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

a reply to: shawmanfromny

Salvatores, Pontillos, Guidas. 🍕👌

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Its quite obvious that the answer to your dilema is that were going through a solar maximum and and the convergence of the center of the galaxy with Jupiter and mars, and as Nibiru is just getting its motor coils warmed up and gravitating its crazy rays down toward this patch of dirt called earth, that its effecting the taste of pizza and the motor skills of those who make pizza.

Oh and also the internet and computers will get slower for a bit. Till things really heat up, then lets just say that pizza will taste like complete crap as we shift one tenth of a degree into another galactic vibrational sequence. But I would not worry about it, as you wont care by then, or be dead, whichever comes first.

So yes thats why pizza and all pizza joints are starting to suck. There not sucking, its just that the vibrational frequency of this whole planet is getting a slight shift and hence pizza tastes are being left behind.

Its only logical after all.

Because Italians arent making it anymore.

Love the diversity of ny... but middle easterners trying to make pizza?

The Italians just spent the last 10 years showing the central Americans how to flip a pizza dough.

And they are just getting it...

I agree... I was brought up with fantastic pizza and being able to walk to 3 different great pizza places in a small
town in North NJ was a blessing.

When we moved to NEPA in 2002 pizza places have come and they go and the one thing I can say is since 2002 -2019 they all have been a disaster a horrible failure if you are lucky you can actually pick your pizza slice up ( most of the time its sopping wet and mushy) and everything just slides off YUCK and these are all mom and pop places claiming the "best" pizza...
I still haven't found one inside of 30-40 miles that was decent.

On a pinch I buy Papa Sals pizza dough and make my own pizza I use fresh tomatoes when I can, but Don Pepinos is the bomb sauce for pizza, fresh basil, the best mozzarella and locotelli romano you can get, extra virgin Botticelli olive oil a sprinkling of red pepper flake and oregano it is so good I would like to start making my own dough, but its more work and Papa Sals is pretty damn good for much less work. I truly do miss picking up a pie on Friday night with a antipasta salad and hot Mussles marinara!!!!

It is because they only have 3 or 4 works at best running these places...So they are not even cooking them right anymore...People just walk right off these jobs sometimes and they call off whenever they want...The bosses allow it more and don’t seem to care themselves but they will only put up for so long once it talk starts reaches the higher levels.

We eat at a place that makes the best pizza.
Brick Oven, home made sauce, good cheese, fresh ingredients.

One of out fav toppings combos is pepperoni, garlic and artichokes.

Also, a better than average antipasto salad! Biggest drawback is bottled dressing, but hey! All other ingredients are fresh.

When I was a kid I was addicted to Pizza Hut, it was my favorite, I couldn't get enough. I was still really young when one day my dad and I went to Pizza Hut for my birthday and suddenly it was total crap.

There was a recipe change and it was #, I have heard a rumor that the original recipe is still used in Europe, not sure how true that is though.

I have pondered the pizza question since...well, way before my war with Papa John’s. And I have come to a few conclusions about pizza chains:

In the old days when rotary dial phones hung on the kitchen wall and party lines had just ended, there was Pizza Hut. And it was good because we didn’t know any better. Dominos was different and therefore better, but Little Caesar’s would do because it wasn’t a one dollar store band frozen pizza and you got two pizzas for the price of one...pizza pizza indeed.

But we also tolerated Show Biz/Chuck E. Cheese, which was a cheaper tasting version of Sbarro’s mall pizza. It was that tolerance that became the downfall. Domino’s cheapened their pizza not long after the Goonies came out. Little Caesar’s dropped the extra pizza and then disappeared of the map a few years later. Pizza tastes left Pizza Hut thinking up weird things like an Italian Bistro atmosphere specializing in hot wings (seriously, WTF Pizza Hut) and along comes Papa John’s and Donato’s (which may or may not have sauce, cheese or crust under all that pepperoni no one knows for sure).

Pizza Uno, Hungry Howie’s, Cici’s, Marco’s, Gatti’s, Godfather’s and I will go out on a limb and say most of the ones on this list are variations of the above.

I will say for a regional chain, LaRosa’s isn’t half bad, but you have to be used to eating it and as more of an Italian restaurant that happens to sell a ton of pizzas. The fact that Buddy LaRosa is an old boxer, all around great guy and freaking hilarious when he wants to be adds to it, but that is just me. So if in the Cincinnati area, pop in and get a calzone or a plate of spaghetti or even a pizza. Not gonna slap your mama, but you won’t feel completely ripped off either. And you can always talk with the server which makes for a better experience to sit down and order.

Only a few mom and pop places are good, or smaller lesser known chains anywhere there's lots of Italians.

I'd had pretty good pizza at a place called Shakespear's in Lexington KY. The pizza at Tampa Bay Downs race track is decent too. There are a few places around Buffalo NY that are good, including the Wegmen's deli counter. Supposedly one place in South Buffalo, is some of the best pizza around. It's in a baaad part of town but run by the mob- so long as you're parked in front no crook dares touch your car. I can't remember the name of it but I met this lady who goes there at least once a month. She swears by it.

On the Canadian side, last time I had Pizza Pizza pizza it was horrible. None of the chains are good.

a reply to: Ahabstar

Naw Pizza Hut changed it's recipe, it was good one day and then bad the next, happened a long time ago. I'm 40 next week, as was between like seven and ten then. Was a Pizza Hut fanatic.

Sucks to live where you do. We have awesome pizza here in Central Ohio.

Spicy/sweet sauce, small pepperonis that curl up and get crisp on the edges, thin crust that doesn't make you feel like you're eating a loaf of bread with spaghetti sauce on it (I hate thick crust pizza)

We've got the pizza game down around here!

I live in New Jersey, we have some of the best pizza in the world. There are more than a dozen great pizza joints within a 10 mile radius. We're also the birthplace of the best breakfast sandwich know to man, Taylor ham, egg and cheese. There's also the bagels. No We're alright food wise here in Jersey.

originally posted by: Bloodworth
Because Italians arent making it anymore.

Love the diversity of ny... but middle easterners trying to make pizza?

The Italians just spent the last 10 years showing the central Americans how to flip a pizza dough.

And they are just getting it...

several local places run by Greeks. mostly okay.

local place run by a guy from Ecuador (I think)
learned his trade at a real restaurant and now on his own
good stuff. scratch, but I think the sauce might be canned.

TIL there is a food and cooking forum on ATS...

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Knew I shouldn't have clicked on this thread.....

Not long got in from the pub and thought I'd have a quick catch up on ATS.

Now just about to order a large pizza from a mates take away....all the trimmings with garlic and chilli sauce.

You're a bad man!

I wrote a long-winded diatribe post on Pizza, but since "Flat Bread with Tomato Sauce" is still a very hot button issue here, It somehow got sandbagged. The Bottom line is that all the chains now use Gas-fueled forced-air conveyor ovens so that persons under 18 years old can work them. The old brick-lined radiant heat ovens must be staffed (under OSHA rules) by Adults over 18 years of age(Forearm burns are frequent). Since most chains use the Conveyor ovens now, staff-able by minors (and the exact same brand), they all put out inferior Pizza. If you want a great Pizza, you must start with dough made in the store(not to exceed 48 hours old), use a radiant heat brick lined oven, and let the Dough rise to 40 degrees F to activate the Yeast. The Conveyor ovens require quick-rise dough, dry out the toppings, and aren't affected by poor dough temp management(the Pizza is bad to start with).
I worked my way through College and Grad School as a Pizza Dog at all the big chains, before finally getting a great job at a Mom-Pop, that paid extremely well(so I know). I hated the job at the time, but looking back it was the best job I ever had. Tasty-free Pizza, Wings, Lasagna, and lots of cute Pizza "Chicks".
There, now you know: Another secret to the Universe revealed.

The internet likely destroyed good pizza, too many orders and not enough time - everything is done on a rush with barely a break. Of course the greed using cheaper ingridents plays a role too (cheese analogues / emulsified meat / ..)
Aaaannd the mafia as my favorite pizza place was closed and ive been told the owners couldnt afford "family fees" anymore

The absolute worst pizza I ever had was in Rome, Italy... a few blocks down from the Vatican.
The dough was raw on two thirds of the crust. I asked for pepperoni and the pizza came with a sliced up hot dog an top, not even spread evenly.

originally posted by: butcherguy
The absolute worst pizza I ever had was in Rome, Italy... a few blocks down from the Vatican.
The dough was raw on two thirds of the crust. I asked for pepperoni and the pizza came with a sliced up hot dog an top, not even spread evenly.

It's an inside joke!

"Medigan Goombah!"

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk
I figured my wife and I were the butt of jokes the whole time we were in Italy. Stale bread in all the restaurants, I went to a market in Florence and bought a damned loaf and it was just as fresh as could be. Up to that point, I thought the Italians liked their bread as hard as a rock.