I'm surprised no one has figured out yet to start a chain of "Original Ray's" Pizza on a national level -- though given the number of (excellent) New York pizzarias using that name, the legal hassles involved might be too much to surmount.

New York pizza is a but a weak imitation of Chicago's and suffices only for those trapped in the wrong time zone.

Chicago's is the worst thing I ever tasted--may as well just choke down a dough ball.

Plus it's geometrically incorrect.

Where did you eat?

Uno's?

Giordano's?

Philistine.

Besides, who eats the crust?

Fills one up too much, can't eat the good stuff.

they all suck. Chicago does hot dogs good--the rest not so good.

De gustibus non est disputandum, remember.

I've had good and bad pizza all over the world. What makes the difference is good, fresh ingredients, especially the cheeses.

Far be it from us poor ignorant Midwesterners to argue with the Vermonteers who are famous for, well, whatever it is it sure isn't Pizza. But New York style (which I've had in NY) isn't that great. It's greasy and the crust is chewy. Chicago style isn't all that either, and I've had good Deep Dish in Chicago (Geno's East) since I travel up there five or six times a year, but after eating even two slices I feel like I ate a brick. For me, it's St. Louis style thin crust. I like Provel better than Mozzarella, and the sauce is a little sweeter than average, put that togher with an Imo's special and you're talking Pizza!

"...may as well just choke down a dough ball"

The best Chicago pizza is not in Chicago. As anyone who has gone to the University of Illinois knows the best Chicago pizza is a "Papa Dels" pizza in Champaign,IL. BTW, if you find yourself in Chicago and still craving a great thin crust go to Romano's in Des Plaines, IL [suburb]. It puts to shame any "authentic" Napoli pizza I've found.

I'm a Chicago stuffed pizza fan, but it's not really pizza.

Orrin's not a Vermonter - he develops a rash if even he even comes close to the border. Of course, once Anschluss comes he'll be a Vermonter whether he likes it or not.

Personally, I think pizza snobs are just as tiresome as tea snobs or beer snobs. "Oh, you don't eat you food in exactly the same way I do? Phillistine!" Yeah yeah, it's all going to look the same coming out the other end so cram it down your gullet and leave me alone.

Vermont and NH have the world's best dairy and maple products as well as terrific fruits and vegetables. The nenison is good too if you can pry them out of you car grill and get then to your barbecue grill.

Beats doughing down a choke ball...

Hand tossed, thin crust pizza cooked on the cornmeal dusted floor of a Wood-fired, brick oven rules.

And what is this "VCR" of which you speak?

... the only one that matters is New York style.

Amen.

Grimaldi's, Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn.

Strangely, the best NY-style pizza I've found is at Mulberry Street Pizza in Beverly Hills...it's owned by NY-native and actress Cathy Moriarity, who isn't there much, but when she is can whip up a great pizza herself....

NY pizza is cheap trash. Chicago Pizza is too zealous and overdone. Poppa Rollo's - Waco, TX, seriously better than any pie I've ever tasted. Perfectly done.

Best pizza is indeed NY.

As David notes, Chicago stuffed pizza tastes good, it just ain't pizza. Chicago "thin crust," as they call, tastes like cardboard, and they don't cut it into proper slices.

I got so fed up with trying to find decent pizza here that I started making my own from scratch, which after 12 years of exile is nearly as good as the best NY pizza.

For those critical of NY pizza as greasy, you're just not eating it at the right places. A lot of standard corner pizzeria fare in NY isn't very good.

You have to go to classic places like John's on Bleecker, Grimaldi's (formerly called Patsy's) under the Bklyn Bridge, Lombardi's in Little Italy, and Totonno's in Coney Island (which was started in 1924 by a former pizaa maker at Lombardi's). I believe Totonno's also has opened some other locations in Manhattan. Arturo's on Houston St. is good too.

By the way, a special place in the lowest circle of hell is reserved for California pizza and its inventor Herr Puck.

OJ, you've got me thinking about maple flavored venison now, and I'm nearly Homeresque at the thought.

Dairy wise, yeah, sorry but I grew up five miles from a dairy farm. My Grandparents in Wisconsin ran a dairy farm. My cousins in Alabama had a Dairy farm, and so did my cousins in Illinois. You know what, fresh dairy was part of my life growing up and the one thing I learned is that fresh dairy is excellent no matter where you get it from, but once it's processed and shipped there's really little difference where it comes from.

Jim in Chicago, we can agree on California pizza, that and fish tacos.

Jim:

Give Spacca Napoli on the North Side a try if you are inclined toward Neopolitan style. The posters on that board all seem to like it very much. Pictures about 2/3's of the way down.

Yes, those second rate states are indistinguishable.

It's all fine as long as it isn't eaten with a knife and fork like in Europe, now that's just wrong.

Thanks Rick. I will try it. I went to D.O.C. a few years ago, and was disappointed -- tho it was much better than std Chicago pizza -- so I've been wary of getting burned again, but Spacca Napoli looks like the real deal. (LTH is such a great forum).

...Vermont and NH have the world's best dairy and maple products

Ahem. Are we talking scientific rationalism or revealed truth here? Best hockey too, no doubt.

University of Maine.

Orrin: What is your opinion on Everything But Anchovies in Hanover? When I was in High School my friends and I would come down from Vermont every year to compete in a winter triatholon at the Dartmouth outing club; we would always eat at EBA after. I remember it as some of the best pizza I ever ate, but then I had just competed in a race and someone else was paying for the pizza.

When my wife and I were in Bolivia with the Peace Corps we kept a list of the strange things we were served on pizzas. Off the top of my head I can recall hard boiled eggs, mortadella, hot dog slices, shredded carrots, shredded cabbage, faba beans, and pickles. Pizza is universal, but tastes vary. Buyer beware.

It's pretty bad, but the all you can eat fajita bar rocks.

About ten years ago a place opened in West Lebanon that serves real NY Pizza & now has a store in Hanover. It's the first good pizza in NH or VT.

Not to be rude or anything, but what a load of ballocks.

I was just in Mulberry Street in Beverly Hills and it wasn't all that.

St. Louis style? Please...crap cheese on thin toast.

and Waco, Tx? This is a joke, right? Only someone who's never been father than Ft. Worth could believe this.

The only question that can be asked by knowledgeable pizza lovers isn't New York or Chicago...it's Frank Pepe or Sallys.

Chicago has the best pizza whether it's deep dish or the thin square cut.

I honestly believe that the only people in the world who actually care or want New York style pizza are New Yorkers. I have yet to meet someone not from New York who cares about it.

Chris, it's just sour grapes. If you're not a New Yorker, you just don't have the refined, cultured taste it takes to determine the elusive essence of pizza. Don't feel bad, you're either born with it, or sadly, you aren't.

Those of you postulating that CA or TX pizza is the best. Come on. There may be a product out there that tastes pretty good, but pizza -- no way.

Chris;

I have yet to meet any one from New York who thinks it has great pizza. This post is the first time I have ever even heard it claimed.