Wednesday, June 18, 2008

What's your favorite pizza place of all time?

Story on Yahoo! names best pizza place in the country. Guess what? It's not in New York. It's in Phoenix. Click here for the story.

My favorite pizza isn't in NY either. It's a local chain in my native Dayton, Ohio area. Marion's Piazza. Marion's makes thin-crust pie cut into little squares. Closest comparison -- though not nearly as good -- is Donato's. For one thing, it's not just carry out either. I love the location in my hometown, Beavercreek, for its throw-back yellow, orange and green 70s decor and game room for passing the time while you wait on your order.

This is how much I love Marion's:

When returning from a college internship in France -- home to some pretty tasty bread and cheese -- I made my Dad stop at Marion's on the way home from the airport.

When traveling to a wedding in Columbus in 2006 I worked in a side trip to Dayton just for Marion's. I wanted my husband -- a Chicago pizza guy -- to try it and I was pregnant and having a fierce craving.

So what's your favorite pizza of all time?

112 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bella's in Banner Elk, North Carolina!!!!

-KJB

Anonymous said...

House of Pizza!

Anonymous said...

Giordanos in Chicago.

http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/eatarkansas/Image/giordanos.jpg

http://www.medillcherubs.org/play/hangouts/giordanos.jpg


My Little Pizzeria in Brooklyn.

http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/images/real%20Brooklyn%20pizza.jpg

Anonymous said...

Angelina's - Medford, MA

Anonymous said...

Blondies Pizza, Berkeley,CA

Anonymous said...

Tommy's Pizza in Gettysburg PA

Anonymous said...

Zachary's Chicago Pizza in Oakland, CA. Soooooo good!

Anonymous said...

DeFelice's in Shadyside, Ohio--and all around the Valley

Anonymous said...

Elementary school cafeteria pizza

Eric said...

O'scugnizzo's Pizzeria Utica NY

Its so old school!! Cheese under the sauce and crisp but not to thin crust. I may have to order a couple after thinking about it!!

HISTORY
O'scugnizzo Pizzeria was founded in 1914 by Eugeno Burlino. He only sold tomato pie (a pizza without mozzarella cheese) and they only cost a nickel. He was then succeeded by his son, Angelo "Chops" Burline, who made O'scugnizzo what it is today. Almost 90 years later, O'scugnizzo is still in business in the beautiful city of Utica and is now run by his son Steven Burline.

ARE YOU, OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW, JUST DYING FOR AN O'SCUGNIZZO PIZZA?
Now you can have an O'scugnizzo pizza sent directly to your door through our O'scugnizzo shipping service. We can ship a pizza to anyone, anywhere in the continental U.S. Imagine, that one of a kind taste of an O'scugnizzo pizza fresh from the oven at your kitchen table. We will send you a bake-at-home pizza with the toppings of your choice, ready for the oven. All you have to do is bake it, sauce it, cut it, and eat it. It's that simple! Check out our order page, where you can order online or download an order form.

Eric said...

Oops...

http://www.uticapizza.com/orderpizza.cfm

Anonymous said...

Moretti's in the Edison Park area of Chicago...

Anonymous said...

I 2nd Giordanos in Chicago. My stomach is aching just thinking about that deep dish pizza!!!

Grotto's Pizza at Harvey's Lake (in PA) is my home area favorite.

Anonymous said...

I'm partial to anything Chicago. Grew up on Home Run Inn pizza, and thank the lawdie Harris Teeter sells the frozen HRI stuff. Still better than anything in Charlotte (and yes, including Uno's, whose service was never EVER up to snuff). To be fair, there was a good NYC-style place that shut down in South End a few years ago, behind the former Pancake House. Good stuff there.

Anonymous said...

Godfather's Pizza, Fayetteville, circa 1983. Of course, they're gone now.

Anonymous said...

Lou Malnati's in Chicago ... the best thick-crust pizza you will ever have.

Anonymous said...

Bill's Pizza Pub in the countryside outside of Randleman, N.C.. Their Pizza pub special was thin crust and cut into little squares like your Marion's pizza. The topping layer on it is about an inch thick. I haven't been there in years, so I hope it's still there.

Anonymous said...

I like Donatos here in southpark area ; Back in Columbus, Ohio I really like Tommys on lane avenue they too cut it in squares and the crust is flour water cracker dough Dam is it great; I load up on it and bring some to Charlotte in a cooler and pull the shades and unplug the phone when I eat it. Its like having an orgasm when eating Tommys.

Anonymous said...

there is a place in stallings called New york pizza thats really good I was impressed on Johns rd. Want really great barbeque try JIMS and nicks from ALABAMA on steele creek rd. the place is packed and have eaten there four times already Its the best eating place I have had in six years here. Try it and dont mind the wait its worth it.

Anonymous said...

When I go back to Columbus i get an ardon over the great food there like GREATERS ice cream noted in Oprah show; Skyline chilli in Cincinatti and Columbus and el vaqureos a real Mexican eating place; This city is pathethic 100,000 thousand Mexicans and 350 restaraunts that are Mexicna and Mexicans tell me none are any good. That sucks big ones.

Anonymous said...

Folks Charlotte is a second class city thats why the food is just now taking off ; most People came down here years ago couldnt find a job and decided that everybody eats food but they want great food and not mediocre food; Suppliers were not great either in Charlotte; You got what Harris Teeter got meat that didnt quite make it across the road and scrapped off and quick frozen.

Anonymous said...

Many eating houses go bankrupt and then the owners try to fake like they have been kidknapped becuase they want the Restaruant suppliers to not knock them off or bust their legs, I talked to a supplier and he said " not many make it here' People in Charlotte are fickle they eat at one place and move to another like gazzells or a heard of buffalo.

Anonymous said...

I gave up on pizza for 6 years until Donatos came here. Pizza here for years sucked I waited until I went back to Columbus but People here still eat fried chicken and mashed taters; Its all Grease fried and thats why Many People cant think right the mind has crisco build up you know the same thing the movie Delivernace used to grease to pig. You know sqeual like a pig squeal like a pig. Southerners like to take us Yankees for canoe trips.

Anonymous said...

Remember Deliverance the movie where New Yorkers went canoing and then ran into some Moon shining boys back in the outbacks I can hear banjos playin' Man that movie scared me about the South for a long time.

Ben, Jen, Eliana and Bella too! said...

Rofini's Pizza (Westerville, Ohio- my home town)

Donato's next

Anonymous said...

I thought the Deliverance guys were from Atlanta.

Best pizza I ever had was this dive in Belleville, IL (outside St. Louis). It had a very thin crust. For the life of me I can't remember the name. Does anyone else out there know who I'm talking about?

Anonymous said...

Amy = a broken record.

Anonymous said...

Pizza Peel in Cotswold, best BBQ Chicken pizza ever. And the best Greek salad I've ever had

Anonymous said...

Ray's Original Pizza in New York city. I really miss Ray's

Anonymous said...

amy until DONATOS got here all pizza tastes like dog doo doo ; Some New Yorkers said : nothing tastes like back home; And look assholes just because you cant find a job or your job throws you out into the street like many do here . Dont start a restaraunt unless you have experience you 'll find People will boycott you if your GAY, GAMBLE or dont go to a SATANIC Temple stop serving up your idea of food
signed Yankee from Ohio

Anonymous said...

People come here and think the restaraunt Business is easy and there isnt enough People to spend in yur place ; People are house and car poor . They buy BMWs and eat at Mc Dees I see it all day long. Restaraunts are shutting down daily because People dont know what they are doing and People wont work there. So forget it in Charlotte. Its bad enough as it is.

Anonymous said...

More grease Pits close down because their customers have to go to the hospital daily. I have seen Restaraunts open and close like within 30 days ; let the experts do this and stop trying to start cooking something your dog wont even eat; Go to France and learn how first or pick up a copy of the movie "ratoulie".

Anonymous said...

Look you Yankee boy from Ohio , My momma cooks the best chiken the world has ever eaten. She uses Motor oil light weight so dont tell us Southerns how to cook. Look at K&W cafetiria we deep fry everything and most of are customers are now dead . Afetr we use da Motor oil to fry da chiken we use it in our cars. and they go really fast.

Anonymous said...

I Love NY Pizza, Franklin Street is my favorite. BUT, Louisa's is fantastic as well.

Anonymous said...

I like Wolfman Pizza. They have pizza nobody else does and it tastes great.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Pizza Slice
in Red Bank, New Jersey!

I miss that pizza...

Anonymous said...

Andy's Pizza - Raleigh NC

http://www.theoriginalandyspizza.com/Home_Page.html

Anonymous said...

Wolfman pizza, or Vegie Pizza's from local stores. No shipping charges.

Anonymous said...

Has anyone tried T-Bones On The Lake on Lake Wylie? They now have pizza on the back of the menu, crispy crust, great pesto. $11.99 and enough for 2 people. AWESOME PIZZA!!!

Anonymous said...

Wow, yet another article with ties to NY... Nobody ever associates pizza with NY. I am about to give up on this column. Is this supposed to be a support system for east coast transplants? How about more on local food to educate all of the transplants. I'm a transplant myself however I WANT to learn about Charlotte and not everywhere else!!

Anonymous said...

Luna Pizza - Simsbury, CT

Anonymous said...

DiCarlo's Pizza in the Wheeling WV area.

Anonymous said...

Lilly's Pizza in Raleigh.

All organic ingredients and they have some of the most interesting toppings.

BC said...

Back in College I used to love getting a Pesto Sauce Pizza with Pepperoni on it at Mellow Mushroom. Maybe not the best pizza place ever, but the pesto sauce and the crust they serve is hard to beat.

Anonymous said...

Locally - Sit my happy ass at Brixx, draft beer and pizza, the perfect combination. Nationally, it's a toss up between the original Uno's in Chicage and Gino's in Brewster Ny.

Anonymous said...

pizza hut... just kidding! anywhere in chicago, preferably giordano's or lou malnati's. just can't beat it.

Anonymous said...

Barro's Pizza in Phoenix, AZ or John's Pizzeria in Calumet City, IL

Anonymous said...

Pizza Papalis in the Detroit area has an awesome deep dish. I prefer it over anything I have had in Chicago.

There also was [probably still there] a great little place on Main Street in Royal Oak. Think it was called Amici's...next to Holiday Market.

Anonymous said...

"Nobody ever associates pizza with NY".. Are you serious? Next you'll tell us that nobody ever associates money with Wall Street.

Grimaldi's in Brookyln puts all others to shame.

Anonymous said...

Well at least she didn't call it "pie".

Anonymous said...

Charlotte is to pizza what George W. Bush is to brains.

Anonymous said...

My kitchen...because my wife makes an awesome Buffalo Chicken pizza.

Cranky One said...

I'm 64 and grew up in Forest Hills, between Pittsburgh and East Pittsburgh. In all my years (almost 64), I've never had better pizza than at Vincent's, right at the border of Forest Hills and East Pittsburgh on US Rte 30. It fed me in my youth and was still there when I went back 30+ years later in the 90's. Even Vincent was still there, although he looked a bit shopworn. Fantastic pizza, better than New York.

Anonymous said...

Vincent's was and still is burnt slop. Garbage food.

Anonymous said...

I just tried Doughgodz Pizza in the Dilworth area. That is GREAT pizza! Best I've had in Charlotte.

SeaShark said...

DETELLO'S PIZZA & PASTA in Eden Prairie, MN and SAMMY'S WOODFIRED PIZZA in San Diego, CA.

Anonymous said...

www.toolatealreadytookovercharlotte.com

Anonymous said...

RE: "Nobody ever associates pizza with NY".. Are you serious? Next you'll tell us that nobody ever associates money with Wall Street

Have you ever heard of sarcasm...?

Anonymous said...

I know, lets not hide anymore, why don't we just publish an article on "our favorite NY restaurants" or maybe "It's a shame the Yankees can't call Charlotte home too".

There are many good local and Southern places to eat around here, why don't we focus on that for "Living Here"!

Anonymous said...

There are many good local and Southern places to eat around here, why don't we focus on that for "Living Here"!

Great idea! Unfortunately for all of us, these yankees don't want to focus on "Living Here" and instead want to focus on

a) How There was better than Here, and
b) How to change Here to resemble There.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I have heard of sarcasm... I was being sarcastic in my original post. (...wall street...)

Anonymous said...

It's time for the local Southerners and "new" southerners alike to appreciate what is already here instead of trying to make Charlotte like other cities in the North. This means that Southerners need to preserve their culture and transplants need to appreciate what the South has to offer. If I were to move to Brooklyn, I wouldn't complain that I couldn't find a good piece of cornbread...

I'll take the Midwestern transplants over the East Coast folks any day. At least they're not as pushy and uptight!

Anonymous said...

But you can get cornbread in Brooklyn.

Anonymous said...

No, ALL the cornbread in Brooklyn sucks. Those backwards hick Brooklyn natives need to wake up and move on. I'm from the South, the entire South, so that means I KNOW cornbread. And ALL cornbread in Brooklyn sucks. It makes me want to kill everyone in Brooklyn its so bad.

I can't believe they don't know how to make cornbread up there, how could they not know how to make cornbread?? Did I mention ALL cornbread in Brooklyn sucks?

Anonymous said...

Did someone mention you need to refill your medications?

Anonymous said...

I've been here 21 years now. Moved down from Long Island. I cannot believe that people STILL get all worked up over this North/South crap.

Move on already. What's it going to say on your gravestone ?

Here lies _________, he hated the Yankee, end of story.

What a legacy.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps if the yankees didn't come down to "enlighten" and change all of us and where we live we could get over it. If you can't accept the South for what it is and it's people, move back or don't come down at all!!

Anonymous said...

RE:"But you can get cornbread in Brooklyn."

You can, but I was referring to something as good as here in the South. I'm sure you can find a good hotdog or piece of pizza on the west coast but I would prefer to get that in NY...

Anonymous said...

I've been here 21 years now. Moved down from Long Island. I cannot believe that people STILL get all worked up over this North/South crap.

We've been fighting carpetbaggers since 1865. What makes you think that we're going to stop now?

If it bothers you that much then 'Delta is ready when you are.'

Anonymous said...

Amen!!

Anonymous said...

To the victor goes the spoils. The South is rightfully Yankee land.

Anonymous said...

You know what I like? It's when I meet someone with a Southern accent and find out that they moved here from NY a few years ago... How come I never hear about anyone moving north for retirement??

Anonymous said...

...same reason why there are no Ivy League Universities in the South.

Anonymous said...

Carpetbaggers joined forces with the Southern white Republican party. Go ahead and look it up Bozo.

As much as you complain and hate anyone not like you or born on the same spec of dust you were I am about 99% sure you are a Republican douchebag.

So go ahead and blame your party for everything. The rest of us do.

Anonymous said...

Carpetbaggers joined forces with the Southern white Republican party. Go ahead and look it up Bozo.

I guess that you are too dense to realize that the Republican and Democratic parties of 140 years ago do not resemble the parties of today. Moreover, there are major differences between the national Democratic party and many white Democrats in the South. Plenty of white Southerners vote Democrat in local and state elections and Republican in national elections.

Anonymous said...

RE: ...same reason why there are no Ivy League Universities in the South.

Wow and the southerners are supposed to be the slow ones... Ever hear of Tulane University??

Anonymous said...

LOL... Tulane

One word... Harvard... discussion over.

Anonymous said...

Tulane is not Ivy League.

Anonymous said...

One word... Harvard... discussion over.

If any of you Yankees stood a chance of getting into Harvard, or even UNC Chapel Hill, then you may have a decent point. As it stands all of you SUNY Buffalo, Rutgers, and Kent State grads just make me laugh.

Anonymous said...

Harvard, Yale, Princeton... I see a pattern here... hmmmmm

Anonymous said...

Harvard, Yale, Princeton... I see a pattern here... hmmmmm

...writes the high school dropout.

For the record, the geographic diversity of Harvard's class of 2010 is representative of the entire US.

"Geographical representation remained similar to last year. More than 25 percent of the admitted students reside in the mid-Atlantic; 21 percent are from the Western and Mountain states; 16 percent from New England; 16 percent from the South; 11 percent from the Midwest; and 10 percent from the U.S. territories and abroad."

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/04.06/03-admissions.html

Anonymous said...

Wow, Southern boy has really got to get a life and take some anger management classes. What a tool. His childish rants prove that he is the high school drop out.

Anonymous said...

Harvard...

16% from the South (207 million people)...

...same 16% from New England. (16 million)

Yup... sure is a pattern.

Adam Butler said...

Another vote for Pizza Papalis in Detroit. It's the best pizza on the planet. All other pizza is heinous compared to Pizza Papalis.

Anonymous said...

Yup, leave it to the good ol' East Coast Northerners to get their hair up on yet another topic. If you can't relax here in the South, why don't you back up to where everyone is as uptight as you. Take a couple of your "NY Style" pizza joints with you too.

Anonymous said...

If they leave they take their money with them... then the local economy collapses. You can't contend in the global economy when all you have is chicken shacks and bisquit parlors.

Anonymous said...

Pizza joints are the northern equivalent of chicken shacks and buscuit parlors. Comfort food.

Anonymous said...

I think we'll do just fine without the Yanks from NY.

Anonymous said...

What is a "bisquit"? Is that the yankee equivalent of a biscuit?

Anonymous said...

Mack and Mancos on the Ocean City, NJ boardwalk...the BEST!

http://www.mackandmancos.com/

A close second is my own done on the grill. Take Trader Joes pizza dough, roll it out, throw it on the grill, flip it, put on favorite toppings, grill other side, cut, and eat!!!

Anonymous said...

My dad's favorite pizza place in Paglia's Pizza in Iowa City, Iowa.

Anonymous said...

Archie's pizza in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Anonymous said...

Amazing how this southern hick is still fighting the civil war. And then he wonders why America laughs at the south.

Anonymous said...

I agree that Marion's is some good pizza

Anonymous said...

Stupid southerners. It's no wonder we won the war! Your little town of Charlotte sucks. HAHAHAHAH

Anonymous said...

Franklin St Pizza & Pasta in Chapel Hill makes this amazing white pizza with fresh tomato slices, I think feta cheese, and a little spinach? It's so so good. I miss it :-/ Louisa's muffaletta pie is great. Pretty much anything from Portofino's. Amalfi near UNCC has something called the Caeser's pie, I think, that is interesting. Nothing will ever compare to what I had in Naples, Italy but oh well.

Anonymous said...

Upstate Pizza at the corner of Park Rd & 51 is the best I have had in Charlotte. Their other menu items are delicious as well.

Anonymous said...

J & G Pizza in Bricktown, New Jersey

Anonymous said...

Mio Posto in Charlotte. That was some top notch Italian food straight from Brooklyn, NY.

Unfortunately they ended up closing down due in part to the people of Charlotte having no taste for Italian food and no loyality to a family that always went out for their way for the customer.

Anonymous said...

Vinny's New York Pizza in Sierra Vista, Arizona.

Anonymous said...

Napoli's Pizzeria in Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia.

Anonymous said...

I have to laugh.....

only in Charlotte could a blog about pizza turn into a north south think.

To the southrns... grow up and get over it.

To the northerns... stop wasting your time trying to talk with the ignorant.

Joey's Pizzeria in Manahawken, New Jersey

Anonymous said...

To the Southerners... never, never, never quit.

To the yankees... stop wasting your time trying to turn Charlotte into the hell holes that you escaped.

New Jersey sucks.

Anonymous said...

To the southerners: Your ancestors quit 140 years ago. They got over it you should to.

To the Northerners: Do not worry. Charlotte was a dump hick town way before any of us started to move down. You just can not educate the ignorant.

Like I said… only southerners could find a way to make an issue about a conversation about pizza.

Anonymous said...

"Like I said… only southerners could find a way to make an issue about a conversation about pizza."

That is why I love the Charlotte blogs. No matter what the topic it is from gas prices to history, housing, jobs and the cost of living. To football team draft choices it always seems that somehow the northerners are at fault.

Anonymous said...

I must agree with the above comment. As a Southerner, the South really needs to get the chip off their shoulder about the whole Civil War. It is a very important part of our culture and history and we need to continue to learn about and honor it.

My ancestors fought in the Civil War and when the war was over they became citizens of the United States of America and moved on with their lives. Many men and women, both North and South fought and died for what they believed in, right or wrong. Both sides should be honored for their sacrifice and bravery to their respective governments. I have been in the north many times and the people up there do not sit around all day making comments about the Civil War or complaining about how Southerners should go back to where they came from. I have heard Southerners, in the north, brag about what state they are from and the good things that come from there. So, why is it ok for Southerners to brag about the South when they are up north but not ok for Northerners to brag about the north when they are in the South?

To this day my family still serves this Country proudly never forgetting their heritage or history, just not harping on it.

Anonymous said...

As a Southerner, the South really needs to get the chip off their shoulder about the whole Civil War.

If you were a real Southerner you would understand that the resentment of yankees has less to do with the Civil War than grief we've taken in the 140+ years since.

Cass A. Nova said...

Sami's Pizza with 2 locations in Syracuse, New York and one in Cary,North Carolina.

Anonymous said...

Pizza, Etc over on Albermarle Rd was always my favorite. It has long ago closed.

And, perhaps more importantly, why is it that when 21st century Southerners complain about the current bad attitude and behavior of 21st century Yankees it has anything to do with a 19th century war? Why do the accusations fly about "still fighting the Civil War" when, in fact, the genesis of the enmity has nothing to do with the issues of that conflict and everything to do with the way things are RIGHT NOW!?

That said, and this is a purely contemporary viewpoint wholly divorced from the Late Unpleasantness...Yankees GO HOME!

Anonymous said...

Monical's Pizza in the midwest is the absolute best!!

Jaes McLeod said...

Elizabeth's Pizza - Greensboro, or is it Cardaliccio's in Boston...toss up?

Anonymous said...

As a soon to be resident of Charlotte (and I'm terrified now to tell you where I'm coming from), could someone recommend a pizza place in and around Charlotte?