# Best cities in the US for pizza **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2019, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096 "2019-02-07T02:17:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096/21 "2019-02-07T14:10:29Z")
Live near Detroit and had Chicago’s as well. Detroit’s is better and is the best pizza I’ve had. Having said that, my experience is limited and I have hardly traveled the country to try any. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096/22 "2019-02-07T14:37:07Z")
DC does not have good pizza. Maybe there are one or two gems, but as a rule it’s pretty bad. You can’t just go into any pizza place and have a good pizza like you can in Chicago (thin\>deep dish, on most occasions) NYC pizza is good, but overrated. Haven’t had New Haven style. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096/23 "2019-02-07T14:44:16Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Looking at Google images, a lot of those pictures look like Chicago style thin crust/tavern pizza, including the square “party cut,” except that the sausage pizza looks like it’s crumbled sausage rather than clumps of sausage like we do here. The crumbled sausage reminds me of Quad Cities pizza, but their crust is different. and they have a funky way of cutting their pizza (down the middle and then laterally into wide strips.) > [@pulykamell](#): > > I did find [this Reddit thread about Dayton style pizza](https://www.reddit.com/r/dayton/comments/71sohw/dayton_style_pizza/). Supposedly, the defining features are: > > So, to me, sounds like a lot of local thin crust pizza here in Chicago (and in other parts of the Midwest–Milwaukee in particular, but also parts of Indiana and other parts of Ohio) with the square cut and no outer crust. A dusting of cornmeal is popular with some places, and the sweetness of the sauce will vary (Aurelio’s and Palermo’s, for instance, being examples of the “sugar sauce” places.) You won’t see that style of crumbled sausage here, I don’t think. Only place I know that does it in Chicago is Roots Pizza, but they do Quad Cities style. Another key characteristic is that the toppings are all finely minced. That’s why the sausage is crumbled instead of chunky. Everything is tiny. I’ve had a variation in Chillicothe, Ohio, in which the pie is cut into narrow strips instead of small squares > [@madmonk28](#): > > I live in DC and love my city, and while we do have a vibrant food scene, we do not do pizza well. There are a couple of places, like Timber, that do a nice job, but I’m sorry to say we don’t belong on this particular list. I agree with this. Occasionally you might come across a good pizza (I recommend 4th and Hill at Eastern Market), but generally speaking, Washington is a shitty pizza town. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096/24 "2019-02-07T14:59:21Z")
I’ve had pizza in Boston (Dorchester) once, and don’t remember that it was bad. Which means it was fine, because I never forget crappy pizza. Lookin’ at you Imo’s in Missouri. Other than that, I have only enjoyed pizza from the Chicago area, and there is really good pizza all over, the suburbs included. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096/25 "2019-02-07T15:11:37Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I’m just sayin, I’ve never had a bad meal or gone hungry in Vegas, though you’re probably right: I probably did overpay for whatever I had. Wen I moved here in the '90s I was led to believe this was a 24-hour town; that proved not to be true the first time I tried to get a pizza delivered at 2am. After a few years and much growth, it became possible to get a pizza delivered almost anywhere in the valley, provided you wanted Pizza Hut or Papa Johns. After a few more years and exponential growth, it became possible to find a good pizza joint that would deliver in certain parts of the valley, and that’s still the way it is today. For example, when I bought my house I had to pay $5 extra to have my favorite pizzeria deliver to my new address. Since then, a slew of places have opened up. I’ve tried them all and found two that were acceptable, but neither were as good as the old place, so I continued to pay them the extra $5. Finally a new place opened that is great, so now my pies don’t have to come from Henderson any more. This is in a city of 2 million people that was founded by mobsters, ffs. :rolleyes:😉 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096/26 "2019-02-07T15:44:21Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Another key characteristic is that the toppings are all finely minced. That’s why the sausage is crumbled instead of chunky. Everything is tiny. Gotcha. That seems important. But with the pepperoni and cheese pizzas, they looked similar to what you’d get here (pepperoni wasn’t minced). But the sausage pizza was definitely different. Ours typically looks [like this](https://chicago.seriouseats.com/2011/06/chicago-essential-vito-and-nicks.html) or [this](https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1467712738/sausagepizza_400x400.jpg), with the sausage in chunks and usually some of the cheese at lease sticking to it or over it. (That second link pictures one that is a bit more OCD perfectly-aligned-on-a-grid sausage type of application; typically it’s more haphazardly scattered.) ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096/27 "2019-02-07T16:02:24Z")
Okay, well that settles it then: I musta lucked out (or been really hungry) in DC and Las Vegas is overrated because it’s, well, Vegas. Looks like Chicago is the SDMB’s favorite so far. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096/28 "2019-02-07T16:05:32Z")
Given the origins of the board, it makes sense that people favor Chicago. That would change if more of you visited New Haven. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096/29 "2019-02-07T16:09:05Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That is and isn’t true. We definitely eat deep dish here, but, at least in my experience, it tends to be “special occasion” pizza. This sounds accurate to me, too, IME. I’ve lived here for 30 years now, and I get a serious jones for deep-dish maybe three or four times a year. I go have some, it’s great, I feel like I ate a boat anchor, and then I’m good for another few months. 🙂 (Also, there’s a correlation between having a friend in from out of town, and going for deep-dish pizza.) But, I’ve become a huge fan of the super-thin Chicago pizza, especially with a crisp, cracker-style crust, and, of course, cut into little squares. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096/30 "2019-02-07T16:14:08Z")
I grew up near NYC, so I’d go with “NY Style Pizza” After that, I went to school in the Boston area, where the prevailing pizza type seemed to be Greek-oriented. There are some good pizza places here, but they advertise themselves as “NY-style” Rochester, NY, actually had a lot of really great pizza places, in a variety of styles, including NY and Chicago deep-dish style, as wel as some local variations. I don’t love Rochester for much, but they did have good pizza. My all-time favorite pizza joint was The Pie (AKA The Flying Pie) across the street from the University of Utah, and still there, I believe. It was the ultimate University Student Pizza Dive. Not enough to call the entire city A Great Pizza City, but I’d love to go back for a couple of slices. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096/31 "2019-02-07T16:29:08Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Phoenix (I know; I was surprised as well, but, when it’s on, the Pizza Rosa at Pizzeria Bianco is my favorite pizza in America. But there’s a number of great places there, like Pomo and CIBO, and they have a good variety of styles, as well, from Neapolitan to New York to deep dish to Chicago thin crust. > ) > Philadelphia Having moved to Phoenix from Philadelphia a couple of years ago, I can say that there is no comparison in the overall quality of pizza. In the Philly suburbs where I lived there were 6-7 mom and pop pizza places within a five minute drive, all of which were infinitely superior to anything we have found in Arizona. At lunch time you can go into any of these places, choose slices from the 10-15 varieties behind the counter, they’d throw them in the over to heat up and you get a perfect crispy but not crumbly crust (IMHO reheating pizza in a pizza oven after it has cooled down a bit from its original cooking produces the absolutely best crust). Out here I haven’t found any place where you can get any pizza by the slice - at least within a reasonable drive. I did recently find a chain that claims to be Chicago style. Their thin crust is edible, but I like something a bit toothier than the cracker-like crust. Plus I can’t stand the way they cut it into squares - seems unnatural. I haven’t tried the places that you mention, but there is a Pomo about 20 minutes from my house that I will try. But when discussing great cities for pizza I think a city having a few good pizza places amongst hundreds of so-so or bad places does not count as a good pizza city. The great pizza has to be ingrained into the local culture. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096/32 "2019-02-07T16:30:11Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Given the origins of the board, it makes sense that people favor Chicago. That would change if more of you visited New Haven. Like I said, bucket list! 🙂 It’s practically guaranteed I’ll love New Haven pizza. What I do like about Chicago is the range of styles you get here (we also have our own New Haven-style place, Piece, and it’s good, but I imagine New Haven style pizza to still be a bit different.) For me, that’s what makes Chicago my favorite pizza town. I don’t think we really give a shit about what you call pizza. There’s a gazillion different types out there, and no need to harp about one style being better than another. They’re all different, and the best examples of each are great, with the exception of provel-style St. Louis pizza a la Imo’s. That we shall not speak of. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096/33 "2019-02-07T18:40:59Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Las Vegas should not be on that list. Finding a decent pizza in this town is way more difficult than it should be. NO, a $50 pie at a casino is NOT “a decent pizza”; it’s a ridiculous thing that we laugh at tourists for buying, even as we thank them for our spiffy roads. I have found plenty of decent pizza places in Vegas - Pizza Rock, Naked City, and Metro (across the street from the Pinball Hall of Fame) immediately come to mind. Of course, neither is near the Strip, much less inside of a Strip casino - but then, what’s wrong with Secret No Name Mystery Meat Whatever It’s Called This Week Pizza at the Cosmopolitan? Of course, by that standard, pretty much every reasonably large city in the USA can rate “honorable mention” on the list - for example, Berkeley. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096/34 "2019-02-07T19:07:18Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > I have found plenty of decent pizza places in Vegas - Pizza Rock, Naked City, and Metro (across the street from the Pinball Hall of Fame) immediately come to mind. Of course, neither is near the Strip, much less inside of a Strip casino - but then, what’s wrong with Secret No Name Mystery Meat Whatever It’s Called This Week Pizza at the Cosmopolitan? > > Of course, by that standard, pretty much every reasonably large city in the USA can rate “honorable mention” on the list - for example, Berkeley. Aye; there is pizza in Las Vegas. Those you mention are “acceptable” in my view but not “great” or “PIZZA!” quality. The best of the ones you mention, IMO, is Secret Pizza, but I’m an Italian from New York, so I have a deeply ingrained preference for NY style pizza. If you live in Las Vegas, I recommend [Napoli Pizza](https://lasvegaspizzeria.com) (NY style but with a slightly thicker crust than most actually-in-NY pizza) and/or [Rosati’s Pizza](https://www.rosatispizza.com) (Chicago style). ETA: FTR, [del]the best pizza[/del]the pizza I judge all others by is [Zuccarelli’s](http://zuccarellipizza.com) in Sunrise, FL and Plantation, FL. I found them as soon as we moved down there (I was 11 years old at the time) and they consistently were awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096/35 "2019-02-07T19:14:33Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > Given the origins of the board, it makes sense that people favor Chicago. That would change if more of you visited New Haven. > > Like I said, bucket list! 🙂 It’s practically guaranteed I’ll love New Haven pizza. Let us know when you decide to visit and we can offer some suggestions. (One obvious one, so you can minimize your time in The Most Boring State in the Union, is to take Amtrak in and out of town. New Haven is conveniently on the Northeast Corridor, so you can take the train from Boston/NYC and then take another train a few days later out of town.) ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096/36 "2019-02-07T19:20:44Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > This sounds accurate to me, too, IME. I’ve lived here for 30 years now, and I get a serious jones for deep-dish maybe three or four times a year. I go have some, it’s great, I feel like I ate a boat anchor, and then I’m good for another few months. 🙂 (Also, there’s a correlation between having a friend in from out of town, and going for deep-dish pizza.) > > But, I’ve become a huge fan of the super-thin Chicago pizza, especially with a crisp, cracker-style crust, and, of course, cut into little squares. That was my experience living and working there for three years. When we celebrated, or when someone had a mad craving, it was deep dish at Giordano’s (it was close to the office). When we worked late, it was Domino’s. :rolleyes: **pulykamell** , do you have any pizza (or other!) recommendations for the Quad Cities? I’ll probably be visiting Chicago later this year and will take a trip west to see people in Galesburg and the QC. Thanks! Just FYI, Pizza House in Galesburg has that finely minced sausage on a very thin crust pizza. It was heavenly, and I don’t usually like sausage! ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096/37 "2019-02-07T19:29:12Z")
I don’t know. I feel like it’s so ubiquitous in the US there’s good and bad pizza to be found just about anywhere. In fact there’s probably _more_ shitty pizza in New York and Chicago per capita due to so many joints just trading on the city’s reputation while producing awful product. Seriously, what exactly makes a “good pizza city” besides historical reputation? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096/38 "2019-02-07T20:08:16Z")
I can’t speak for NY, but I dispute your suspicion. In fact, if you came to Chicago and avoided Little Caesars, Dominos etc. You’d have to try lots of places before you found a crappy one. And you really wouldn’t find many. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096/39 "2019-02-07T20:23:28Z")
Hmm. [Doesn’t seem like it’s all that difficult to find shitty pizza in Chicago](https://chicago.eater.com/2012/5/10/6587691/whats-the-worst-pizza-in-chicago-readers-weigh-in). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096/40 "2019-02-07T20:31:32Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Hmm. [Doesn’t seem like it’s all that difficult to find shitty pizza in Chicago](https://chicago.eater.com/2012/5/10/6587691/whats-the-worst-pizza-in-chicago-readers-weigh-in). Some of those answers are just plain wrong. I mean, like _wrong_. But, yes, depending on how snobbish you are about pizza, there are plenty of mediocre pizzas here. I’m not one of those “pizzas are like sex” types of people. I think there are plenty bad of both, so I only go to a handful of places I consider “good,” but all those make it worth it. But Malnati’s? D’Agostino’s, or Pequod’s of all fucking places being _worst_? Pure madness. That list may as well be “name a pizza place you know.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cities-in-the-us-for-pizza/829096.md?page=3)