General

I pretty much like it all. Pizza is fantastic, just like burritos. You can eat it without utensils. The toppings can be switch up depending on your preference or mood. It's hearty enough to satisfy my hunger.

I agree mostly. I want my pizza hard so its not flopping but not a rock. I love sauce no matter the sauce. I dont like taking a bite and searching for sauce in each bite. I like hand tossed crust but dont mind deep dish, or pan or thin. As for toppings? My all time favorite will be buffalo chicken. But my age is catching up to me and cant handle it like i used to so i just do pepperoni to be basic.

Been digging Detroit-style pan pizza.

Thin or New York style, supreme or just veggies without pepperoni, white, green, brown and red sauce okay as long as not to sweet. I like my pizza crunchy as well.

Sun wrote:
What's that?

ued222 wrote:
Super crunchy like a cracker? Or is that too much crunch?

I can't really think of examples on how to measure crispyness/crunch.

Maybe 1 is a light crisp, almost like a very lightly toasted piece of bread, and 10 is a very bitey snappy crunch?

I'm not too picky with pizza and like most kinds, but if I'm getting to choose...

-Thin or regular crust (thin if I HAVE to choose a favorite)
-EXTRA sauce (most places put very little sauce. The amount they put on after I request extra is what should be the normal amount, IMO)
-not too big, I can't stand those huge pizzas where a slice is like a foot long and becomes all floppy and hard to handle
-not too greasy
-a light to normal amount of cheese, definitely not extra
-stuffed crust is yummy if it's an option

For toppings, I mostly prefer meats, any meat really. Not a big fan of veggies on my pizza, but I can eat mushrooms, onions, and jalapenos. Pineapple is out of the question.

Locally Godfather's Taco Pizza
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Not Locally Giordano's Chicago Style
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I like my pizzas thick. None of that St. Louis style topped cracker, but as many have said I'll eat just about any style. Meat is my go to with sausage usually being my favorite. Chicken-bacon is also a good combo. Oddly enough Pizza Hut's seasoned pork might be my all time favorite, but Pizza Hut's pizzas aren't great and our local one doesn't honor nationwide sales.

Thin crust supreme, with extra mushrooms and extra onion.

Sun wrote:
Thanks for the link. I've been watching videos in order to differentiate between Detroit style and deep dish. Gotta say, Detroit style looks delicious.

As much cheese as humanly possible. On the pizza, in the crust, with a cheese dipping sauce on the side.

Pizza Hut's Triple Decker Pizza from the late 1990s was the pinnacle of pizzadom.

Wood fire oven, cooked in like 4 minutes or less. Crust should be relatively thin with a crunch but still chewy. Sauce should be spicy. There should be a ratio of crust thickness to the meat and cheese and sauce. The thicker it is the more meat and cheese.

A pan style is my next favorite. That should have lots of meat and cheese and sauce,

KCPenguins wrote:


Just throwing it out there, if you haven't tried Lou Malnatis deep dish, you're doing yourself a huge disservice.

SublimeFan wrote:


I've only been to Chicago a few times and I haven't made it there. The first two times I went I had never heard of Lou's, and the third time I couldn't make it work as I was at the mercy of coworkers. It's on the list.

Thankfully there is a Giordano's only a couple hours away.

KCPenguins wrote:
That looks sooooo good. 🤤

@bill what is Greek pizza? It has olives and olive oil on it?

@Chad

Interesting that you mentioned the sauce being spicy. There was a store near me, not open anymore, that had a sauce that had a kick to it. It was very good.

I've found that more often than not, the sauce isn't spicy.

benstylus wrote:
Don't forget to ask for extra cheese on top of that slice before they heat it up.

nonamesleft wrote:


On the crust as well!

KCPenguins wrote:
😆

I can only think of a way to add even more cheese: after everything above is done, place cheese in a pan, place the slice on top of the cheese, then place cheese against all of the edges of the slice. Then stick the pan in an oven.

Deep dish pizza is delicious, but it isn't pizza. It's a casserole.

I used to like thick, fluffy crust (think DiGiorno's without the memory foam) but in my old age, I prefer either Neopolitan style with the charred chewy thin crust, or New York style.

Thin crust. Just enough to be a vehicle for the sauce and toppings. I don't like feeling as if I'm eating a loaf of bread. I hate if the crust is burnt/charred, however. Golden brown and crispy - not incinerated.

Oh, and the pizza needs sauce! And no gobs of greasy cheese - the kind that's a giant slab that slides off the crust with my first bite. Ugh.

So I’m a sucker for a classic slice. If I hit up like a chain pizzeria I mess with toppings and from a regular pizzeria occasionally I’ll do a pepperoni or a meatball, rarely a buffalo chicken. But there is something about the absolute perfection and simplicity of an essentially 3 ingredient pie.

Ideally eaten 5-7 mins after it comes out of the oven so it’s had some time to settle, and certainly not long enough for there to be a chill in the slice and I’m weirdly a single cook pizza person. That’s not to say I wouldn’t ever reheat a slice but I am of the opinion that no matter what your method is of reheating a slice of pizza once it’s chilled down from its original cook can never be reconstituted into the form of it’s former glory.

Now keep in mind I live in NY and have Lived on the Queens/Nassau border- mostly central Nassau County most of my life so there is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to having glorious, trustworthy pizzerias in absolute abundance but here are my go to’s:

Regular Slice
Frantoni’s (the Friday night pizza in my house growing up and still go out of my way to grab a fresh slice here)
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Grandma Slice (thin crispy Sicilian style pizza. I don’t know what they do to these tomatoes here but the explosion of flavor from them is simply unmatched.
Da’Angelos
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Sicilian(More of a traditional NY deep dish but not the preposterous casserole style of Chicago) Its crispy on the bottom, light and pillowy/airy in the middle and this particular slice from Gino’s in Williston Park has just a touch of cheese on top that’s mostly parmesan/pecorino Romano.

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Still venture here to this day for this slice. Enjoyed many a slice after little league games here as a kid.


Now to be fair all 3 of these places are in the same general neighborhood Williston Park/Albertson and have been owned and operated by the same families since I was a little kid. So the idea that they have maintained their greatness over generations is both impressive and comforting to me.

There are at least 20/30 other pizzerias I can rely on if I’m over that way for a dependable, solid slice of pizza that are worthy of honorable mentions but since most of you aren’t local I’ll spare you the monotony of listing them here.

Nothing beats an amazing stuffed pizza. The only thing I've seen come close yet never had is a stuff pizza with a pizza on top of the stuffed pizza stuffed crust style. But i mean cook time and heat variance on that is super risky because your top is going to cook at a such higher rate that the actual stuffing.so naturally if you were to do or attempt it you don't want the stuffing to be overbalanced, but you also don't want the weight to cave in from making the adjustment on top. Plus you are already double doughing sao you have to deal with making sure your top dough level cooks enough to create a solid foundation for your next level. it's pretty tricky.

Pizza preference is usually meat lovers chicken hot or bbq. Pepperoni Bacon Sausage usually, white sauce *a good white pie is fantastic.* No mushrooms anchovies pineapple is disgusting on a pizza for all of you who think thats appropriate. Very picky vegetable eater. Prefer mine diced mostly onions and peppers. As i've gotten older I've taken more of a liking to spinach pies on white and just make a combination of that.

A good pie is how its made vs the skill level of its maker and the product involved. if you know what you are doing pizza is effortless, but their is a science to making it correctly whether you want to believe it or not.

Also a big fan of a solid tomato pie or grandma's pie depending on the location.

Looks close enough. the classic rectangular Little Caesars is considered Detroit style, I believe.

HEHEHATE wrote:
Spinach pizza is good. I don't usually see the stuffed slices around. I've had it before. Crust on bottom, crust on top, stuffed with toppings in the middle. The top is almost like a pie crust. Crispy and baked well.

Never had a tomato pie. I know I can look it up but since we're on topic here, what is it?

@Prime

Thanks for that thorough post and adding the pictures. Pictures go a long way describing pizza.

See now I like mushrooms on my pizza but almost exclusively from the chain pizza places. Because for some reason they get in fresh mushrooms and chop them thin and they cook the flavor in. And all these like thousands of “real” pizzerias tend to used canned mushrooms which are always sour and totally schkeeve me out.

I have had a Hawaiian pizza and a bbq chicken pizza both with pineapples. Neither were favorites of mine but wasn’t like hell on earth either. I’m a little bit of a pizza snob but also like American in the regard that I feel like you should be able to top your pizza with any topping you want, so if you want pineapples on your pizza and it makes you happy go for it, certainly doesn’t bother me.

I came up with this a while back. Idk what triggered the thought. I guess that I don’t enjoy broccoli on pizza in any capacity. I may have even posted it to Random Pic Thread way back but it seems appropriate to post here

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Prime wrote:


I guess I have to go try broccoli pizza now.

When did artichoke hearts become a thing on pizza? They aren't every where, but they are no longer what I would consider a rare ingredient.

Chad wrote:
That's a thing? Haven't seen it anywhere. But I've had artichoke before, and I can see the subtle earthy taste pairing well with pizza.

Prime wrote:

If he were talking to me, I wouldn't survive the conversation. A white pizza with broccoli is amazing.

A white pizza with broccoli rabe is transcendent.

Renaissance2K wrote:
Interesting that you mention white pizza. Someone told me recently that they had an excellent white spinach slice. Does white pizza just mean no sauce, or is it a different kind of cheese?

A white slice is traditionally a plainish crust sometimes lightly spiced and flavored with olive oil salt and garlic almost focaccia like. Baked off about half way, then dollops of ricotta cheese are scattered about and the remaining surface area filled in with mozzarella cheese and baked off to finish. Usually with some finely chopped basil at the end. Can be a mess can also be kind of nice. It really boils down to your position on ricotta cheese.

@Renaissance2K I like to see people enjoy themselves. So if you love broccoli go for it. I like broccoli as a stand alone veggie with protein for dinner. I’m just of the opinion that once you introduce broccoli to a dish that is now all I can taste. Similarly to bacon. I love bacon as its own stand alone thing and occasionally I think it’s a good compliment in dishes but mostly I find it overwhelms whatever it’s introduced to and totally dominates.

Prime wrote:
Thanks for the explanation.

Ricotta is nice. Though, speaking of ricotta, I once made a lasagna for the family using ricotta, around 5-7 years ago I'd say. I thought the lasagna was merely okay. But one person still raves about it occasionally, saying it was one of the best lasagnas. Funny enough, I've tried lasagna made by that person, and it was WAY better than the one that I made. I'd rate that one an 8/10, and mine I'd rate a 6/10. The compliments I was given said otherwise, but I don't understand it. When it was being eaten and raved about, I even said it was wrong, that it didn't make sense, that their lasagna was so much better. You can't argue with taste. People like different things.

Prime wrote:
Maybe that's why he mentioned broccoli rabe. Maybe it's more mild. Is it? @Renaissance2k

nonamesleft wrote:

Broccoli rabe has a bitter, almost metallic flavor. The first few times I tried it, I thought it was disgusting, but then I strangely started to crave it. Now, it's my favorite vegetable.

It's an awesome contrast to a rich, creamy pizza, especially white pizza, but it's not for everyone. It doesn't have much in common with broccoli other than how it looks; it's technically part of the turnip family.

Bacon, Chicken, Red Onion, Pineapple, BBQ sauce.

Deep dish like Lou’s and Giordanos- doesn’t have a thick crust. It’s actually cracker thin. It’s just got a ton of cheese packed between the layers- definitely my favorite kind. I enjoy the floppy “NY” style as well.

KCPenguins wrote:


I would not call that "cracker thin". They may press it in the pan cracker thin, but it raises while baking.

On a side note, anyone try getting Lou's through the mail? I wonder how close it is to the real thing.

Edit: and what is recommended? I heard their sausage is tops.

KCPenguins wrote:

Giordanos crusts literally are cracker thin under and in the pizza. The edges are pretty thin too. They also don’t fully bake it so it’s gooey / dough inside. There is very little bread in there. Lou’s shipped is very fresh. We get one every Valentine’s Day.

So I watched a few videos on making "the greats" Chicago Style deep dish pizzas. Learned a lot. My first attempt was restaurant quality imo, and unhealthy as heck. Used my favorite dough, raised it to an almost air like quality, smashed it into a cast iron pan thin, like less than an 1/8 of an inch, and up the walls. Piled cheese, smashed a thin layer of uncooked Italian sausage, covered in sauce and more cheese. The cook was a bit tricky (not much), but everything was amazing. Not pre-cooking and draining the grease from the sausage adds so much flavor (and fat and calories). Honestly one of the best pizzas I've eaten.

KCPenguins wrote:
That's amazing! How does pizza dough work? It's like regular yeast dough that rises?

More details please about the whole process :)

@nonamesleft there are more than a handful of ways to make it depending on the style you’re going for. I don’t have a recipe for a traditional round pie kind of pizza dough but when I lived in the farm we experimented with home made pizzas and came up with a pretty bangin’ focaccia style dough that’s crispy on the top and bottom but fluffy and pillowy in the middle. I’m sure I have it in my notes in my phone if I look. Even a homemade pizza sauce is relatively easy to make with a few basic ingredients like Whole Plum tomatoes, fresh garlic and some basil (salt, pepper and a little olive oil of course too. I have like an elaborate Sunday Gravy recipe (I only call it gravy because that’s what my grandma called it, idc if people call it sauce or gravy) that’s the whole works- sausage, home made meatballs, sweet pork neck bones, and a lot more but that’s not for pizza. Let me know if you want my pizza crust recipe. Like the sauce it requires very few ingredients, not a ton of prep and basically just a greased heavy duty baking sheet or cast iron baking sheet.

@Prime It's 4:30 am and pizza making is being discussed... 😆

Definitely interested in the pizza crust recipe.

A focaccia style crust sounds very good.

KCPenguins wrote:
Thanks. Will give this a read later.

Pizza Dough

21 ounces bread flour
Teaspoon seasalt
3/4 teaspoon yeast
2.5 cups cold water

Combine well but don’t over mix. Ideally in a glass bowl.

Cover with saranwrap and cover with a dark towel and let sit 24 hours

use hot water instead of cold let sit an hour

Uncover. Knead lightly into greased pan. Drizzle with olive oil, herbs of choice, lightly roasted whole garlic cloves or a light dusting of granulated garlic and salt.

Bake 375 until top looks golden.

Prime wrote:
Thanks.

Any reason to not use hot water vs cold? Sounds convenient to lessen the waiting time to an hour.

@KCPenguins

Took a look at the recipe. Seems pretty straightforward. Was it good enough that you'd make it again?

I've made it plenty of times. Just be careful on how much you use and how thin you spread it. The first time I made it the crust was over an inch and a half thick in the middle.

@nonamesleft the cold and the 12 hour rest allows the yeast to do its thing I think. It’s my buddies recipe who’s a chef. Idk the actually reasons to be honest and it’s been so long since I made it I can’t tell if there was a taste difference.

I was raised on Old World pizza. Real Italian pizza; not Americanized pizza. My family has owned a pizza place for 75 years. They brought it to my hometown. People didn't even know what pizza was. My father was still in high school when his parents started the business. He said that they had to explain that what they were selling were "hot pies" because no one in the area knew what pizza was. Up until that point pizza had only been a delicacy. A special treat for a snack after dinner. People from the area either love my family's pizza or they hate it. There's no in between. It isn't an Americanized pizza and a lot of people can't deal with that. The crust is slightly sweet, rectangular, thin and with a bit of flop. I love it. I do eat Americanized pizza. There are some that are okay. I've been in the Midwest for 30 years and I haven't had a really good pizza since I've been out here. I don't like Chicago style; never did and they just don't do pizza like they do back east.I miss it. When I was in Minnesota I ordered and the pizza arrived cut as though it were a square pizza. What the hell? I'd never seen that before. My favorite was always pepperoni and then sausage and pepperoni. I quit eating meat again a while back so now I just do cheese & onions I rarely rarely eat pizza anymore because I can't get pizza I like. I did try pineapple on pizza ones. I was very surprised it was pretty good. I was put off by it when they told me there was pineapple on it. I had never heard of that either. It was pretty good. My friend made it homemade it wasn't from a restaurant so I don't know if that made a difference.

I am a fan of Ham and Pineapple Pizza (Hawaiian) My wife LOVES it but she is also a fan of Margarita thin crust.

I love deep dish but there is no place close to me that makes it, in fact one of the best deep dish pizza's I have had is from a shady little hotel out in the middle of no where. It's amazing lol Pizza from Chicago Deep Dish is another fave of mine.

Miranda wrote:
Your family has a pizza place? That's really cool. Did you work there?

Your pizza sounds great. A slightly sweet crust? Interesting. What gives the sweetness? Sugar? Apple juice?

I had pineapple on pizza once. I liked it. I don't understand the anger some people have when they talk about pineapple on pizza.

Finn wrote:
I think 🍍🍕 is decent. Had it once.

I'm not such a fan of deep dish though. Just too much crust going on to my liking.

nonamesleft wrote:
|.

Nope. Never officially. When I was little I did stuff like stock the cooler, price products, make boxes etc..


I honestly don't know. The only ones who know the dough recipe are my Dad & my brother who is now the VP. When my Nonie died my Dad moved up from VP & my brother moved up.


I was freaked out at first. It sounded gross, but I'm a very picky eater. Wasn't mad though. People have strong feelings about what things should & should not change or deviate from the norm.

benstylus wrote:


I go the opposite. Decent amount cheese... but there better be a good sauce ratio. Shove some hamburger or grilled chicken on that son of a dog.

theJaw wrote:
Very much agree with this. It's important to have a good sauce to cheese ratio. If you're going to increase the cheese, you should increase the sauce too.

Increase the ratio by adding cheese sauce.

KCPenguins wrote:
{imgt}https://giordanos.com/locations/img/gio-default.jp... 1000 750{imgt}

Planning on this for lunch this weekend!

KCPenguins wrote:
🤤🤤🤤😋 Looks incredible.

Decided to try a pizza place that's been in town since long before I moved out here 15 years ago, and I passed regularly on the way to work or church.

They had a menu item called the Chicago Stuffed pizza, so I ordered it, not really knowing what to expect.

I knew it would be something though because when they handed me the pizza box it was about four times heavier than I expected.

Got it home and opened the box...

image

Looks kinda like a deep dish, so I cut into it.

Simply too much cheese. I couldn't do it personally, but kudos.

theJaw wrote:

If such a thing exists, this would certainly qualify

benstylus wrote:
How was it?

nonamesleft wrote:

The post had a "nsfw" Spoiler tag. You can click it to find out

The first pic looked saucy, then the 2nd pic.... actually looked disgusting to me and I'd be afraid to eat that.

bill wrote:

Doing the right thing can often be frightening.

benstylus wrote:
Oh, right. Shirts flying off. 😅

Was it good enough that you'd buy it again?

nonamesleft wrote:


It wouldn't be my go-to every time I want pizza - having tried it now, I would say it's more of a special occasion food.

Thankfully I don't have to worry about it yet because it was so filling I still have about 2/3 of it left

benstylus wrote:


Just FYI stuffed pizza has a second crust on the top (super thin) to make it "sealed".

Only pointing out for those who don't know the difference, it's similar to a "double decker", although that usually has a thicker crust on top, stuffed is thinner on top like the one pictured here.

One of the hallmarks of Chicago pizza -according to certain snobs I’ve talked with -is how thin can you make the bottom and top crust. It’s there but you can’t tell if it’s done well. This is one of the biggest factors of the Lou’s vs Giordanos debate. Some say lous is not true chicago style because it’s just deep dish with heavier crust. I’ll take either any day.

SublimeFan wrote:

Yep, I learned this last night LOL

Feeb wrote:


Where is the second crust? Above the cheese and below the sauce? I've never noticed a second crust while eating Giordano's.

I assume it’s under the sauce above the cheese. You can kinda see layers when it sets overnight. I always thought it was just a giant mass of cheese and toppings.