to NY are probably accurate. If you grew up with a certain style like I did, you tend to remember it fondly. As far as I'm concerned, all of the chains are abhorrent, and just support your local establishments.

On the west coast is a bake-at-home chain called Papa Murphy's. For our household it was the only tolerable cheapy crap pizza, made more tolerable by being able to pick up the unbaked pizzas and then refrigerate them until we were drunk enough to bake them.

Anyway, Murphy's had what they called "garlic sauce," a cream sauce not unlike alfredo. A friend tipped us off one day to order "pink sauce," or have them mix the garlic and traditional tomato together and I have to say it was rather brilliant, particularly when ordering a pie with a lot of vegetables on it. Makes me wonder if Papa John's will do the same thing.

Oh, and I live in Donato's country right now and I vote no. No Donato's.

@chasgoose: You may have convinced me. Though it will be many weeks before I order a Papa John's, Pizza Hut, or Domino's again. ;)

None of them deliver in my area. The only place that does is Italian and their food is inedible. :(