Chicago - Bacinos in Lincoln Park (very close to DePaul's campus)
New York - Lombardi's in Little Italy, Monte's in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn
New Jersey - Mangia Trattoria in Glen Rock, Brooklyn Pizza in Hackensack and Ridgewood or Pizza Town right in my hometown of Elmwood Park

And if you're in Austin, TX the hype about Hometown Pizza is legit. Its very good stuff plus they have good beer on tap and Mexican Cokes.

Gotta throw in Star Pizza in Houston. Again, the best pizza I've ever eaten came from there, and it seems to get better every single time I eat there. It even won the 2005 Best Pizza Award from the Houston Press.

(02-19-2012 12:57 PM)brista21 Wrote:  Chicago - Bacinos in Lincoln Park (very close to DePaul's campus)

Bacinos is pretty good but for Chicago Deep Dish go with Pizzaria UNO near the Magnificent Mile. The Deep Dish was supposedly created by the original Chef Rudy Malnati. Other good pizza places within a few blocks form campus are Gino's East and Lou Malnatis (Founded by the son of Rudy). Chicago takes their pizza seriously and never ask how many calories it has. They will just give you a smartalick remark if not kick you out.

(02-19-2012 01:18 PM)ivet Wrote:  

(02-19-2012 12:57 PM)brista21 Wrote:  Chicago - Bacinos in Lincoln Park (very close to DePaul's campus)

Bacinos is pretty good but for Chicago Deep Dish go with Pizzaria UNO near the Magnificent Mile. The Deep Dish was supposedly created by the original Chef Rudy Malnati. Other good pizza places within a few blocks form campus are Gino's East and Lou Malnatis (Founded by the son of Rudy). Chicago takes their pizza seriously and never ask how many calories it has. They will just give you a smartalick remark if not kick you out.

You know, I always heard one of the best pizza joints in the Windy City was the one with Chicago Stuffed Pizza, where the pizza is an actual pie! I forget the name though. It was featured on Pizza Paradise. Also, I really wanna try Lou Malnati's. (I believe it's in Lincolnwood, correct?)

(02-19-2012 12:57 PM)brista21 Wrote:  Chicago - Bacinos in Lincoln Park (very close to DePaul's campus)
New York - Lombardi's in Little Italy, Monte's in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn
New Jersey - Mangia Trattoria in Glen Rock, Brooklyn Pizza in Hackensack and Ridgewood or Pizza Town right in my hometown of Elmwood Park

And if you're in Austin, TX the hype about Hometown Pizza is legit. Its very good stuff plus they have good beer on tap and Mexican Cokes.

Do you mean Homeslice?

Tony Boombozz, Wicks, Johnny Bruscos, Bearnos, Inpellizeries,Sals
plus all of national chains liked Louisville based Papa Johns and Pizza Hut .
Hometown pizza among others. Plus many local bars make great pizzas

(02-19-2012 01:24 PM)GeminiShamrock Wrote:  You know, I always heard one of the best pizza joints in the Windy City was the one with Chicago Stuffed Pizza, where the pizza is an actual pie! I forget the name though. It was featured on Pizza Paradise. Also, I really wanna try Lou Malnati's. (I believe it's in Lincolnwood, correct?)

If you are talking about the Pizza Pot Pie that is in Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder a few blocks east of campus, side note, that's across the street from the St Valentines Day Massacre (Al Capone). I've never had it before so I don't know if it's any good. Lou Malnati has franchised so they are all over now but the original Pizzaria is just a block north of Campus.

http://www.mtadamstavernonthehill.com/

Very much under the radar but the pizza is very good.

Fiori's in Pittsburgh is really good. It's near Dormont so it's not on campus or by Heinz Field. They're cash only and they're absolutely miserable to customers. The meaner they are, though, the better the pizza tastes.

If you're in Oakland, Milano's is good. It's on 5th Ave. and it's some of the more legit pizza you'll get in the area.

Obviously stay away from chains. It took forever for me to find a good place in Pittsburgh because of all the chains that sound like legit Italian pizza shops.

UC has some really good near campus pizza spots. Adrioticos is my personal favorite, they just opened the new place with a ton of beer on draft. Mac's Pizza Pub is one of my favorite places to go out in general. They have very good pizza and the best philly cheesesteak in cincinnati.

In cincy it's LaRosa's....my fav all time anywhere I've lived (and that's been three time zones and about 8 states)

All of you realize that Chicago Deep Dish was created by a Texan restauranteur transplant. Just keeping it real.

(02-19-2012 02:47 PM)Old Coog Wrote:  All of you realize that Chicago Deep Dish was created by a Texan restauranteur transplant. Just keeping it real.

Not Chicago Stuffed pizza. I think it actually originated in Torino, Italy.

There's plenty of decent pizza places in Tampa. Honestly, though, most are of the chain variety. For thin pizza, Anthony's has locations all over including in Tampa:

http://anthonyscoalfiredpizza.com/

For deep dish, I used to love Giordano's, but they closed their Tampa location (they still have some in the Orlando area). I haven't identified a place to replace it yet.

That said, if you're looking for a good pizza place that's not a chain, I recommend CDB's.

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/30/340949/re...lian-Tampa

The original location next to USF's campus has been there for over 30 years, and you can't go wrong with the CDB Special (essentially a loaded meat-lovers pizza).

FWIW, Tampa seems to be a place that spawns chain restaurants. The original Outback Steakhouse, Hooters and Beef O'Brady's started here, and I'm pretty sure the Outback company started at least two of their other chains (Carrabba's and Bonefish) in Tampa, too. Not that that's anything to brag about -_____-

USFFan

For Boise the best are Proto's, Guidos and Flatbread. But I prefer Neo and New York style pizzas, so others may differ.

Down here the place to go is Big Ed's in Oak Ridge. Big Ed died a while ago (I forget exactly how many years it's been now). But his son's have been running the place for a couple of decades. They're still using Big Ed's recipes for dough and sauce too, perfected while he was a Marine Drill Instructor at Paris Island...

Smokey Mountain Brewery has a pretty good pizza too. But it's not up to Big Ed's...

I think in Louisville the very best pizza is Impellizzeri's.

There are a few locations but I prefer the one on Bardstown Rd. There is also one downtown, I believe near the YUM Center.

There are quite a few unique and very good pizza places all along Bardstown Rd. in Louisville and they were listed above. Bardstown Rd. is the place to go in Louisville for unique dining (including great pizza).

Don't know if they have the best pizza in town, but you've gotta check out Lazzy Moon if you visit UCF. It's THE pizza joint for UCF students. The slices are enormous and are usually paired with PBR.

(02-19-2012 03:01 PM)usffan Wrote:  There's plenty of decent pizza places in Tampa. Honestly, though, most are of the chain variety. For thin pizza, Anthony's has locations all over including in Tampa:

http://anthonyscoalfiredpizza.com/

For deep dish, I used to love Giordano's, but they closed their Tampa location (they still have some in the Orlando area). I haven't identified a place to replace it yet.

That said, if you're looking for a good pizza place that's not a chain, I recommend CDB's.

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/30/340949/re...lian-Tampa

The original location next to USF's campus has been there for over 30 years, and you can't go wrong with the CDB Special (essentially a loaded meat-lovers pizza).

FWIW, Tampa seems to be a place that spawns chain restaurants. The original Outback Steakhouse, Hooters and Beef O'Brady's started here, and I'm pretty sure the Outback company started at least two of their other chains (Carrabba's and Bonefish) in Tampa, too. Not that that's anything to brag about -_____-

USFFan

Don't forget Babe's out in Brandon.

Here is a thread about Memphis pizza.

http://csnbbs.com/showthread.php?tid=553516