re: TulaneLSU's Top 100 pizzas of America in 2024

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If Regina's is only 29th, I can't imagine how good the top 28 are

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Neither can OP, he hasn't been to all of these.

Your list is eerily similar to the list of places where mother likes to fornicate.

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Already moved on - I don't do deep dish in Chicago any more - unless again I'm with someone who has never been -

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I didn't tell you to eat more of it Said if you like pizza, try a bar / tavern cut. This is a completely different style from deep dish or pan, and one that residents of Chicagoland eat far more. On the other hand, deep dish / pan is a "bucket list" item of sorts for visitors.

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I didn't tell you to eat more of it Said if you like pizza, try a bar / tavern cut.

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Oh, I understood what you meant - You did ask why I ate it so many if I didn't like it that's what I was answering to And then I indicated that I tried many other styles there I like better - included in those many others was bar/tavern style.

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On the other hand, deep dish / pan is a "bucket list" item of sorts for visitors.

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Of course it is, hence the reference to still going at times with folks I'm with who have never been and want to go experience it.

Friends,

MoJeaux, thank you for the warm welcome. If you are still in New Jersey, perhaps you, Mother, and I could grab some pies at Razza. I find that Razza tastes significantly better in the summer when Dan is able to source tomatoes from NJ. He certainly is a master baker, although, I would much rather his pizza than his famous bread with homemade butter as a starter.

BigApple, a deep dish lover named BigApple is a bit ironic. To me the biggest issue with deep dish is the proportions of bread, cheese and sauce. Gino’s and Giordano’s are particularly egregious in their proportional error with far too much cheese. All deep dish crust, however, is a poor version of bread with no skill.

Pandy, I am east of Destin this weekend and today had the pleasure of eating in #32, which did not live up to its past reputation. Something was certainly off about the sauce, as it was lacking in any zest or saltiness, and what good is tomato sauce, as with people, if it loses its saltiness? I made the mistake of asking for more sauce, believing it was simply a matter of not enough salt. Quantity was not the problem. The sauce tasted artificial, much like the red dipping sauce that comes with Pizza Hut breadsticks. The crust and mootz were good.













As for the others, here is a short snippet of Mother’s credit card receipt from a few days of our April trip to the City. It is not an exhaustive list of the pizzerias we visited, as many places only take cash and even more we know the owner so eat free. Do not worry; we give large gratuities. If you look through past posts I have posted, you will find photos, some with the head pizza makers from several of the above listed pizzerias as well. Here are two examples: TulaneLSU's review of Ken's of Portland and TulaneLSU's review of The Gypsy Poet.




Toof, while we may agree that the Book of Common Prayer is essential daily reading, we are not in accord on cracker pizza. While I am not a big deep dish fan, I find Chicago tavern style even worse. Bring me to any tavern style pizzeria, be it Vito and Nick’s, Pat’s or Dino’s and I will show you in a blind taste test that you could not tell the difference between theirs and a thin crust freshly out a Domino’s oven.

Did you also note click the link in the original post or read the original post? The story of 50 Top was the entire opening paragraph with link provided.

LSUDad, thank you for the interesting story. Next time we are near that pizzeria, we will try it.

AbitaFan08, we must. I have Umberto’s on my list of must try now. Next time we are in Boston, I hope you can join us as we sample it.

LSUcdro, curiously, I went to Chat GPT after reading your post to get a top 100 list. Oddly, it would only, even after asking many times, give lists that included ten or twenty pizzerias. Half of them, even in such short lists, are unworthy of inclusion on my list.

LSUGrad2024, are you speaking of the original Sally’s? The last time I tried it was February and it was excellent still. I have not been to any of the chain locations.

TheNolaClap, I have not tried Rosie’s. It will go on my list, as with Umberto’s in Boston. Thank you for the recommendation.

PerplenGold, I have never been to Austin, TX. Is there good pizza there? Honestly, I have not been impressed with pizza in Texas. The culture does not demand or support excellent pizza from what I have seen thus far.

Moontigr, thank you for your recommendations. They too go on my running list of pizzerias to try.

Hermit Crab, thank you for the warm welcome. I am looking forward to the Advent once again, but for the last two years have celebrated it solemnly, rejecting the materialism that I think was distracting me. Believe it or not I sold much of my Christopher Radko collection.

Long Ball Larry, he is a brute who has no appreciation for the great pizzas in the Naples style, which is a real shame. It seems to me the only criteria he uses are bitey crunch, flop, and charcoal fired.

Caro81, DeLuca is a world class pizzeria in my opinion. However, no pizzeria is always consistent. Even at great pizzerias, you will find occasionally a bad pie is produced. I once had a subpar pie at John’s of Bleecker, but it did not change my opinion that it is a top ten pizzeria.

91TIGER, Pequod’s, in my understanding, is more a pan pizza in the style of Detroit’s famed style and not a deep dish pizza. You would be hard pressed to find a list of pizzerias with a better frico.

Auzach91, did you go to the original L’industrie in Brooklyn? I have not tried the new one in Greenwich Village, where I believe a second Mama’s Too opened nearby. That is certainly becoming a great little hamlet of pizza. I mean, it always has been, but now is arguably the best little corner of pizza in the world. I prefer John’s of Bleecker to L’industrie, but do not tell Massimo. He would be quite angry with me.

Jake88, I can promise you I have. When are we joining to install the Welcome to Old Metairie sign on Veterans by Dorignac’s?

LSUminati, perhaps we could plan a trip together so that you will see how wonderful Lucali is. Difficult to believe, a fresh Lucali pie is superior to John’s. Even though Mother and I have visited Lucali many times and have gotten close to Mark, we still have not been able to sneak a way to get reservations or avoid that ghastly line.

Yours,
TulaneLSU

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Just went to John’s of Bleecker this past week. Wasn’t that impressed honestly. It was good but I think L’industrie was better.

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Were you up there for Braves Yankees? I was there Friday and Saturday, had John’s for lunch on Friday and went to the games both nights.

I had a different opinion on the pizza…thought it was one of the best I’ve ever had.

I need to try more. My NY top spice is your #50.
But I mainly focus on eating and staying in the hells kitchen area.

St.Vito in Nashville is missing on this list. It’s insane. Serving Sicilian “sfincione” all naturally leavened.

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95. Buddy’s (Detroit, MI) 7.53
I once took a flight to Detroit solely to try Buddy’s pizza, since it is credited with inventing the Detroit style. It was good, but not worth the trip.

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Friend,

We are headed over to Uncle's condo at Portofino now after a lovely weekend east of Destin. We may go to Sky's tonight for their nearly perfect calzones, which are $2 off regular price on Tuesdays. Why New Orleans cannot get New York pizza right confounds me. Zee's really needs to work on crust and sauce consistency. Too many amateurs cooking there.

Napoleon, Suprema is great, but I heartily agree with you that more pizza is better. NY has so many great pizzerias it is not fair to yourself not to try more. If you ever are in town when we are, I will do my best to get you a seat at Una, for a truly life changing pizza. Anthony's dough is art.

steve123, Lombardi's is, like John's of Times Square, a tourist trap. I cannot speak too much about it, for they are still chasing me, but it has built its reputation on being the oldest and even the first pizzeria in America. Both claims are patently false. Look up the name Peter Ragas if you would like to know a lot more on the history of early pizzerias in NY in the late 19 century, decades before the original Lombardi's opened. The current rendition of Lombardi's is a money grab. It was closed for a decade and then bought by, well, I will not tell you because it would put my life in danger. A restaurant that "re-opens" with a new owner a decade after being closed does not, in my book at least, have the provenance that it claims. Are the pizzas good? They are okay if you like dry coal fired. Are they worth the price and occasional wait? Not when there are so many superior pizzas nearby. The people that recommend Lombardi's fall in the same pizza barge as those who recommend the travesties served at Gino's East or Giordano's.

auzach, you made the error of ordering onions at John's of BS. Never order onions on a pizza. Sad as it may be, most serious pizza makers will not take seriously someone who orders an onioned pizza, thus, you get an inferior effort and result. The choice of sausage at John's was wise. For nearly a hundred years, John's purchased its sausage just up the road at Florence Meat Market on Jones. When Florence's original owner sold the butcher to one of its workers two years ago, I believe John's started buying its sausage at Faicco's. You know how much I love Faicco's sandwiches, but their sausage does not hold a candle to Florence. So now, when I am at John's I order a plain pie. If ever you feel like the pizza is undercooked there or at any decent pizzeria, send it back for another minute in the oven. No one takes offence to it.

Yours,
TulaneLSU