How much do you know about pizza? And I’m not getting academic here; do you know the basics? Pizza is a simple homemade supper, but it can look overwhelming. Truth is all those separate components; Dough, sauce, toppings. I must say that the beauty of pizza is that it can be as simple or geeky as you want. So, if you are interested in finding a top-notch pizzeria near your location this post got you covered. Only keep reading.
How to Locate a Pizza Near Me – Find it on the Map
With thousands of Pizzeria locations in the United States and around the world, Google in a minute has pizza places near me that you can easily locate and visit. All you need to do is to;
- You can locate a pizza restaurant in your neighborhood; on your computer, open Google Maps.
- Type an address or name of a Pizzeria or restaurants.
- Press enter or click Search.
- You’ll see search results as red mini-pins or red dots, where mini-pins show the top results. The purple ones are ads.
- Optional: If you search for a type of place, like restaurants, you can filter your results using the drop-down menus below the search box.
What makes a good pizza?
Making pizza is a year-round activity for most people, whether it’s a No-knead, no-stretch pan pizza in the winter, a grilled pizza party in the summer, or a Neapolitan pie baked in my Baking Steel and Kettle Pizza combo kit.
When asked what their favorite food is, most people would say pizza. That round, thin (or thick) layer of bread, topped with tomato sauce, cheese, and some herb or meat, is most people’s go-to meal for any occasion. Pizza is everywhere, that’s why it can often be made wrong. Unfortunately, you might end up with a pizza that fails in the cheese department or get an extremely soggy crust that will just slide all the ingredients of the bread.
Now that you know all the key features of what the best pizza has, then it’s time for you to head to town and spot those pizza restaurants. If you can’t head out, make it your challenge to find the best pizza delivery in town. The crust, tomato, cheese, and toppings—remember these four key pizza features, and you’ll never have horrible pizza again.
Pizza – A Brief History
The ancestor of pizza dates back to the neolithic age, in the form of simple flat-bread.
They had added different ingredients throughout history by various cultures; among them, the ancient Egyptians were probably the first to use the yeast (apparently, they’re also considered the inventors of beer… I can imagine cool parties happening around the pyramids).
The word pizza is also pretty old, being documented for the first time in 997 AD in Gaeta (Italy). It was originally flavored with fat or oil, sometimes herbs, and whatever available.
In the 16th century, pizza was very popular in Naples. It was a cheap dish, sold in the streets mostly to poor people, and topped with fat, herbs, and cheese or later fish.
It was only in the second half of the 18th Century that tomatoes started to appear on pizzas. Even if the fruit was imported from America before that, it was previously believed to be poisonous.
Little by little, pizza started to be loved not only by the poor but also by nobles. Since then, pizza has become a staple in the diets of millions of Americans of every age and ethnicity. If you’re looking to please a crowd or just treat yourself to something savory, pizza is almost always the right choice! All you need to do is to locate pizza near you. the rest will be history.
Was Pizza initially only sold by the pie?
True! In your quest to find pizza near me, you might be hankering for a few slices instead of the whole pie. Well, at one point in time, the whole pie would’ve been your only option. For the first 20 years of pizza in the US, pizzerias refused to sell slices of the pie. It wasn’t until 1933 when Patsy Lancieri of Patsy’s Pizzeria in New York City decided to offer slices in addition to the pie, that pizzas were sold by the slice.
The trend soon caught on and was adopted by nearly every pizzeria in the city. In the present day, it’d be hard to imagine life without the option of a slice of pizza! Not only does offering slices broaden a pizzeria’s potential to make a sale, but it means pizza can constitute the finer side of fast food. Being quick, cheap, and readily available opens up a pizza to every type of hungry customer.
When it comes to pizza toppings, pepperoni always ranks first with consumers. Mushrooms, onions, and sausage typically follow suit.
Who invented Chicago’s famous deep-dish pizza?
Pizza first made its appearance in the United States with the arrival of Italian immigrants in the late 19th century and was popular among large Italian populations in New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Trenton, and Saint Louis
According to a 2009 response published in a column on Serious Eats, the first printed reference to “pizza” served in the US is a 1904 article in The Boston Journal. Giovanni and Gennaro Bruno came to America from Naples, Italy, in 1903 and introduced the Neapolitan pizza to Boston. Later, Vincent Bruno (Giovanni’s son) went on to open the first pizzeria in Chicago.
While searching for pizza near me, you might be wondering about deep-dish pizza. If you’re in the Chicago area, odds are, this is what you’ll likely find. Thin crust pizza is largely an east/west coast affair. According to most reports, the famous Chicago style deep dish pizza was invented at Pizzeria Uno in 1943 by founder Ike Swell. However, a 1956 article from the Chicago Daily News charges that Uno’s original pizza chef Rudy Malnati developed the recipe.
Facts you Need to Know About Pizza
- They brought the pizza to the Trenton area of New Jersey with Joe’s Tomato Pies opening in 1910, followed soon by Papa’s Tomato Pies in 1912.
- In 1936, De Lorenzo’s Tomato Pies was opened. While Joe’s Tomato Pies has closed, both Papa’s and Delorenzo’s have been run by the same families since their openings and remain among the most popular pizzas in the area.
- Before the 1940s, pizza consumption was limited mostly to Italian immigrants and their descendants.
- Two entrepreneurs, Ike Sewell and Ric Riccardo invented Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, in 1943. They opened their own restaurant on the corner of Wabash and Ohio, Pizzeria Uno.
- With pizza gaining popularity across the nation, major American pizza chains such as Pizza Hut, Domino’s Pizza, and Little Caesar have expanded their locations in Canada, competing against the domestic Canadian brands.
- Some of Canada’s successful pizza brands include Boston Pizza, Pizza Pizza, and Vanelli’s. Boston Pizza, also known as BP’s in Canada, and “Boston’s—The Gourmet Pizza” in the United States and Mexico, is one of Canada’s largest franchising restaurants.[35] The brand has opened over 325 locations across Canada and 50 locations in Mexico and the US.
- According to documents discovered by historian Antonio Mattozzi in State Archives of Naples, in 1807 already 54 pizzerias existed, with their owners and addresses.[22] In the second half of the nineteenth century, they increased to 120
The Largest Pizza Ever Made
The largest pizza ever made was a whopping 122 feet, 8 feet in diameter. To craft this monstrous culinary delight, creators had to use 9,920 pounds of flour, 198 pounds of salt, 3,968 pounds of cheese, and 1,984 pounds of tomato puree. If you’re searching for pizza near me in hopes of finding a pie this big, you might be searching for a long time!
Crust
A pizza just removed from an oven, with a close-up view of the cornicione (the outer edge)
The bottom of the pizza called the “crust”, may vary widely according to style, thin as in a typical hand-tossed Neapolitan pizza or thick as in a deep-dish Chicago-style. It is traditionally plain, but may also be seasoned with garlic or herbs, or stuffed with cheese. They sometimes refer to the outer edge of the pizza as the cornicione. Pizza dough often contains sugar, both to help its yeast rise and enhance browning of the crust.
Dipping sauce specifically for pizza was invented by American pizza chain Papa John’s Pizza in 1984 and has since become popular when eating pizza, especially the crust.
Top 10 Pizza Restaurants in the US
Pizza is a $45.1 billion industry in the United States. Here are the top pizza chains across this great nation, based on gross sales in 2016.
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A16 Rockridge, Oakland, CA
With amazing topping choices and a brick oven pizza that can cook pizzas in 90 seconds, pizza lovers will surely rejoice at the variety of thin crust, crispy pizzas offered at this California pizzeria. Make sure to try the MontanaraRockridge pie, which features lightly fried pizza dough topped with smoky tomato sauce, burrata, and basil
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Bar Toma, Chicago, IL
This beloved Chicago pizza joint offers a large variety of topping and cheese choices, along with unusual toppings such as lemon and romaine. What really sets this pizzeria apart is that they let their pizza dough rise for 48 hours at a time, resulting in a perfect pizza every time. If you find yourself near Bar Toma in your quest to find pizza near me, consider yourself lucky!
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Lucali, Brooklyn, NY
Forget the fact that Beyonce and Jay-Z once skipped the Grammy Awards to eat here instead, this pizzeria is great all on its own. With only two menu options (pizza or calzones), this Brooklyn pizza haven has perfected the art of making a good pie. From the tangy sauce to the perfect mozzarella, Lucali knows how to build the perfect pizza!
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PIZZA HUT
Pizza Hut is truly enormous. Raking in more than $5.75 billion in 2016, the chain is best known for its red roof architecture. The style is so distinctive that the blog Used to Be a Pizza Hut collects photos of former Pizza Hut restaurants now turned into other businesses.
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DOMINO’S PIZZA
With more than $5.47 billion in revenue, Domino’s is nipping at Pizza Hut’s heels. For decades, Domino’s offered a guarantee that your pizza would arrive in 30 minutes or less, or it would be free. The policy in 1993 in the U.S came to an end. And Domino’s has since focused on expanding its menu with pasta, sandwiches, and other goodies.
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LITTLE CAESARS
Founded in 1959 by Mike and Marian Ilitch, Little Caesars focuses on carry-out pizza at ultra-competitive prices. Using slogans like “Pizza! Pizza!,” “Pan! Pan!,” and “Deep Deep Dish,” the chain offers hot cheese pizzas for just $5.
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PAPA JOHN’S
Headquartered in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, Papa John’s was the first national pizza chain to offer online ordering in the U.S., way back in 2002.
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PAPA MURPHY’S PIZZA
Papa Murphy’s offers exclusively “take and bake” pizza, where the ingredients come together in front of you, then you bake the pizza at home. It’s the only large chain to offer this kind of pizza, and it’s a smart business model—stores don’t need pizza ovens!
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CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN
They launched the first California Pizza Kitchen in 1985 in Beverly Hills, California. The focus is on gourmet pizza, including a line of relatively fancy frozen pizzas. In many locations, CPK also offers gluten-free crust as an option, making it a favorite for gluten-intolerant pizza lovers.
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MARCO’S PIZZA
Pasquale “Pat” Giammarco founded Marco’s Pizza in 1978. The Toledo, Ohio-based chain is now the country’s fastest-growing pizza chain. With more than 800 franchised locations across the U.S. as well as in Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and India. They specialize in what they’ve dubbed “Ah! authentic Italian.”
Summary
Pizza is a savory dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flattened base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese. And often various other ingredients (such as anchovies, mushrooms, onions, olives, pineapple, meat, etc.). Which is then baked at a high temperature, traditionally in a wood-fired oven. A small pizza is sometimes a pizzetta. A person who makes pizza is a pizzaiolo.
To this end, in Italy, pizza served informal settings, such as at a restaurant, is presented unsliced. And is eaten with the use of a knife and fork. Thus, in casual settings, however, it is cut into wedges to be eaten while held in the hand.
In the End
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