GQ NAMES AMERICA'S BEST PIZZA???

http://www.comcast.net/slideshow/news-bestpizza/1/
Well here's the latest "best Pizza" poll...and I find it quite interesting...New York City, Brooklyn,New Haven, LA,Philly,SanFrancisco, Phoenix, Chicago(but no deep dish,of course)...what do you think???

I love Alan Richman's food writing.  Good article.  BTW, it's not a poll.  It's Alan Richman's opinion.
 
in searching for the twenty-five best pizzas in America, I traveled to ten American cities, the ones I knew had a lot of pizzerias or a lot of Italians. They seem to go together, although less so anymore. I visited 109 pizzerias and ate 386 pies, although almost never the whole thing. (Remember, I couldn’t finish a single slice of the stuffed.) I know what you’re thinking: You didn’t visit my favorite pizzeria. You missed the best.
 

Amy & I just ate at Santarpio's (#23) on Wednesday, and they really do have some of Boston's best pies.  Great old-timey RF joint with lots and lots of thick Boston accents!    Chris

At one time you might have been able to narrow down the pizzerias and determined the best but I suspect it will get harder over time.

First, wood-fired brick ovens are proliferating all over the country and there is no better way to bake a pizza (or bread) than in a wood-fired brick oven. Just in the tiny town of Grand Marais, MN they are being installed in several restaurants because of the influence of the North House Folk School oven-crafting and bread baking courses there.

Secondly, bakers are more savvy about yeast starters, slow fermentation and better doughs. It is knowledge that is spreading and quality will separate the field. But you may find quality dough in the most unlikely places.

Thirdly, ingredients are the key to a great pizza and more and more communities are gravitating to locally harvested, produced, grown and raised. The quality transcends the manufactured and mass distributed products so many pizzerias depend on.

Fourthly, given the above, it is not rocket science or concealed knowledge in creating a great pizza. It is the care and time to do so. I think you will find it similar to the craft and micro beer movement that sprung up in the past 20 years.

Those above factors came together for me this week. The dough and ingredients were provided and I had a brick oven at my disposal. I simply put together the combination of ingredients I wanted and came out with a superb pizza that I can't recall an equal that I had had in any pizzeria and I think I know my pizzas. The real key was the unknown fresh sausage made that very day in a sausage making class. Whatever it was, it was great. For all I know it could have been elk or venison given the location. I take no credit for it.

Pizza is not the strict domain of the Italians anymore. The knowledge is out and more and more people will take advantage of that. Maybe an Italian name helps and saying "pizzeria" instead of "pizza" will help in the mystification.

Great. another best of list in a magazine aimed at the upper middle class.
I guess us Joe six packs don't have any taste.
now if Area Auto Racing News did a best of food list, I might get excited.

Sk - Don't be like that!  Pizza is for every man, woman and child. 

This list looks pretty amazing to me.  We're just talking pizza.  Lots of pretty well known places; several mentioned here over the years.  A few new ones.  He's got Sally's, Pizzeria Bianco, Mario's place..this guy has checked out a lot of places.  Lucky him!!! Uncle Sam pays and he eats.

Ah Baah Ben, truer words were never spoken!  "Pizza is for every man, woman, and child". Everyone's entitled to their opinion, and the more lists published, the more new options for me to try at some point! Plus, who doesn't like looking at pictures of pizza!

TnTinCT
forget for a while those New Haven thin crust pizzas & get out & try a great Greek pizza thats all over central CT.
Franklin Giant Grinder in Hartford has a good one
Zorba's in Meriden is real good
Pizza Pal in NewBritain is real good
Newington Pizza used to be good
Central Pizza in Berlin good stuff
TownLine in Newington, not bad
Berlin Pizza house
Farmington Ave. Pizza in New Britain.
Harry's in S.Windsor is way overrated

I've been to the Philadelphia and San Francisco pizzerias  that are in the top 10 and neither was as good as Pepe's in New Haven.

Was happy to see Buddy's included...one of the handful of things I miss from Detroit.

and if you follow that link through the pictures, #2 is supposed to be Lucali, but the picture is VERY OBVIOUSLY Dom Demarco's hand, the pizzaola master of DIFARA (which is better than Lucali, imho) from whom Lucali copped their concept. Difara is better than Lucali any day... they should get it straight. enjoy fb

Is the writer of the GQ article on an ego trip? Sorry, but i found him full of himself and without any grace. HONK IT TO THE WORLD THE AMERICANS ARE BETTER AT EVERYTHING.
No offense to anyone on here.

analei


Is the writer of the GQ article on an ego trip? Sorry, but i found him full of himself and without any grace. HONK IT TO THE WORLD THE AMERICANS ARE BETTER AT EVERYTHING.
No offense to anyone on here.

Seriously.  One of the best pizza's of my life, or at least most memorable, was on a little island in the Philippines from a French ex-pat who ran a small beach hotel and cafe.  Wood fired oven, crisp crust, perfectly light tangy sauce, very lightly browned cheese.  Maybe it was the ambiance of the beach cafe, a nice wine, a sweet woman, ocean breeze in my hair.
 
I've always had a problem with "best" anything.  Best changes with time, memory, and evolving personal preferances.

WarToad..you crack me up with this line:

Maybe it was the ambiance of the beach cafe, a nice wine, a sweet woman, ocean breeze in my hair.

A lot is locked in our memory is it not, and some moments are magical due to those remembrances of things past.

It's true though.  I hate "best" because it's so subjective to the moment we're in.  If you're in a great moment, everything else is all that much better.  If you're in a bad moment, you simply can't appreciate what's in front of you.

I never had any good pizza in San Francisco.

Delfina in SF? The dude from GQ obviously never ate at Little Star Pizza in SF. The best pizza in SF.

I just re-read the Alan Richman article because of the news that Lucali's owner was stabbed.  Besides the list of 25 pizza joints, I enjoyed the discussion of the restaurants (he went to 109).  I think he was pulling our collective leg when he dissed pizza in Italy.  Boy did he get slammed in the comments!  I have to laugh at the commenters who say there's no good pizza in the USA.
Here's the direct link to the original article:
http://www.gq.com/food-travel/alan-richman/200905/pizza-american-pie-25-best

Obviously, he's never been to "HOME SLICE" pizza in Austin, Texas.
As an ex-New Yorker I can safely say, this is the best pizza in the USA!

Has anyone had pizza from the Tarry Inn in Port Chester, NY?  I've eaten within a mile of there four times in the past two years, but didn't know about it.  I'm going to be staying in the next town, Rye, for a few days in June.

Don,
 
I haven't been to Tarry Inn, but on my last trip through Westchester, I stopped at ZaZa, which was recently named the best pizza in NY by USA Today.  Scarsdale is not far from Port Chester, so perhaps you can compare.  
 
My personal take on ZaZa was that the pie was VERY good, but pretty expensive.  I went alone and spent $25 on a small margherita pie and iced tea.  The place seemed geared towards frou frou - toppings included arugala, for example.  I know I tend toward old school, but I just don't see the point of putting lettuce on a pizza.

I pretty much dismiss best of lists from national publications
 
They want to push sales of their publication, so the lists are almost invariably from as many different populated areas as possible. 
 
The underlying motivation to include many different locales dilutes the value of such lists, imho

I'm gonna' put together a "Best of" List of the "Best Of"Lists that have been published!

Travelin Man - Thanks for the tip on Zaza.  Scarsdale is certainly doable.

TJ Jackson


I pretty much dismiss best of lists from national publications

As a rule, blanket statements don't sit well with me.
 
I don't know.  People trashed Richman's burger article and now they are trashing his pizza article.  The USA Today list is no good.  Top 10 lists are (a) overrated; (b) boring; (c) useless; (d) pointless; (e) all of the above...and then some.  Seems to me that these lists just provide another source for finding decent food on the road - and what could be bad about that?  Is the targeting of the masses done by USA Today any different than the targeting of the masses done by Guy Fieri on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives?  Or by Anthony Bourdain?
 
I have been to 7 of the 20 places from the burger list - and there hasn't been a clunker in the bunch.  So, while there may be better burgers out there than the ones that Richman mentions, I am happy to have eaten these 7 burgers, some of which I may not have dared to try had he not written about them.
 
I have only been to three of the 25 pizza places he suggests (Totonno's, Pepe's, and Santarpio's), but all three are some of the best pizzas I've ever had.  I'm not sure what excluded Modern Apizza from Richman's list, when he included Pepe's and Sally's, other than the idea that he didn't want to include three places from New Haven, but I actually liked Modern better than Pepe's.
 
As for the USA Today list, which did use local sources to suggest the best pizza from their state, I have been to 7 of the 51 places listed (AK, CT, IL, NJ, NY, NC, WA).  As a newspaper, USA Today pretty much plays to the lowest common denominator - so, you wouldn't think that they would stray too far from the straight and narrow with their picks - but, they didn't take the easy way and pick Pizzeria Bianco for AZ or Grimaldi's, Lombardi's or Totonno's for NY.  That was really my only point in suggesting ZaZa in Scarsdale.  I don't know if it is the best in NY, but it was a darn good pie.   Same thing as with the burgers - I would bet there are some better pizzas than the ones listed by USA Today, but I was not disappointed with any of the 7 places I visited.

*shrug*
 
I accept that the meals you had at the places on the list(s) were good. 
 
That said, I'd still say such lists tend to be very geographically diverse, suggesting an ulterior motive other than what is truly best to eat -- rather what is truly best for the publications sales figures

Why does the motivation behind printing a list make it any less reliable?  Who cares?
 
Oh...and you might check out the thread about the Stern's old articles on Gourmet magazine's web site.  You'd be surprised at how many "Top XX" lists are there - in a national publication.
 
Oh, the humanity.

No offense intended, JTM. 
 
I don't doubt your word or your experiences. 
 
Maybe Mr Stern could pipe in on if his editors ever asked him to make the lists as geographical diverse as possible

Recently had pizza at Pawleys Island SC at Mannings Pizza which I understand is a chain based in Ohio. It was a delicious thin crust pizza with loads of thin sliced pepperoni. Well worth the time to visit and enjoy if you are in the vicinity.