Pizza, and the discussion of it

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Pizza, and the discussion of it

Post by Merk » Thu Sep 13, 2007 5:45 pm

Bored at work as usual, here's to posting intelligent threads! lol don't lox plz

I like pizza, you like pizza, most people in the world enjoy the culinary mish-mash known as pizza. It's come to my attention that Indianapolis Dance Dance Revolution dot-Commercial has yet to have a well-thought out, intelligent, pertinent, complete, and fulfilling pizza discussion thread.

Let me tell you a story, a true and personal story dear to my heart--

Last night my significant other and I were hungry and, since I hadn't been to the grocery in a while, decided we needed a quick and cheap fix to our hunger situation. Unfortunately, it was midnight at the time and most places in our part of town had closed for the night to garner a restful sleep before the morning rush. Given our situation we had very little options, there was Steak 'n' Shake, carry-out pizza, Waffle House, and White Castle. I'm currently watching what I eat and trying to lose some of this chub so none of these options seemed too appealing. Hunger, as they say, is the greatest spice and sadly I gave in to demands of pizza figuring that with proper pizza partitioning I could achieve both hunger satisfaction and acceptable calorie intake. The question now was where could we get a pizza?
We plotted for what seemed like an eternity-- thankfully in America we have a plethora of pizza choices. All pizza eateries had their own individual merits, some had great quality, others had a price that could keep a homeless man portly. We were both on a budget and decided to go with a cheap deal. My significant other made the decision, ordered the comestibles, and announced to me her actions. "Five large pizzas!" she exclaimed, "I just ordered us five large pizzas from Papa John's." I was appalled, how could five large pizzas from a pizza distributor known for its steep prices be anything but expensive? She informed me that it was only $26.50 after taxes and at that moment if a man's soul could eject from his body into an ethereal paradise of pizza, mine surely would have.
Our status however presented a question that still bothers me, how could one purchase five large pizzas from Papa John's for cheap? Are they mad? Is there such a thing as a pizza liquidation? The thought haunts me yet pleases me simultaneously. So we had five pizzas, all of them one topping each, cheese, ham, sausage, chicken, and bacon. In an effort to stem guilt and to continue my trend of health, I ate a mere two slices and promptly stored the five pies into the refrigerator for further consumption. To this day all five pizzas exist in my ice chest, biding their time before the inevitable occurs and there corporal existence is no more. I ponder now the merits of pizza and henceforth journeyed to gather thoughts and feelings of fellows on the matter of pizza.

(And yes, FYI I did in fact type all that out just now, yes this actually happened, and yes I did utilize that style of prose because it kills time, no copy/paste business here)

Anyway, that's what happened to me yesterday. I thought about taking a picture of five pizza boxes in my fridge but since I'm at work that's going to be impossible. I'm not sure how my room mates feel about five pizza boxes in the fridge, all I have to say is-- Sorry Riot : (

So what are your thoughts on pizza? Particularly the big national pizza chains since I'm sure everyone has an opinion on them, but feel free to chime in on your local pizza joint and compare it to the national chains (this is, after all, pizza discussion). Here is how I rank them from best to worst:

Papa John's -- Better ingredients, better pizza is the slogan that to me rings true from hill to hill. Although they're much more expensive I find that their pizza is the most rewarding of the big three. Although their crust options leave much to be desired, the quality of their pizza makes up for it. And don't forget the pepperoncini! It's a nice spicy "thank you" that only Papa John's can deliver. They can be a bit greasy however and they do a number on my flatulence, but hey, I'm going by taste and satisfaction and it reigns supreme. I would like some opinions on this from LikeableRodent since he used to work at Papa John's.

Domino's -- I don't hear too much about them. They're the number one ranked chain nationally but in my hometown and in Bloomington they don't make too much of an impression. I like their pizza, it's pretty thick and their cheese has a certain unique quality to it. The toppings are placed on top of the pizza and their pepperoni have a distinct curled look after coming of the oven. For some reason though their pizza doesn't do anything truly special that makes me really want to have another slice. This pizza is very akin to DiGiorno's frozen pizza which can be a good or bad thing. This is definitely not as good as Papa John's, but it is by far not as bad as...

Pizza Hut -- I'm not a big fan of their pizza at all. To me it's the crust-- that's the nail in the coffin. Their crust is so thick that is covers the precious flavor of the sauce, cheese, and toppings. It doesn't matter which crust you get, their crust to filling ratio does not sit well with me. I will admit though, their Stuffed Crust pizza is good and if I ever order from them I usually get that, it's their only saving grace. Their meats aren't good, especially their sausage, how do you mess up sausage? You work at Pizza Hut, that's how.


But yeah, let's get some great pizza discussion going! Who's with me?!
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Post by elcuebee » Thu Sep 13, 2007 5:49 pm

and you beat my longest post ever, congrats

but yeah pretty much for me, although it's fucking horrible for you, pizza hut stuffed crust pizza is pretty much the best pizza you can order out

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Post by mexican ninja » Thu Sep 13, 2007 6:28 pm

I am in love with Pizza King. As far as I know they're only located in the indiana area, maybe ohio, I don't know. But anyways I order that stuff so much the me and the delivery guy are on first name basis. The pizza isn't really all that special, but for me its the sauce that does it. It just has this zing that can't be beat. Oh and the peperoni is amazing. They're like...little cubes. Mmmmm.

I can't stand Pizza Hut. Everything is wrong with their pizza. Everything.

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Post by Jeff Jeff Revolution » Thu Sep 13, 2007 6:29 pm

Pizza is the name of the band I made up...with only me in it.

http://myspace.com/newpalestinepizza

I'm such a loser.

I usually eat pizza several times a week because it's easy to make in the oven with stuff like DiGiornio. We have this local place called Snappy Tomato, though. It's as if heaven had a buffet.
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Post by Potter » Thu Sep 13, 2007 6:31 pm

booo at all the pizza hut hate. its the only pizza I eat
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Post by Riot » Thu Sep 13, 2007 6:50 pm

So that's why there are 5 pizzas in our fridge.... You're tempting me, young Merk-u.
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Post by danc1005 » Thu Sep 13, 2007 7:25 pm

I love love LOVE Papa Murphy's. It's the one you take home and bake yourself? Their Gourmet Classic Italian is the best restaurant pizza.
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Post by chocobojoe » Thu Sep 13, 2007 7:31 pm

Papa John's - it's been ages since I've had a Papa John's pizza. It's pretty decent, but the cheese is kinda oily from what I remember. I do enjoy the cup of garlic butter that comes with it.

Domino's - They usually do a halfassed job making the pizza so I stopped getting pizza from there years ago.

Pizza Hut - I'm with Potter here, Pizza Hut is actually pretty good. The crust may be a little thick, but it's also fluffy. After a couple slices it feels kinda greasy though, but the restaurant definitely serves a better atmosphere than just getting take-out.

Marco's - Cardboard with sauce, cheese, and grease on top.

East of Chicago - the pan pizza is oily as fuck. I used to work there as a delivery man but that also meant I had to wash dishes and oil pans. A large pizza there literally has about 1/2 cup of oil in the bottom of the pan and the crust usually sits in it overnight just soaking it up. The hand-tossed crust there is incredible though, and I highly recommend it. Out of most major pizza places, I prefer the toppings from EoC, but that's because they actually put enough on their pizza for you to taste it...

Little Caesar's - the $5 Hot n Ready deal is pretty sweet. I love how the crust tastes but their sauce isn't all that good. The toppings are average, then again I've only had pepperoni from there ever so I wouldn't know about the other toppings. They just started a new $8 Hot n Ready 3-meat deal, so I might check that out sometime.

Papa Murphy's Take-n-Bake - this place is king, sure you have to bake the pizza yourself when you get home but oh my lord it is the best. They have the best cheese, best crust, and great deals. This month you can get a family sized pepperoni (16 inch pizza) for $5.99, or a large for $4.99, and since the food isn't cooked for you, there is no tax. Beauty.
You can also add a big ass thing of cheese bread (it's the size of a 12 inch pizza i think) with dipping sauce and a big tub of cookie dough (makes a dozen cookes i think) for $4 extra. That is a sweet deal.

Normally I don't go to local places because 9 times out of 10 they are way overpriced for mediochre pizza. This one place, Mama Mia's, is pretty good though, I think it's like $5 for a large one topping. They have good subs too.

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Post by Jizzon » Thu Sep 13, 2007 8:54 pm

Donato's.

OMG.

The Serious Meat...it's like dream pizza.
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Post by blackcat » Thu Sep 13, 2007 9:01 pm

I personally like Pizza Hut, Domino's, and Aver's whenever I'm in Bloomington. Like, pizza was what I survived on in high school...and for some reason I still stayed thin because I swam and I worked off all the calories in the pool.

Now I really can't eat pizza that often because I don't swim anymore. All I do now is dance games, and that's totally dependent on how much homework I get and how much time I would have to play it.

*sigh* I want pizza but don't want to get fat :?

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Post by MonMotha » Thu Sep 13, 2007 10:10 pm

Considering major chains only, no local pizza parlors.

Best thin crust: Pizza King (sorry, it's an Indiana tradition); a close #2: Donato's
Best pan/deep dish: Pizza Hut
Best hand tossed/traditional: Papa John's
Best cheap pizza: Little Caesar's (Pizza! Pizza!)
Best take-and-bake: Papa Murphy's (only take and bake?)
Best weird pizza: Hawaiian from Donato's
Best microwavable pizza: Red Baron
Best home-baked pizza (from a grocery store, not take-and-bake): Frescheta Brick Oven

Just make SURE you do NOT order extra cheese at the Carmel Pizza King. You'll end up with a several pounds of cheese on the thing!
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Post by Rusty Shackleford » Thu Sep 13, 2007 10:17 pm

I am baking my famous buffalo chicken with bacon pizza righhhhht now.

num num num

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Post by God Of Rock » Fri Sep 14, 2007 4:40 am

Little. Fucking. Caesar's. Now and forever.

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Post by BigBadOrc » Fri Sep 14, 2007 8:36 am

I don't eat pizza cuz it makes you suck at itg

But if I did, I'd definately get some chicken bacon tomato. probably from papa johns. Edit: wow rusty has it right on :shock:

I've also heard from our local breadstick expert :shock: that you can get a pepperoni breadstick at the mall and dip it in cheese sauce and it's really good. YES THEY EAT MEATY "BREADSTICKS" WITH CREAMY SAUCE AT THE MALL
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Post by Riot » Fri Sep 14, 2007 10:40 am

Chicken and Bacon from Marco's in Fort Wayne mmmmm.

I like Pizza Express here, but mostly cuz I like dipping everything in cheese and they have good breadsticks and stuff.
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