re: TulaneLSU's Top 40 pizzas in the United States of America

Friend,

It always humors me when Pequodians laud Pequod's uniqueness. When Pizza Hut cared about its quality, it was every bit as good at Pequod's. For the record, I've never been to the touristy Pequod's in Lincoln Park, only the original in Morton Grove.

For pizza scholars, most argue that the pan pizza, which Pequod's is, is a Detroit creation. That is if you believe it is not just a variant of the NY Grandma style. I am still researching Pizza Hut's first pizzas, but currently hold that Pizza Hut's initial style borrows extensively from the Detroit pan. In the early days of Pizza Hut, vegetarians were not invited. You either got cheese and sausage pan or cheese and pepperoni pan. The small was 95 cents and the large was $1.50. This pan pizza was not quite as thick as the current Pequod's pan, but it was a pan pizza. I have an unproved theory that the first Pizza Hut pizzas were closer to the sheet pan pizzas of Old Forge, PA, illustrated today in the style of Salerno's, Revello's, and Arcaro and Genell's.

Uncle has a close friend who has frequented Pequod's since the early 1970's. This friend old him that Pequod's has had a similarly thick pan pizza as far back as he can remember. This is quite anecdotal, so I cannot say with any certainty if Pequod's borrowed from Pizza Hut, Pizza Hut borrowed from Pequod's, or there is no mixing between the two pizzas. I do suspect that Pequod's borrowed at the very least the miniature white plastic table Pizza Hut started using to prevent cheese from sticking to the pizza box. That is one of the greatest and least appreciated inventions of the 1980s. It has largely been lost to time, but Pequod's still uses it on takeout pizza, as well as a sheet of aluminum foil.

But was Pequod's Chicago's first pan pizza? No. That actually was The Inferno in Evanston (1963). The pan pizza man of Chicago was Burt Katz, no relation to Bruce of which I am aware, who then went to open Gulliver's in 1965 before opening Pequod's in 1970. I would love to interview Mr. Katz, who currently owns Burt's Place. It is not as good as Pequod's, and unfortunately, Mr. Katz gave up christening his pizza parlors with names of literary gravity and history.

Regardless of the history, the deep pan of Pizza Hut, which came about in 1980, was every bit as thick with charred cheese edges as Pequod's. That of course changed in the mid to late 90s, as Americans were found to care about cheap more than quality. Pizza Hut today is a poor reflection of what it once was, so I can understand why people today would find ludicrous an allusion to the Hut in a review about Pequod's. Nonetheless, historically speaking, it is reasonable.

Best,
TulaneLSU

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For pizza scholars

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Does not exists in any form. This appears to be a self appointed term. Why allow this. can’t we all then self appoint ourselves as experts with some kinda title?

Great list. A few observations:
-Union Loafers has the best pie in St Louis, would recommend it as a must stop for anyone in St Louis - it's a top-10 in the country place for me. Pi Pizza is good but not worthy of a US top-40 list. Imo's is garbage.
-Pizzeria Toro in Durham is good but my favorite Durham pie is Hutchins Garage (specifically their Sicilian slice). My one visit to Pizzeria Toro involved a meth'd out homeless woman walking in, sitting at a table, and demanding she wouldn't leave unless they call an ambulance.
-I think Scarr's Pizza should be on this list, it's a top-5 NYC pie for me.

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Friend,
How did you visit each of these locations with your extreme consternation of bridges?

Best,
4lsu2

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I was just about to ask. I think ol' autistic boy simply goes thru the GoogleBox to research his "ratings".

Frank Pepe pizza is terrible. Had some in Connecticut a couple months ago and the sauce tasted just like the sauce on Spaghetio's

no I did not...perhaps I should have

You are undeniably one strange bird

....that we have a hard time not reading your verbose posts.

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NY style pizza is about 75% oil:25% dough.

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This isn't really true.