When you think of pizza

I don’t even need to read the article. Best pizza - southern Italy. My mouth is suddenly watering! ….just a few more days! : )

Outside of London the 13th best pizza in Europe is apparently in Chester!
https://www.timeout.com/uk/news/these-5-uk-pizzerias-have-been-named-the-best-in-europe-060625

I notice they say "best in Europe" or all the names on the list would be US. But its not fair since we invented it. So, im good with the list.

But when traveling if I see pizza or French fries or hamburger on a menu, I move on. I won't travel half way around the world for what is sold in most American restaurants tge exception would be fried potatoes in Peru.

I mean yes I can get great food of any description in London, it's one of the reasons it's a Tier one city. Why would pizza be any different?

The Lido Restaurtant cheese pie in Hackensack, NJ is the best I've tasted.

MaryPat, being from Bricktown and Rivervale, I believe it.

Thinking of another thread. Why play this ranking game?

London's current pizza scene reflects its time and place: a wealthy financial hub with a diverse workforce, imported ingredients, and a public eager for novelty. It is not "better" than Naples or New York. It is just a modern city using the tools available to it today.

We should stop using one style as a yardstick for another and just judge the food for what it is, where it is.

I've got a few absolutely cracking local places near me.

Yard Sale Pizza - Hip Neapolitan style. Time Out tells me they have 13 branches across London now. The original was my local in Clapton E5.

https://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/yard-sale-pizza

Voodoo Ray's - Just up the road in Dalston. New York style. Also pretty hip. Named after A Guy Called Gerald's seminal house track Voodoo Ray. I'm also a guy called Gerald, so it's a track that has been in my psyche for a long time.

https://voodoorays.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7vxHOCeiQ4 - A Guy Called Gerald - Voodoo Ray (Manchester, 1988)

Da Felice - Rock solid, most authentic Italian pizza in Hackney probably.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/tt4KKu258Q51BvHy5

Vesuvio - Proper high quality neighbourhood pizza takeout. If I want a pizza at twice the quality yet half the price of Dominos, I can walk here in about two minutes.

https://www.vesuviopizzaclapton.co.uk/clapton/

The Pembury Tavern - a pub with its own oven making quality pizza.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Y7Qez1iSVXevZRhy5

My husband & I ate at the Stile Napoletano in 2023 in Chester, UK. Yes, a very delicious pizza & nice staff.

I liked this page from Yard Sale Pizza's website. The sign outside each branch is unique it seems. How cool! It's a nice little set of photos on this page I'll link to.

https://yardsalepizza.com/shops/

Emma, and also as confirmed by Jean, thank you! It looks like I now have a dinner plan for our one night there in July.

But when I think of pizza, here’s something else that I don’t think of, and I wonder whether anybody here would think of it … Ranch Dressing :-p

In the Denver suburb of Wheat Ridge last week, we stopped at a bakery that had been getting some attention for great bread, sandwiches, sweets, and … pizza. Needing lunch we stopped by, and ordered two individual pizzas. The young lady taking the order asked whether we wanted ranch with that. Huh?!? She said that maybe pizza purists wouldn’t indulge, but she and lots of people she knows like to dip their pizza in ranch dressing. Really. Apparently that’s a “thing” now.

The people at Hidden Valley may be missing out on a huge marketing opportunity, or maybe they’re fully aware of it, and are already making the most of it, to the right demographic. Perhaps this is a GenZ phenomenon. What about a “pizza,” with ranch dressing, and pineapple and ham? Really wouldn’t qualify as “London Style,” I’m sure.

Cyn, LOL! You may have all of my ranch dressing! If you’re going to Chester, be sure to get a reservation for Stile N. We were fortunate to get in before the place was packed with a waiting line.

My husband played golf over at Wallasey the day I spent in Chester. It’s a very interesting city - easy for me to enjoy the day, and we ended with the Evensong & pizza afterwards. The Town Crier is entertaining, too!

The best pizza I've eaten was in Warsaw and the worst was in Rome. It was an expensive restaurant and my wife and I ordered pizza with her requesting no artichokes. When it arrived you could see where the artichokes had been removed so it wasn't freshly prepared to order. The following day I stumbled upon an old woman's house with two tables outside and I had an excellent simple margherita pizza. I have fond memories of being seated at a table on the pavement whilst the woman prepared the food in her tiny kitchen.

I have never eaten pizza in London. For me London is afternoon teas and Indian restaurants. Having grown up in Chicago, I can unequivocally state that it has the best pizza outside Italy :-) Although it's hard to find really good pizza there nowadays.

After reading the article, I have decided to give London pizza a try on my next visit, whenever that happens. But Chicago next week and Italy in October, so I'm okay for now.

My biggest disappointment in Italy was pizza in Naples. I had some of the best pizza in Venice. On my 3rd visit to the restaurant (opting for pasta instead), the waiter let me in on the secret - the chef was Sicilian.

But when traveling if I see pizza or French fries or hamburger on a menu, I get up and leave. What American will spend thousands to travel half way around the world, not for the local cuisine but for inferior American knock offs? Baffling.

I presume you wrote this to goad us into responding, as of course Italy invented and makes the best) pizza, and Belgium is supposedly at the origin of (and has the nest) fries. Those aren't American inventions at all.

Having lived in Suffolk County for 8 years in the 80’s, I can say that pizza in the U.K. has come a long way. On our most recent road trip in Scotland we had some fantastic pizza at 2 of our stops.

In Glasgow: Paesano Pizza

In Inverness: Black Isle Bar & Rooms

Both places were packed with waiting lines.

Some years ago I was in the UK on a choir tour, and we did home stays. I stayed with a lovely family in Colwyn Bay, Wales, and the first night at dinner they asked me what my favorite food was. I responded pizza.

The next night they made me pizza. My memory may be making it worse than it actually was, but it wasn't very different from a slice of toast topped with ketchup and cheddar cheese. Of course I ate it and told them how good it was.

If still at The Mitre on Saint Mary’s Axe in Richmond, Edgar makes a great pizza. The place is home to the best pub dog, Rudi.

https://themitretw9.co.uk/

it wasn't very different from a slice of toast topped with ketchup and cheddar cheese

Lane, that sounds a lot like a Polish zapiekanka, available from stands on the sidewalk in Warsaw, and in train/bus stations around the country. Apparently they’re beloved by some Poles, as a nostalgic throwback to Communist times when food shortages meant making do with what could be scrounged up. I was presented one on a food tour last May. I took a bite but I didn’t finish it, and pitched it in the first trash can I could find.

I’ll head to Britain for a pizza before I get a “pizza” in Poland!

I often dip my pizza crust in Ranch if at home, and I'm Gen X (old enough to remember when Ranch was a brand new mix-your-own thing). The whole slice, though? No.

Then again, I don't live anywhere near Denver!

The best pizza-and the most original I've had was in Todos Santos, Mexico. The toppings were pear and gorgonzola. My wife recreated it and we often make it at home. If you want to talk hamburgers though, the best burger I ever had was in London at a Gordon Ramsey restaurant.

Does London have good pizza? Yes, and we have a lot of Italians in London so they’ve brought their skills with them! But do I personally prefer the NY style pizza you can pick up with your hands? Also yes- and works much better as a snack than something you have to sit at a table with a knife and fork to eat. Montreal pizza hasn’t come up yet but that is another favourite of mine (not sure if it still costs 99 cents).

The best pizza we ever had was, weirdly, at 11:00 pm from a food truck on a dark street near our hotel in Prague in 2003.
We had just arrived, were starving and came across this pizza truck.
There were a few young guys hanging around it smoking dope and having a good time.
Perhaps it was just because we were so hungry, but I still remember how good it was to this day!

We were just in Naples and Rome.
Naples pizza is a softer slice, hence the knife and fork. If you do pick it up you have to fold the bottom onto the slice.
Rome has a crisper crust and you can pick it up.
But the best pizza is what you grew up with. Living in Brooklyn, I just have to walk a block or two in any direction and I can find a good slice.
But please, leave off the weird toppings. All a good slice needs is sauce, oregano, and cheese.

But please, leave off the weird toppings.

OK, but all bets are off if you think pineapple is a weird topping.

Mango? Dragon fruit? Spam? Vegemite? Nutella? Key Lime? Pizza-flavored chips?

Thousand Island (not Ranch) dressing?

Wonder which London pizzerias have these cutting-edge toppings/dips?

Speaking of cutting edge, is there anyone else whose mother used scissors to cut pizza?

Well, having now watched the Le Marche episode of Tucci in Italy, recorded earlier in get week, there was a very intriguing pizza topped with zucchini blossoms and cheese! No Ranch dressing was visible in the footage.

Maybe a London pizza could have English roses?

I've just returned from a month in pizza-centrale: Naples, birthplace of pizza. I can say with some authority now where the best pizza in Naples is. It's the one closest to where every you're staying.

....maybe you think of Chicago. Many people rave about deep-dish pizza, but I'm not a fan (it seems too much like a casserole.) I agree with President Obama, who has said he prefers tavern-style. On our recent visit to Chicago, we found the perfect solution: Professor Pizza in the Second City building, which offers five crust styles, from thin to deep dish. We chose the mid-range, Grandma Style, and had a splendid pie. They even stored our leftovers to pick up after the show. Highly recommend!