Is it Just Me...or has Pizza..???

I live near Philly, and I know what you mean. I used to LOVE little Caesar's, now they're horrendous.

For anyone in the Philly area, there's a place called Maggio's in Southampton, PA that makes hands down the best pizza I've ever had, and I'm a pizza fanatic.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk


Almost impossible. I think high rents has forced a lot of pizza joints to use substandard ingredients to turn a profit. Its been a LOT of years since I have had an honest to God good pizza.

originally posted by: CriticalStinker
a reply to: shawmanfromny

I don't miss the winters of upstate New York, but boy do I miss the food 🤤

In Utica, there is a popular dish called tomato pie. It's an airy bread more than a traditional pizza crust topped with wonderful sauce and grated Romano or Parmesan cheese. Typically eaten cold or room temp.

The best Italian food I ever had in my life was in a little mom and pop place in Rochester NY. My God the food in upstate NY is FANTASTIC. I would almost be willing to move there and brave the winters just to be able to go out to all the good restaurants.

I live in NJ. We never buy pizza from any chain pizza places here. There are 20 pizza places in my town, including a Domino's. The pizza places where I live all make way better pizzas then any chain pizza place. I never understood how those chain places are able to stay in business around where I live. It must be from their cheap prices.

Ugh, haven't eaten a pizza chain pizza in ages, they are all terrible. I have a few times gotten a Papa's take 'n bake when short on time and added a few things to it, but I always either hit a different type of pizza joint, or make my own. Or get something like a Kamado Joe and bake your own awesome pizza in minutes. : )

My wife sometimes will for old time's sake, buy a frozen pizza.. for nostalgia reasons. They are still terrible, but.. I guess nostalgic too.

Several things, and its more in general relatable to pizza but other things too.

Chain stores and frozen supermarket pizza is mass produced. Its cheaper to use crappy quality ingredients, ane even if some are turned off they still have a big enough customer base that they end up better off financially still.

Second, I dont know about other countries but in Australia its third world people working in places like Dominos mostly. Culturally people such as Indians or Iranians dont place as much value on hygiene as westerners do.
In India they poop in the streets or off of moving trains, and Iranians wipe their backsides with their hands. A lot of Middle Easterners do in fact.
You mass import these types of people who arent being fully integrated if at all in ro our societies and ways of life, and people wonder why things have taken a turn for the worse?

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk>>>> Little Cesar's is a good buy for $5 for a lunch. Its not great pizza, although I can make it passable by sprinkling garlic powder on it to offset the slightly too sweet sauce. Or get Papa John's or Pizza Hut for better pizza. But then you get pizza from a real pizzeria( New York style) and you remember what real pizza is supposed to taste like. Like comparing Subway to a real sub place. But ordering pizza or Mickey D's on an app or online, I'm too old school for that. I like mozzarella only on a pizza. Little C's uses that and a blend of muenster which I like as a cheese so it doesn't bother me. But one place had American cheese mixed in and it melted in and didn't have that chewy texture.

I think part of the problem is cost cutting and using cheaper ingrediats. When the market went to crap and companies were struggling, they started looking for ways to cut costs and one of those ways was to use cheaper ingrediants. I still like Pizza Hut Pan Pizza and Little Caesars is a nostalgic treat every once in a while. I love Grottos but that's a whole different thing. But by and large it is the little local places where you will find the better pizza nowadays.

Have to agree.

The only place left in my country at least that does decent pizza is pizza express.

Dominos are disgusting, floating grease on the top everytime.

Pizza hut are hit and miss but their thin crust pizza's are decent.

I'm with you tho, what happened to places like papa johns, i used to love their pizza now it just tastes like all the rest.

I actually love the newer pan style pizza at Little Caesar's. It's not their old school traditional pizza. Comes in squares and thicker pan style. I just get pepperoni and it's super good! In fact now I'm in the mood for one. Time to order.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I think this article says allot for what has happened in the pizza restaurant space. thetakeout.com... I'll admit that I haven't had a slice of pizza outside of my house that was worth the money spent on it in a very long time. Lucky for me that my wife has a hand me down recipe for a Chicago Father and Son pizzeria where her father was the Son. The sauce is cooked for hours before it even makes it to the dough, and the corn meal is spread generously to let air every heat the bottom of the dough. Olive oil drizzled on top before the sauce, and freshly pinched chunks of sausage and hefty slices of mozzarella .... I think we are having a pizza night very soon.
😄
Thank you OP for this thread. Memories are being remembered. 😁

a reply to: Edumakated

There are a few pizza places that have gone that route and they are pretty darn good. Out here in Arizona we have MOD pizza, Fired Pie and Pieology. All 3 of these use the Chipolte approach. You have your crust, thin in all these places, you haqve them add the amount of sauce you want, red, white, garlic. Then the Cheese mozzarella parm and asiago. Meats are your standard fair peperoni, sausage mild and hot, chicken, bacon, etc. Then on to the veg if you like, they have everything from olives to artichoke hearts. The cool thing is you can pile as much as you'd like and customize your pie the way you want it. Then its off to the pizza oven brick with a hot flame to really get that crust and bottom nice and charred. If you have not tried one of these places give them a shot, they are so much better than Dominos, pizza hut etc.....

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Good Pizza has to be made by yourself and not bought.

The reason you cant get good pizza anymore is food costs.
The ingredients are costly now. There has to be max profit out of one pizza.
Minimal cheese, minimal sauce, the least amount of toppings you can get without complaint.
This is why you cannot find a good pizza anymore.

Make your own, it will cost you but will be much better than anything you will buy.

Im still holding on to my statement that MOD Pizza is pretty damn good..

Everything made right in front of you including the wood fired cooking.

originally posted by: fleabit
Ugh, haven't eaten a pizza chain pizza in ages, they are all terrible. I have a few times gotten a Papa's take 'n bake when short on time and added a few things to it, but I always either hit a different type of pizza joint, or make my own. Or get something like a Kamado Joe and bake your own awesome pizza in minutes. : )

My wife sometimes will for old time's sake, buy a frozen pizza.. for nostalgia reasons. They are still terrible, but.. I guess nostalgic too.

I don't know, but I don't think I'm eating Pizza from a pizza joint called 'Komando Joe's', and I don't even wanna' know what's in their pepperoni...or their 'cheese'! Furthermore...

Oh wait...you said "Kamado", didn't you?

Nvm.