Store Bought Pizza

Has anybody out there found a pizza that they bought at the grocery store that they thought was worthy?

I enjoy Father and Son pizza sold in the grocery stores in the Chicago area.

When I was growing up the "Tree Tavern" brand was a very decent frozen pizza. But the brand was bought by someone else....you'd be better off eating the box it comes in, there's no comparison to the older version.

In the Chicagoland area you can get frozen Home Run Inn pizza at grocery stores. Kraft has a brand called Jack's that they sell in this area and it is also very good.

Also, many pizza establishments (e.g. Lou Malnati's Pizza, Giordano's Stuffed Pizza, etc) sell frozen pizzas at their restaraunts.

Well, the 2 for 3 buck Tony's original crust pizzas are very good, if cooked to orange perfection..with some chillipepper/red peppers/garlic on top they actually are pretty good

I like the Freschetta brand when I want something a little "high line." Pretty good stuff.

Tombstone is my standard stuff-it-in-the-oven-for-movie-night-with-my-son pizza, gilded with extra cheese and sometimes roasted onion, garlic, and red bell pepper.

Orv's is fairly good for Frozen pizza here.

Freschetta Brick Oven.

I think the key to edible frozen pizza is not the brand, but the cooking. My sister gave me a Presto Pizzazz pizza cooker for Christmas last year. I don't really like most small kitchen cooking gadgets, but this machine is terrific.

Hmmm... Good pizza from the frozen isle... So many choices, yet so many losers! For a thin crust I prefer the Jacks Pizza, if I feel like dicing up some veggies and adding some extra cheese then Tonys makes good for that project (Both are fairly cheap when on sale). I used to like Red Baron, but quality and quantity have gone down over the last several years. For a tasty sauce, Tombstone gets my vote! But my favorite as a kid was Mr Chef Pizza (no longer available)...
Well, there's my 2 cents worth!

>>So many choices, yet so many losers!<<

Yes.

Most store bought pizza suffers in the crust department. Even the passable ones (Tombstone, etc) have those thin cracker crusts.

Some of the rising crust pizzas are good (CPK especially), but at 6 bucks a pop, you may as well order a fresh pie.

>>I gotta admit, it wasn't half bad<<

Indifference...this is really the best you can hope for with frozen pizza...

"Well, it wasn't as tasteless as I expected..."

When I want something really special, I get one of those Boboli shells and whip up something like my famous BBQ chicken pizza or what I like to call my "hoofprints in the snow" pizza: a blanket of white cheese, garlic and great northern beans with little rings of black olives on top of the cheese as a topping.

quote:

Originally posted by Kristi S.

When I want something really special, I get one of those Boboli shells and whip up something like my famous BBQ chicken pizza or what I like to call my "hoofprints in the snow" pizza: a blanket of white cheese, garlic and great northern beans with little rings of black olives on top of the cheese as a topping.

Ever since Boboli changed its ingredients I don't like it. They stopped using olive oil, and several other things.

I usually go for Tombstone, because I like their crust and their sauce. But I almost always start piling on the additions to personalize it. Add a few mushrooms, some green pepper, chopped fresh tomatoes (yum!) and maybe a bit of extra cheese, and I'm happy as a clam. [|)][|)]

Tried Freschetta Brick Oven for the first time this weekend. Nice change. Still not the same as making your own.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman
Ever since Boboli changed its ingredients I don't like it. They stopped using olive oil, and several other things.

Olive oil is always the first ingredient I put on Boboli, before anything else!

I gave up on finding a brand of store bought pizza that tasted like it came from a pizzeria long ago. Most of the store bought pizzas just cost too much and it would be better to get a real pizza delivered. Having said that, I do buy frozen pizza sometimes because its convenient and easy to make for a late night snack. I buy Ellio's or the generic supermarket brand and always add my own ingredients to it like garlic, onion, pepperoni or anchovies. It will never replace 'real' pizza but when you're hungry at midnight you'll be glad its there.

My local supermarket sells raw pizza dough in the bakery section (about a buck and a half). Punch it out flat from fist to fist, give it a few spins, top it with literally anything you want, eat it as fresh as it gets - it is totally worth it!

There is a company in Minnesota called Randy's. They sell those good stuff sandwhiches you nuke at the gas station. They make the best frozen pizza I have ever had. I'm not even sure where they sell them, I think to bars or something. I get them from my nephews as they use them as a fund raiser for hockey.

quote:

Originally posted by Kristi S.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman
Ever since Boboli changed its ingredients I don't like it. They stopped using olive oil, and several other things.

Olive oil is always the first ingredient I put on Boboli, before anything else!

I always topped it with chopped garlic in olive oil, spread by hand. Then I'd cover it with sliced plum tomatoes, grated Reggiano Parmigiano, then fresh basil, and finally, slices of cheese (mozzarella or scamorza).

I buy cheap pizza's at Walmart (Jeno's @ $0.79 each). They ain't much cause I do not care. They have some topings on them and you can get sausage, pepperoni, everything or cheese.

The reason I do not care is the crust is good and what they have on them serves as a base for my pizza cheese, fresh green peppers, sliced jalapeno's, more pepperoni (Which I put on top to get really crispy), onions and my particular spices.

I put it in the oven at 425 with some olive oil on the bottom and I do not use a pan. The crust gets better that way. Instructions call for 10-12 minutes, but due to my piled high stuff I add, I let it stay at least 20 minutes. Pretty cotton picking good.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Here in Northeast Pa. there is a local company called Proferas pizza sold in the local grocery stores here that makes the best store bought pizza.

quote:

Originally posted by dendan

Tried Freschetta Brick Oven for the first time this weekend. Nice change. Still not the same as making your own.

The Freschetta Brick Oven www.freschetta.com pizza isn't bad. I'll never confuse it with real apizza however, as I come from New Haven and certainly know better.

I do add stuff to try to salvage frozen pizza if I do get it. I usually get fresh pizza that Piggly Wiggly makes because it is WAY better than any frozen pizza can ever be.

I vote for Home Run Inn frozen pizza, available around the Chicago area. I'm having one tonight.

Tombstone uses cheap cheese, and it's evident in every bite.

Like Sundancer I generally go for the cheap pizzas and dress them up. I normally buy the Totinos party pizzas, for about a buck each. I take one, add some garlic, Chimayo red chile powder (the best pizza topping ever), sliced portabellas, and whatever else looks good, and throw the pizza on the grill.

I started grilling pizzas in the summer because I didn't want to heat up my house with the oven, and I got hooked. It is quick, the crust gets crisp, and you can get a nice smoky flavor.

I still do the cheap pizza thing but don't let them thaw before you stick them in the oven. I did that the other night and due to the flacity of the pizza, it dumped the ingredients of the stuff I had added to the cheap pizza on to the bottom of the oven and stunk up the joint.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

When I was in college we bought frozen pizza shells and fixins from
the wholesaler that supplied the independent pizza shops. Both
cheaper and better than any of the store-bought frozen pizzas.

-doug

We had frozen store-bought Home Run Inn pizza for dinner last night, and it has to be the best ever from a store. Crispy crust, great-tasting cheese and quality tomato sauce. I can't vouch for their meat pizzas, because we don't eat them, but their plain cheese variety is wonderful. Better than Domino's or Pizza Hut any day.

The Publix supermarkets in my area, (metro Atlanta), has a store brand with self-rising crust that is almost if not as good as the pizza shops. It is about $5.00 for a 14"-16" pizza. Just be sure and get the one with self-rising crust.