WFDT 6/25/23

Friends,

It is okay to be wrong. Today, I was wrong. In the discussion about best pizza chains, I listed Marco's as my #9. This ranking was based on two pizzas I had while visiting Ohio a decade ago. The pizza was excellent, and was so reminiscent of Dino's Pizza, which had locations on Veterans near Shogun and next to The Boot at Tulane. Someone once told me they were from the same family as Tower of Pizza. But Dino's was outstanding, perhaps the best pizza in New Orleans history, with Brooklyn Pizza and Cafe Nino also in the conversation. And Marco's of Ohio was great.

This evening, I asked one of my friends, who has joined me on excursions to Golden Corral (WestCoastAg, I will try to invite you the next time we go), if he would be interested in a food trade. Because Marco's is on the other side of the Big Bridge, I wanted no part in driving there. My friend, though, shares not even a shade of gephyrophobia, and even more, he loves my fried green tomatoes.

The pizza thread here today made me yearn for Marco's, so a call was placed and we agreed to a trade. My friend and I broke bread together, starting with the fried green tomatoes. Before I could finish my first tomato, my friend had finished all of his. So I offered him the rest of mine and he accepted. It was no large sacrifice, as I would much prefer a fresh tomato, raw, served at room temperature.



Then came the pizzas. The first thing I noticed was Marco's boxes. These are not the same boxes as before. These boxes remind me of a cheap billboard for pizza. As a box, 3/10 is a generous score.



We shared a thin crust mushroom, which used canned mushrooms. The cheese and sauce were decent, but the crust was bland. Both Domino's and Papa John's do thin crust better. This was a horrible pizza, and it was not worth the special $6.99 for a one topping medium.





Having finished the thin crust, our next pizza was the $9.99 pepperoni large special, which comes with regular pepperonis and Old World pepperonis, which are not technically a true pepperoni. They are better, and they curl up and have a nice charred edge crust. Prince St Pizza in Nolita is famous for these "cups of grease" on their famous Spicy Spring grandma slices.

Pepperonis are a popular topping, the most popular in America after cheese, but I do not like pepperonis very well. They make the pizza far too greasy and salty. They only serve a purpose when trying to hide inferior ingredients and a bad baking technique, which is why, I assume they are so popular on mass chain pizzas. The sauce was quite good, as was the cheese. I could briefly remember why I thought it compared to Dino's.



The crust, arguably the pizza's most important element, however, was an abomination. It was clearly made in a conveyor oven, and done very poorly. Even though we did not ask for it with grease on the crust, it was pretty clear that the cornicione was doused in cheap grease. The screed marks are clearly invisible. Marco's has "crust toppers" and we chose Parm, which was unremarkable. No part of this crust is even average. What an embarrassment to bread makers everywhere.



With that in mind, I have adjusted TulaneLSU's Top 10 chain pizzas. As the great Reformers believed, semper reformanda est.

10. Famous Famiglia
9. Chuck E. Cheese
8. Sam's
7. Domino's
6. Sbarro
5. Jet's
4. California Pizza Kitchen
3. Blaze
2. Anthony's Coal Fired
1. Grimaldi's

May each of you have a blessed and enjoyable dinner.

Yours,
TulaneLSU


Included is a prayer for tonight's meal:

Loving God,
No matter how far we drift,
How much anger eats in our heart,
The number of opportunities we miss,
Or how many times we fail,
You forgive us.
Thank you for your mercy,
Your everlasting kindness,
Your understanding,
Your faithfulness.
Bless our meals tonight.
As we start our week,
May we be ever mindful of love,
Of the grace you shower everywhere.
Through Christ,
Amen