A Slice of America: The Best Pizzeria in Every State

[KamaAina]

https://www.yahoo.com/travel/best-pizzeria-in-every-state-101712153222.html

There are things in America that you can find no matter where you are. The kindness of strangers. A building with Donald Trump’s name on it. Good pizza. We like to think that somewhere, in each state, there’s a truly sublime pie, and to prove that point, we’ve crunched the numbers (and the crusts) and come up with a definitive list of the best pizzerias in every corner of this great nation....

CONNECTICUT

Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana
Multiple locations
We’ve pretty extensively explored Connecticut’s pizza scene in the past, and it is unequivocally one of the best in the country. The best and most hotly debated places are located in New Haven, where warring coal-fired spots have duked it out for generations. But while Sally’s is one of the premier pizzerias in the country, we still have to give the title to the OG New Haven apizza-slinger: Pepe’s. Their white clam pie, served without tomato sauce, is a national treasure, simple as that....

ILLINOIS

Vito and Nick’s Pizzeria
Chicago
This pick might be a bit controversial, what with Chicago’s myriad awesome deep-dishes… and “stuffed” pizzas, which are basically the same thing but even more like casseroles. However, well-behaved pizza writers seldom make history. So, after some intense debate, we decided to go with (GASP) a thin-crust joint. Vito and Nick’s crunchy-edged game is incredibly strong, they’ve been doing it since 1932, and their square-cut slices contain hidden treasures that even the deep-dish guys could learn a thing or two from....

NEW YORK

Di Fara
Brooklyn
Competition is fierce for everything in New York (real estate, walking space, standing space in an elevator, etc.), and the pizza is no exception. But Di Fara ultimately takes the crown for the Empire State, beating out a whole slew of epically qualified contenders like Roberta’s, Paulie Gee’s, Totonno’s, Lucali, and more. How? This deep-Brooklyn joint has been run by the same guy since 1964, and he meticulously crafts every pizza by himself. He even snips fresh windowsill-grown basil onto each pie after it finishes baking. Sure, you might have to wait an hour for a full pie, but it’s worth it just to taste a slice (or three) of his genius.

I had no idea Pepe's had expanded beyond Wooster Street.

[GeorgeGist]

1. How much did it cost to get the Win?

As evident from the comments there's some real crap labelled by these Yahoos as best.

[Yavin4]

14. Is your sig pic of a monkey with a smart phone?

Who is it calling?

[hifiguy]

2. The best pizza I have ever eaten was at

the now-gone Philly branch of New York's deservedly legendary Lombardi's, the first pizzeria in the US. When the gods on Olympus tire of ambrosia, they send out to Lombardi's. Punch Pizza in the Twin Cities is the closest thing I have found to Lombardi's in the midwest. Same ingredients, same type of oven. Punch is superb but it ain't quite Lombardi's.

Bst deep-dish I've had is Giordano's. Though eating at Lou Malnati's is on my bucket list.

[begin_within]

3. Best pizza I ever had was

Top Pan Pizza on Central Avenue in Phoenix, 1978. Deep dish but not heavy. The bottom of the crust was crispy but the top was a soft pillow as light as a marshmallow. Have no idea how they got it that way but every bite was heaven.

[KamaAina]

4. Pepe's is not even the best in New Haven, dammit!

Everybody knows Modern on State Street rules. As a plus, it is away from tourist-thronged Wooster St. (Little Italy), in a fun neighborhood that featured, in my day, a feminist bookstore.

[sharp_stick]

5. Modern?

Oh man, you can't swing a dead cat in that place without having it smack into a gaggle of Yalies.

[KamaAina]

6. Ah, I see we've expanded our horizons beyond Naples and Town

since my day (Class of '85).

And quit swinging dead cats!

[hifiguy]

7. You're a Yalie??

Yale was the only law school I didn't get in to out of the ten to which I applied.

[KamaAina]

9. Cum laude, no less

which is more than George W. Bush '68 can say, or even spell.

[hifiguy]

11. I took my bachelor's degree at my hometown

University of Minnesota - class of 1985, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa.

Three years later I graduated from Harvard Law in the same class as Michelle (then Robinson) Obama and a year behind Jennifer Granholm, who was my first boss in the legal profession when she was Editor-In-Chief and I was a staffer on the Harvard Civil Rights/Civil Liberties Law Review.

[KamaAina]

21. Ssssssssssssssss!

[sharp_stick]

8. I'm in a room full of Yalies

what else am I expected to do? Especially after this..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Harvard%E2%80%93Yale_prank

[KamaAina]

10. ROFLMAO!

edit: Ah yes, the YPMB. Many years ago they marched down Chapel St. in New Haven's Columbus Day parade, with "Leif Erikson Was First" taped on the bass drum. Needless to say, they have not been invited back.

[Jokerman]

12. The best pizza in Indiana comes from Chicago.

Eduardo's of Chicago has a location Munster IN.

[logosoco]

13. Sorry, I disagree with this!

For Missouri, and they even start out with St. Louis, I have never heard of this pizza place. And the blurb even mentions, without saying the name of, the best pizza from around here and that is Imo's!


That is it. There is no other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Paper Roses]

15. Everyone in the Boston area knows about this place:

http://www.santarpiospizza.com/

Best pizza in MA according to many.
Wish it was closer to me. The choices around my neck of the woods cannot compare. Many are good but Santarpio's is the best.

Wish I had a really great local option.

[DinahMoeHum]

16. Yep, Pepe's does have several locations now.

http://www.pepespizzeria.com/?page=home

Luckily, I live near one of them. And if I'm not having the white clam pizza, I'm having their fresh tomato pie (summer only).

[gratuitous]

17. Never heard of the one on Oregon

Which means that I, and I alone, am still the only one who knows where the best pizzeria is in the Beaver State. Mwahahahaha!

[bluesbassman]

18. For my money in the East Bay, it's Zachary's. Plus they're employee owned!

In 2003, after 20 successful years in the pizza business, Zach and Barbara decided it was time to retire. Instead of selling the company to a third party buyer, they decided to sell the company to their dedicated and experienced crew. Not only did this decision reward long-term Zachary’s employees, but it helped to preserve the founders’ vision and maintain the Zachary’s culture going forward.

Together with Zach and Barbara, the employee owners opened Zachary’s San Ramon in September of 2006. Zachary’s reached a significant milestone when we became 100% employee owned in 2010.

[KamaAina]

19. Deep dish didn't even win in Illinois!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

20. Our local DUer group met at Punch Pizza (Minnesota) to honor the fact that they

paid their workers $10 an hour even before the drive for a rise in the minimum wage started.

Good pizza, too.

[hifiguy]

22. Punch = YUM!

[Hayabusa]

23. Missouri...

Not Shakespeare's Pizza... Bullshit.

[Sherman A1]

39. Hmmm

I haven't tried Shakespeare, but they certainly missed Dogtown & Imo's which both have a significant following.

I have never heard of the one mentioned.

[A HERETIC I AM]

24. Whoever reviewed for Florida has never been to Ciro's

http://www.cirosonline.com

Best pizza south of NYC. Same place in a strip shopping center for over 30 years and the owner has been making pizza in Miami for over 40 years.

Not to mention he is a friend of mine, so there you go.

[LynneSin]

35. My assumption is they went with most popular homestate chain...

and had nothing to do with taste and/or quality.

Which explains how a shithole pizza joint like Grotto's in Delaware was selected. If the reviewer actually showed up and dined there he would have selected much differently.

[ArnoldLayne]

25. Elm Grove Di Carlos Pizza in West Virginia

[Recursion]

26. Amy's for DC? You've got to be kidding me. Jumbo Slice is the one and only king of DC pizza

The nerve of these guys...

[KamaAina]

27. Who would you pick for Mumbai?

[Recursion]

28. There's two I'd be torn between, one run by a New Yorker and one by a Florentine

The New Yorker runs New York Pizza at Churchgate; the Italian runs Pizza Metro Pizza in Bandra. I suppose if I had to pick I'd go with the New York style...

[KamaAina]

29. Awesome!

I was figuring you'd be all sad-faced about the lack of pizza in India.

[Recursion]

30. Pizza Hut is one of the most popular chains here (often combined with KFC)

Fortunately there's no shortage of pizza, though they have that weird European tendency to put corn on it as a topping

[KamaAina]

31. Californians do that, too

it's a "seasonal".

At this rate, I may be inclined to join you for a slice, though the BJP is hardly an improvement.

edit: Pizza Hut and KFC are both owned by Yum! Brands, hence the co-location, much like you would see at a rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike.

[Recursion]

32. Taco bell, too

Sometimes you can see the trifecta. Breadsticks, chicken, and a burrito is a great combination...

On the plus side, BJP just royally pissed of Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, which can't be a bad thing...

[Little Star]

33. I'll take Woosta Pizza pizzeria & restaurante in

Worcester, MA. I friggin love their Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza. Crave it, long for it, live to far away now to get it.

http://www.woostapizza.com/menu.php#menu13

[LynneSin]

34. GROTTO's PIZZA for Delaware? I wouldn't touch that shit on pizza dough...

if someone paid me money to eat it.

When we have a place like Pizza by Elizabeth's then why the hell would they pick something that is just about a half step better than the crapass pizza I'd get from Domino's or Papa John's.

Ok, I take that back. If someone offered me a million dollars to eat it I'd do it then use that money to scorch earth all the Grotto's from the state and put better pizza places in their place.

[plcdude]

36. Oklahoma

They are correct Hideaway is the best in Oklahoma.

[bigwillq]

37. Modern is the best pizza in CT, imo (nt)

[KamaAina]

38. But, but, but what about all those gaggles of Yalies?

Well, you could always bring a dead cat with you.