Thoughts On Pizza
Where I grew up in New York, pizzas came in small,
medium, and large and were usually $5.00, $6.50, and $8.00, respectively. You
could order a large pizza and a two-liter of soda for $10, and it
would arrive cut four ways, resulting in eight relatively equal
slices that comfortably fed four people.
Now, I live in Washington, which seems to have a different take on pizza. The
pizza sizes are physically the same, but the size names are adjusted
such that a "small" is called "medium", "medium" is called "large", and "large"
is called "extra large". These fabulous new names come with a hefty 100% markup,
with prices usually reaching upwards of $10.00, $13.00, and $16.00,
respectively.
I love good pizza, so I wouldn't really mind these inflated prices if the
pizza was really good. Unfortunately, it usually isn't, which may be a
combination of my New York pride and my New York egotism. I don't have high
expectations for the template pizzas you find from chains like Dominos or
Pizza Hut, nor do I expect much from the chain restaurants that offer "personal"
pizzas such as the California Pizza Kitchen, but I do expect a lot of quality
from the small corner pizzerias. Instead, I find a variety of tactics employed
to justify the high cost:
- They put "New York" in their name or description, such as "New York-style
pizza"
- They cut the pizza fifty extra times, resulting in a hundred pizza
shards
- They stuff the box with three pounds of red pepper, parmesan, salt,
and other assorted packets
- They practice any of the other devious tricks of the Washington pizza
trade
The worst part is that I know there's nothing I can do. I've found a few
places with pretty good pizza, but they're across the pond (Lake Washington) in
Seattle, whereas I live in Redmond.
If you can recommend a place for good pizza, please let me know. I do travel
a bit, so feel free to post places worldwide. If I'm in town, I may just buy you
a slice :-)