Seriously. What is better than pizza? Maybe ice cream (we’ll see YOU, ice cream, in a month or so), but really, I doubt it. Pizza pretty much has everything I’m looking for in a life partner…I mean, uh, a delicious food option. It’s cheesy. It is warm. It has tons of flavor. It’s cheesy. It’s crunchy. It’s cheesy. And it’s cheesy.
We were all delighted to find Betsy very well prepared for the event with red and white checkered plates and accessories. Each pizza joint had a piece of paper with all that would be necessary for us each to get to ordering. Amusingly, each joint had a slogan. Ya know, something cute like, “best around,” or “cute delivery boys” (that one didn’t exist, but should have) or the best slogan - Dominos… “Now hiring.”
I didn’t really know what to expect going into this challenge and was pleased with the local pizzeria options. The places tested included (alphabetical order):
Carbone's Pizza
Domino's
Parkway Pizza
Pizza Luce
Sarpino's
Uptown Pizza
Sarpino’s was a last minute entry as Derekino’s (or some equally as lame-named place) wasn’t open. I would like to relate Sarpino’s Pizza to Tim Urban on American Idol this season. He didn’t make the initial top 12 cut, but someone dropped out and…wah-lah! Tim Urban/Sarpino's is IN! However, he really wasn’t that good. He (and Sarpino’s) just did not step up to the 2nd chance opportunity. Not the worst, but defiantly not the best. Heck, not really even in the middle. You really missed your chance here, Sarpino's....
Not a real shocker, but Domino’s was the looser. However, the pizza guy did let us take his picture and I really like that about him. To me he looks like a character in a Disney movie. Like a spell had been cast upon the Domino’s and they all turned into animals. The spell has now been undone somehow (perhaps with the welcoming of the new crust) and his mouse-self just spun in a veil of red and blue smoke and he returned to his human form. Even with their new crust – it just couldn’t compare to the others. The thing is, visually speaking; it was the most put together and enticing pie. The flavor just didn’t match up to its good looks. Domino’s is the really hot, stupid chick. Lots of people buy Domino’s, but when they really get to eat it, they find out it’s just kind of dumb. You’ll probably order Domino’s again because it’s easy and looks good when you’re drunk, but it’s not a lasting relationship.The belt of our pizza competition was Uptown Pizz and Pizza luce. Eh.
Now, to the top spots! There was something like a .5 difference in scores between the one and two spots. Parkway Pizza and Carbone’s were both a joy. I feel that Carbone’s had a little help going into the race because of some pre existing love of the place. It stepped up to the expectations and with its stretchy cheese and crisp crust just about made it! It just couldn’t pull through though as it was the most sloppily put together pizza and for some people in the group that was a bit of a turn off.
The winner was Parkway Pizza. Being that it’s in the Betsy/Justin neighborhood, they are frequent patrons of this establishment; but I do not feel there was any nepotism happening. I think it truly was the best tasting pizza.
I regret that I do not have the notes handy to tell you all about all aspects of the pizza test. I would like to point out to those wondering of our scoring system, that because this was a delivery test, delivery time/heat of pie/etc. were all factored into our scores. Please note: Pizza Luce; although low on the list, was the only pizza that was early and received a bonus point for said arrival time. I believe most of the other joints were towards the end of their given time windows or late. Those that were late did receive a one point deduction.
Final results: 1st - Parkway Pizza
2nd - Carbone's Pizza
3rd - Uptown Pizza
4th - Pizza Luce
5th - Sarpino's
6th - Domino's
And finally, I would just like to thank the universe for providing us with pizza. I had it for breakfast this morning.
shalee.
