I make pizza far more often than we order or go out for pizza. This was so even before we got our KitchenAid, but the mixer sure does make it easier. I like to try interesting experiments - using barbecue sauce and sharp cheddar cheese, or black bean sauce and pepperjack, that sort of thing - but mostly it’s a pretty standard red sauce, veggies & pepperoni with mozzerella.
The only real difference is that it doesn’t come out of the oven quite the same as restaurant pizza, since it’s in at 475° for 14 minutes instead of 750° for 7 minutes. It’s not really a big deal, but there’s just some indescribable quality about the high temps that a restaurant oven can achieve that you can’t get at home.
There aren’t very many kosher pizza chains, so my choice is pretty much limited to Jerusalem Pizza. (At least, I think they’re a chain. They’re certaintly in more than one location). We have some good local stores, too. It all pretty much tastes the same to me. I don’t think there’s really such a thing as a bad pizza (unless you’re a cafeteria lady at my old elementary school. God, that stuff they called “pizza” was horrible).
The Superhero: I’ve thought about doing a Southwestern pizza too. (To Chicagoans and New Yorkers: I’m from L.A. So sue me.) But several years ago I had an olive pizza that was black with olives. No mere smattering there. It might have been from Round Table, but I don’t remember. Neither Little Seizure’s nor the much-more-expensive Pizza Factory, my only two options for delivery (I don’t consider Domino’s an option), put enough olives on even when I request extra olives. So that will be the next pizza I make.
I had some Thai pizza in Sidney or Victoria, BC that was really good. I might try to make that some day.
Pizza Hut, hands down, but you have to ask for extra sauce; otherwise, it’s dry as a bone. Domino’s also has good chicken, with a really good spicy sauce, but that’s the only thing worth ordering from them.
I get pizza from a local place, and chain pizza doesn’t even come close. I also have reason to believe it’s healthier than most chains; everyone on the various diabetes boards complains to high heaven about how bad pizza is for blood sugars, so I’ve been really careful with the pizza I get, testing many times over several hours after eating. So far, it’s been fine - no huge spikes at all.
The day I figured that out was a very happy day for me. I love me my pizza!
Does anybody else remember the Pepe’s pizza kits I mentioned above? I tried searching for them and all I’m getting are references to a New Haven, CT, pizzeria of fame and renown. http://www.pepespizzeria.com/ It is possible I’ve misremembered their name, but it had to be something like Pepe and sound Italian.
Is Double Dave’s regional or national? They’re the only pizza place I can eat from that doesn’t make my stomach hurt.
(I have this weird thing with pizza sauce. It’s either ok or I can’t think about it w/out throwing up a little in my mouth. I eat tomato soup, ketchup, bbq sauce, hot and spicy foods…but something about pizza sauce makes me ill.)
They have a pretty good online ordering service as well, one that enables you to really modify your pizza. Last week I ordered a thin 'n crispy meat-lovers, no ham, double pepperoni, light on the sauce (you can even order pizzas with no sauce). Thing came to my door in the estimated time, perfectly made.
Why?! :eek: That’s ruining the pizza, right there! (Although it sometimes seems like they take it upon themselves to provide sauce-less pizzas even when you don’t ask for it.)
I think you mean Papa Murphy’s. Papa John’s is take out or delivery only, but they do cook it for you. I’ve never eaten Papa Murphy’s, since if I have to turn on the oven, I’m going to make if from scratch.
Papa John’s is the best of a bad lot, with Pizza Hut running a distant second.
I don’t think they count, but I love Cristy’s pizza. If you’re ever near Buckeye Lake in the summer, go to Papa Boo’s and get a Cristy’s pizza and sit by the lake and listen to bad bands. It’s great.
Round Table, at least up in Northern California, is AMAZING. (Though for some reason one of my friends hates it, I dunno if he has weird tastes or just went to a bad restaurant or what). I’d put it up there with the best local places I’ve been to as well.
Pizza Hut is alright. Never really liked their crust that much, which is an important part of the pizza to me.
Papa John’s is also kinda meh to me.
Dominos tastes like cardboard and even if it’s free, I’ll only eat it if I’m just hungry and not in the mood to care too much about taste.
My elementary school participated in the Book-It! program, and I liked to read, so I got a lot of coupons for a free personal pan pizza. The Pizza Hut near me was a full restaurant and the pizza they served in the restaurant was damned good. The delivered pizzas, not so much. College was the death knell for eating chain pizza for me.
If I had to choose today, I’d go with Donato’s, though I don’t know how widespread they are and they were always a bit overpriced.
I would have said Pizza Hut and then I had them in a Target’s a few weeks ago.
I remember them as being half decent in college but the one I had was awful – super greasy with cheese like cardboard, sausage like bad hot dogs, and a terrible crust.
Why is pizza from chains generally so dreadful? Lack of quality ingredients? Even the most mediocre place around here (in the northeast US) is much better than anything I’ve had at Pizza Hut or Pappa John’s.
Canada has a chain called Panago’s and their Chicken Club pizza is to die for - it has a great jalapeno sauce. I love it. But for traditional pizza sauce, cheese and pepperoni it’s Pizza Hut all the way. Don’t mind Dominos either.
Even chain pizzas aren’t necessarily the same in different areas. I was initially shocked to hear that so many liked Papa John’s, because in the midwest, they suck! I hated them in Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio. But on the East Coast, they’re surprisingly good, even better than some local places.
I find Pizza Hut a little too greasy, and I dislike the way they cut their onions and peppers. I refuse to order Domino’s, and Little Caesar is just bad.
Papa Murphy’s and Donato’s are my favorite US chain pizza places, but I liked the local places in my hometown much better.
Now, though, my options are a bit more limited. The only pizza places near me are 10.4 and Strawberry Cones. Strawberry Cones is actually really good, despite sounding more like an ice cream shop than a pizza place. I think I might even like them the best now.
Strangely enough, they appear to have a single store in Vancouver. Outside of that, though, they aren’t international.
(Although it sometimes seems like they take it upon themselves to provide sauce-less pizzas even when you don’t ask for it.)