# Best pizza in your neck of the woods? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 11, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741 "2010-04-11T16:30:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [April 12, 2010, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741/41 "2010-04-12T02:12:21Z")
_duplicate_ ---
**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:** [April 12, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741/42 "2010-04-12T02:18:54Z")
I should add, there’s a somewhat new place here in Chicago called Great Lake pizza that’s been mentioned in the same breath as Pizzeria Bianco (and also proclaimed as the nation’s best pizza or some superlative like that), and has the 2 1/2 hour waits to match, but I haven’t had a chance to try it yet. Edit: Here’s kind of a [fun March-madness style](http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/02/pizzeria-bianco-wins-rachael-ray-pizza-madness-bracket.html) bracket for best pizzerias in the US. Pizzeria Bianco won, Great Lake pizza was in the final four. Burt’s made it to the Elite 8, defeating Stop 50 Pizzeria in the Sweet 16. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741/43 "2010-04-12T02:36:03Z")
It’s funny that the OP is in the same area I am but didn’t mention the local chain I prefer. As a former New Yorker, I am very partial to real NY pizza, and Flying Pizza can hang with any of the Bronx pizza parlors which I grew up eating. In fact, I’ll be in Kettering on business tomorrow, and plan to stop at the Centerville Flying Pizza. Small world. ---
**Author:** ![Neptunian\_Slug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Neptunian\_Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptunian_Slug)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741/44 "2010-04-12T04:24:49Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > It’s funny that the OP is in the same area I am but didn’t mention the local chain I prefer. As a former New Yorker, I am very partial to real NY pizza, and Flying Pizza can hang with any of the Bronx pizza parlors which I grew up eating. > > In fact, I’ll be in Kettering on business tomorrow, and plan to stop at the Centerville Flying Pizza. Small world. I just looked at their website and saw that they have been around for 37 years. Wow 18 years I lived there and I have never heard of them. In any case, Dad said he got a stack of 25% off coupons for Marions so the next time I am in town, I should be set. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741/45 "2010-04-12T06:07:17Z")
Not Your Average Joe’s in Masschusetts…YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM The place next to Fitzwillie’s in Northampton in Mass. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741/46 "2010-04-12T07:13:15Z")
[Pizzaiolo](http://www.pizzaiolooakland.com/) in Oakland - really great thin-crust pizza made in a wood-fired oven. One odd thing about Pizzaiolo is that the place has no sign. The building it’s in used to be a hardware store, and there’s an old Dutch Boy Paint sign in front. The first time I went there I was invited by a friend who told me the name of the place and the nearest intersection. I couldn’t find it and had to go into a store to ask for help. The place is like a speakeasy in that you just have to know it’s there. Despite this the place is always crowded. For their first couple of years in business they didn’t even take reservations. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741/47 "2010-04-12T08:45:47Z")
Can’t make up my mind yet:D( See Location) ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741/48 "2010-04-12T09:07:24Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > My favorite is called [Proto’s](http://www.protospizza.com/) which has a few shops in and around Boulder, and by looking at their website, I see they have a location in Boise, Idaho as well. They’re growing! Maybe they will become more widely known before long! “So the pizza’s Napolidapoli?” “_Napolitan’_.” [The Sopranos](http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Sopranos:_Season_5#See_also) ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741/49 "2010-04-12T09:14:12Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > It’s funny that the OP is in the same area I am but didn’t mention the local chain I prefer. As a former New Yorker, I am very partial to real NY pizza, and Flying Pizza can hang with any of the Bronx pizza parlors which I grew up eating. > > In fact, I’ll be in Kettering on business tomorrow, and plan to stop at the Centerville Flying Pizza. Small world. I’ve heard a lot about them. A lot of people rave about them. One person on another, (road-)food-related discussion forum (also a former New Yorker), famously (on those forums) poo-poos them. (In fact, he’s who I first heard talk about my beloved Troni’s. Said that they were sublime, and the closest to his much-loved and missed New York style pizza that he’s ever had around here. He was certainly dead on about the sublime part.) Still, I will try Flying Pizza someday soon. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741/50 "2010-04-12T09:18:52Z")
Unfortunately, the best out here is a chain. Granted, a fairly unpopular chain (barely in the top 500). Yip, I’m referring to Pizza Pro. Though Cece’s Pizza is pretty cool because it’s only 4.99 for a buffet. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741/51 "2010-04-12T09:46:54Z")
Pizza Hut in my neck of the woods has crystal chandeliers and musicians with bow ties and tuxes playing the piano. And horrible, nearly unedible pizza. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741/52 "2010-04-12T15:08:05Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Though Cece’s Pizza is pretty cool because it’s only 4.99 for a buffet. My 4 year old niece can make better pizza out of rocks she finds in her front yard, and it won’t give you half the stomach ache. I seriously don’t understand how Cece’s is legally allowed to call what they serve “food.” ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741/53 "2010-04-12T15:08:31Z")
Around Minneapolis I like the two major local chains Broadway and Davannis. Going a bit more specialty I love the two neopolitan pizza joins Punch and Pizza Nea. Frankies and Beeks are common stops also. If I’m over in St. Paul I always stop at Cossettas. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741/54 "2010-04-12T16:48:25Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > In Sacramento, that would be [Zelda’s](http://www.zeldasgourmetpizza.com/). Chicago-style deep dish. A former co-worker of my wife’s, who was from Chicago, once said it was the best pizza he’d had since leaving home. You knw, when we moved to the Sacramento area we were told to go to Zelda’s and while it is very good pizza it doens’t really strike me as being special. IN fact my favorite Pizza is BJs, which may shock some people, I suppose, but it is a thick crust that is still light as a feather and then the baked in cheese around the edge, the whole tomateos, it is a really really good pizza, IMO. Otherwise I have not found anything truly stand out exceptional in the Sacramento Area. ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741/55 "2010-04-12T16:58:11Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > That’s not to say that there isn’t good pizza in Colorado, it’s just made by small independent shops that nobody outside of their vicinity has ever heard of. I heartily recommend [Virgilio’s](http://virgiliospizzeria.com/) if you are ever in the neighborhood of Wadsworth and Alameda. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741/56 "2010-04-12T17:18:07Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Obviously just a matter of taste, but I’ve had Jake’s, and it can’t hold a candle to FJ&L’s. > > Considering how huge this metro area is, and how diverse the restaurant scene is, it’s surprising how little really good pizza there is. It’s one of those west coast things… What completely eludes me is how Pizza a’ Go Go and Pizza My Heart consistently win “Best Pizza” polls around here. I’ve tried both, and while they’re not quite inedible, they’re pretty awful. Compared to Garret/Jake’s/etc. and FJ&L’s, they’re not even on the same plane of quality. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741/57 "2010-04-12T18:04:22Z")
> [@winterhawk11](#): > > What completely eludes me is how Pizza a’ Go Go and Pizza My Heart consistently win “Best Pizza” polls around here. I’ve tried both, and while they’re not quite inedible, they’re pretty awful. Compared to Garret/Jake’s/etc. and FJ&L’s, they’re not even on the same plane of quality. We have the same thing go on around here in greater Cincinnati. Year in and year out, LaRosa’s consistently takes top honors in the Best Pizza polls, and every year it remains consistently average pizza _at best_. It’s enough to make you want to chew your own foot off. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741/58 "2010-04-12T18:34:23Z")
Well we have [Barone’s Famous Italian](http://www.baronesfamousitalian.com/) for the ultra thin an crispy “authentic” type pizza. If you want something bigger, there’s J[oe Peep’s NY Pizza](http://joepeeps.com/). They sell a delicious pizza called “The 5969 Calorie Pizza.” Lido’s Pizza is good too. I’m not much for pizza though so that’s all I know of. Oh, I also love me some Numero Uno if you’re looking for chain type pizza places. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741/59 "2010-04-12T18:41:19Z")
> [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](#): > > Not Your Average Joe’s in Masschusetts…YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM They do pizza? I had no idea. I have a gift card, maybe I’ll give it a try! ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741/60 "2010-04-12T18:42:05Z")
In the southeast corner of Indiana is the City of Madison (featured in the movies MADISON with Jesus & Lil’ Anakin & Laura Dern’s Dad and SOME CAME RUNNING with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin & Shirley MacLaine). In Madison is a long-standing local pizza parlor “Bello’s” and a recent restaurant “Big Dan’s”- both places have equally wonderful pizza. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pizza-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/535741.md?page=4)