# "Cafeteria school lunch" pizza from the 80's. Can an individual get this anywhere? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 4, 2018, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550 "2018-12-04T15:05:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550/41 "2018-12-04T20:28:31Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > The one and only review of this product reads thusly: Yeah, [this one](https://www.amazon.com/Schwans-Tonys-Smart-Pizza-Pepperoni/dp/B00B04EIQW/ref=pd_sbs_325_4?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00B04EIQW&pd_rd_r=a16fed27-f802-11e8-be8b-678d8811bd0a&pd_rd_w=ZW1wH&pd_rd_wg=UyHyH&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=7d5d9c3c-5e01-44ac-97fd-261afd40b865&pf_rd_r=70V2BFSS17E7CPQ2MBHP&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=70V2BFSS17E7CPQ2MBHP) certainly looks like it, but no way the old school pizza was “whole grain”. No reviews, and I really don’t feel like buying NINETY SIX to find out. What do they think they are, Costco? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550/42 "2018-12-04T20:30:58Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Have you looked in Wal-Mart? > > [Robot or human?](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Cheese-Pizza-Deep-Dish-Mini-22-4-oz-4-Count/47314791) That’s not the thing I am talking about. The one I mean will be 4 shrink wrapped and generic branded pizzas. In pepperoni or cheese flavors. The pepperoni has a red tint to it. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2018, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550/43 "2018-12-04T20:57:16Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > pepperoni in “chunks”, not circles. Given other people’s memories in this thread, this pepperoni style had to have been a regional (or local?) thing. In my SoCal school district in the 1980s the pepperoni on the pizza came in little [grease-filled cups](https://slice.seriouseats.com/2012/12/the-pizza-lab-why-does-pepperoni-curl.html). Also, our crust was spongy but fairly thick – like focaccia in texture, but closer to Wonder Bread in flavor. It’s interesting how memorable elementary school pizza is for so many of us. I also remember the little milk cartons – the struggle to open them, yes, but particularly the texture you felt on your lips drinking from them. Total tangent, but there’s [a pizza place near me](https://domenicosrestaurant.com/menu/pizza/) that offers _ **ground pepperoni** _ on pizzas. It is an experience: very salty and pleasingly spicy. Eating a slice is like getting slapped in the face repeatedly by a sock full of pulverized pepperoni. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2018, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550/44 "2018-12-04T21:32:31Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > IIRC, pizza was served on Fridays at my school. > > I always thought it was very subpar compared to the pizza we would occasionally eat at home (delivery or frozen from the grocery store). I ate it because that’s what we got and I was hungry. > > The cheese always freaked me out. It looked kind of greyish in color and somewhat transparent. Always fish on Fridays here. Pizza was Weds or something. My kids’ schools have been serving Donatos for several years. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2018, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550/45 "2018-12-04T21:34:16Z")
The instant I saw the thread title, it all came flooding back to me; the shape, the texture, the flavor - everything. Funny how that happens. We always got sausage pizza, not pepperoni. I think it’s more of a Chicago thing. Each slice had _exactly_ five chunks of sausage: one at each corner and one in the center. Man, I loved that shit. I’d like to pretend I’d find it disgusting now, but I bet I’d still love it just as much. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2018, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550/46 "2018-12-04T22:05:47Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > Always fish on Fridays here. Pizza was Weds or something. I went to a Catholic high school – the hot lunch was always fish on Fridays for us, as well (even when it wasn’t Lent). I think that our pizza day was Wednesday, too. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2018, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550/47 "2018-12-04T22:18:44Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > To my recollection,[this is what it looked like, exactly](https://spoonuniversity.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/234/2016/04/Screen-shot-2013-04-08-at-10.39.09-AM1.png). This Catholic school boy never got the cool lunch pizza, but that pic looks like Totino’s PARTY! Pizza. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2018, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550/48 "2018-12-04T23:01:50Z")
I would expect that the specific dish was a standardized recipe that you can get off the Internet (probably posted somewhere in this thread), but the real aspect of doing it proper would be to have the same ingredient sourcing and cooking methods. For cooking, I suspect that they’re making large trays of the stuff in ovens designed to accept stacks of large trays for baking. Somewhat difficult to recreate, though probably you can get something close. More difficult would be sourcing ingredients. The government tends to try and pick up second-hand ingredients in bulk - off-cuts, ugly produce, etc. I’d venture to guess that the reason the pepperoni were square is because they were receiving the sausage in sheets rather than as “sausage”, so they were cutting out squares rather than slicing off circles? I’d expect that low-grade sausage sheets are something, like government cheese, that you can only get within the government, and it will probably vary locally - they’re aiming for a dollar value not a specific mix of meats, fats, animal species, etc. In counties with lots of cows, you probably end up with cow sausage, and in a county with a lot of pigs, you’ll get pig sausage at school. If you really want to recreate the experience, basically, try to look for ways to source in bulk the worst possible variant of everything. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2018, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550/49 "2018-12-04T23:02:31Z")
I was not a fan of the regular school pizza, but if it was Tostado day, I usually couldn’t stop at just one. Tostados, if you’re sadly unfamiliar, were basically the same thing as rectangular school pizza, but were hexagonal and had taco seasoning and were AKA Mexican pizza. I would pay good money for an endless supply of those and the shitty white rice that was served using ice cream scoops and retained that same perfect dome shape on your tray. That is still the standard that my ideal rice is measured by, and i have yet to encounter it’s equal. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2018, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550/50 "2018-12-04T23:24:21Z")
Hmm, while we did have that pizza occasionally, we much more often had one with a orangier cheese that was hexagonal. I preferred it. I didn’t love either, though, and don’t want to eat them now. I will say, though, that I was in high school when our school menu changed considerably - I think I was told the school/county had to quit picking their own suppliers, then. We may have switched to the rectangular pizza then - not sure. Did any other schools have the peanut butter sandwiches and vegetable soup combo? Cheap pizza I miss is frozen Jeno’s “Crisp & Tasty”. Totino’s is not the same (crust very different), despite being owned by same company for a while (no idea if always or only at end of Jeno’s reign). ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2018, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550/51 "2018-12-04T23:53:20Z")
I ate hot lunch most days but I skipped pizza days (if I knew what they were serving before I got in line). It wasn’t that bad, and damn I want some right now. The other abomination was taco day. A couple steps below Taco Bell in quality. I skipped those days too. I think the closest to cafeteria pizza is Totino’s - just really cheap food. Just be sure to undercook it and let it cool to lukewarm. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550/52 "2018-12-05T00:58:09Z")
I’m twenty years your senior, but I mentioned school pizza in the 60’s in another thread. Except for the pepperoni, everything else was the same. It was cheese only. May have been low fat mozzarella since it didn’t string much. I’m 90% sure it was made in cafeteria, because in the 1960’s in Hawaii, shipping anything frozen was expensive. So for it to continue for at least 20 years, someone must have the recipe! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550/53 "2018-12-05T01:06:51Z")
> [@Tzigone](#): > > Hmm, while we did have that pizza occasionally, we much more often had one with a orangier cheese that was hexagonal. I preferred it. I didn’t love either, though, and don’t want to eat them now. > > I will say, though, that I was in high school when our school menu changed considerably - I think I was told the school/county had to quit picking their own suppliers, then. We may have switched to the rectangular pizza then - not sure. > > Did any other schools have the peanut butter sandwiches and vegetable soup combo? > > Cheap pizza I miss is frozen Jeno’s “Crisp & Tasty”. Totino’s is not the same (crust very different), despite being owned by same company for a while (no idea if always or only at end of Jeno’s reign). Oh, god. Those peanut butter sandwiches. Loved them. Yep served with veggie soup. The rolls were my very favorite. I wish I could replicate those ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550/54 "2018-12-05T01:16:10Z")
The pizza at my elementary school was pretty good. Junior high and high school, not so much. It was the same school system all the way through. The high school pizza would do in a pinch; I would have gone hungry before eating what they served up in junior high. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550/55 "2018-12-05T03:26:04Z")
Grew up on the northwest end of Chicago, so pepperoni was prohibited and sausage was the only option. But, I do remember seeing the cartons it came in. Don’t recall a brand, but it was labeled as TYPE A PIZZA. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550/56 "2018-12-05T03:32:21Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > That’s not the thing I am talking about. The one I mean will be 4 shrink wrapped and generic branded pizzas. In pepperoni or cheese flavors. The pepperoni has a red tint to it. 4 pizzas separated by cardboard shrink wrapped in a stack ……….we ate those things once a week …… although if you want a restaurant experience try little caesars …… there the closest thing ot school pizza you can order …… ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550/57 "2018-12-05T03:37:37Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > That’s not the thing I am talking about. The one I mean will be 4 shrink wrapped and generic branded pizzas. In pepperoni or cheese flavors. The pepperoni has a red tint to it. Those are personal size pizzas. In four packs for $3.99, shrink wrapped. They also come in pepperoni, supreme, and three meat. They certainly sound like what you were talking about. I’ve eaten many of them. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550/58 "2018-12-05T03:46:10Z")
> [@snoe](#): > > I also remember the little milk cartons – the struggle to open them, yes, but particularly the texture you felt on your lips drinking from them. The little milk cartons in our school had little perforated circles on one of the slanted sides that you could punch out and insert a straw in. No struggling to open them. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550/59 "2018-12-05T05:18:25Z")
I re-read the OP and realized I misread the crust part. Ours was a thick pan type crust but airy and still greasy on the bottom, almost buttery. Everyone wanted the center pieces or at least the side pieces because you got more sauce and cheese that way. So you’d count the slices in the tray and calculate your place in line to get a center or side piece. There would be a collective groan when it got to the last piece and a new pan was brought out. Two corners in a row! If your friend was working the pizza serving, you’d throw them a wink in the hope they’d give you a center piece. But don’t let the lunch lady catch you, because that would mean an automatic corner! ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550/60 "2018-12-05T05:36:21Z")
The school pizza we had in central Indiana was excellent. It was sausage and cheese. They’d let you buy an extra slice and sometimes I’d get it free by carefully stacking the two pieces so the top one covered the bottom one thus hiding it. Anyway, the brand was Heinz, and the box they came in was labeled “The Educated Pizza.” My mom was a lunch lady then, and she was allowed to buy a case every now and then to bring home. _The things were even better baked in the home oven_, since the edges and bottom could crisp up a bit. At school, they packed them into huge sheet pans, edge to edge, and the crust stayed soft. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cafeteria-school-lunch-pizza-from-the-80s-can-an-individual-get-this-anywhere/825550.md?page=4)