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Our Five Hour Journey For A Single, Spectacular Pizza In Phoenix

June 18, 2009 at 10:02 AM | 2 Comments

Before we felt it right to make our way to one of the country’s best ice cream parlors, we had to backtrack for a moment and hit up one of the country’s best pizza places first. Located in a historic square along Phoenix’s downtown border, Pizzeria Bianco has been the pizza Mecca for crust aficionados across the country.

We knew that Bianco was a must-eat during our visit to Arizona, so we headed to the restaurant at 4:30 pm, as the place opens at 5:00, and only takes reservations for six or more. From what we’d read, we knew we’d have to wait, but we didn’t totally believe that our wait would be as long as it was. When we arrived, the line was already way down the block, and by the time we finally sat down and were rewarded with two delicious pies, it had become a five-hour journey.

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Single Slice Pizza Ban Gets DC All In A Tizzy

June 1, 2009 at 8:52 AM | 0 Comments

As we mentioned when discussing Portland's crazy late-night donuts, every city worth its table salt has an iconic 3 am drunk eating spot, and in DC that spot is Jumbo Slice, or more accurately, the several pizza places along 18th Street in Adams Morgan.

The oversize slice purveyors stay open until after all the bars close, which makes them perfectly poised to pick up business from the inebriated masses. In recent years, the pizza parlors have even grown to look like something of an after-party scene, with post-bar revelers milling about while furiously chowing down on the cheap.

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Eat Your Way Through Boston's Little Italy

May 8, 2009 at 10:30 AM | 1 Comment

Of all the Little Italys in the northeast, Boston's is probably the one least decimated by gentrification. That's not to say this nabe doesn't have its fair share of yuppie cafes and tourist traps, but they don't totally drown out the sweet sound of "uno cannoli, per favore."

You'll still find narrow cobblestone streets lined with hole-in-the-wall eateries, decades-old businesses which make up a part of an ethnic fabric and give the neighborhood a personality and attractions above tourism. Many of these places just happen to be amazing restaurants, and let's face it, you're really only going to come here for one overarching reason: the food. To ease the stress of deciding, we'll let you in on a few of our favorite stops:

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Further Reflections on Pizza: Brooklyn's Motorino Pizza Napoletana

March 29, 2009 at 3:21 PM | 0 Comments

It takes coglioni to open a fancy new pizza restaurant in an Italian part of Brooklyn, but Motorino is giving it a go in Williamsburg anyway. Just three blocks from the mostly take-out Sal's Pizza - a longtime favorite of mine - Motorino is looking to attract a more upscale, sit-down clientele, with a handsome wood-accented interior, dim lighting, and downtempo techno tunes piped through the sound system. Motorino's claim to fame is its wood-burning oven, which produces Neapolitan-style pizza with its signature fluffy crust that's ever-so-slightly scorched on the bottom. Since Williamsburg was originally populated by Italians from in and around Naples, particularly the town of Nola, Motorino's version of Neapolitan pizza is sure to receive a curious yet skeptical reception.

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Delizioso! San Diego's Little Italy, Just Like Mama Used To Make

March 26, 2009 at 4:25 PM | 1 Comment

Just about every American city has a Little Italy that can trace itself back to the turn of last century, and San Diego is no certainly no different. There's been a stable community of Italians in downtown since the 1920's, at one point numbering over 6,000 families. Because our policymakers are really smart they decided to destroy 35 percent of the neighborhood in the 1960's to make room for the 5 Highway, triggering a decline that lasted thirty solid years.

Starting in the 1990's, though, the neighborhood began bouncing back. Today's Little Italy - revolving around the business-lined India Street - is a combination of pizza joints, high-end restaurants, boutiques, antique shops, bars, and cafes.

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The Pizza Places Of Charlotte

March 2, 2009 at 3:56 PM | 0 Comments

On your next layover in Charlotte, don't be afraid to check out the city if you have the time. There’s a lot more to do than to just chill out on those rocking chairs between the terminals. Here are some tips for getting around quickly.

A trip to Charlotte isn’t all about checking out different neighborhoods and fooling around on the light rail. It’s serious work that creates some serious hunger, and we knew we wanted to check out the Queen City’s pizza scene while we were in town. Obviously, the city isn’t a place know for their pizza, but we did discover a few shining stars.

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New Haven's Pepe Pizzeria: Giving NY Pizza Some Serious Competition Since 1925

February 28, 2009 at 4:27 PM | 4 Comments

After we left the Peabody Museum last Sunday, we headed over to Original Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana to pick up a couple of pizza pies.

I knew nothing of New Haven's famous pizzerias until the previous evening, when a friend took me aside to explain the age-old rivalry between Frank Pepe and Sally's Apizza, the two Wooster Street restaurants that have defined New Haven-style pizza for generations. Our friends were partial to Pepe's, so we ordered one pie with "mootz," (mozzarella, which counts as a topping), marinara sauce, sausage, and onions, and another with mootz, marinara, pepperoni, and mushrooms. If it wasn't the best pizza I'd ever had in my life, it was at least in the top five, and I'm left pondering the unthinkable: could New Haven-style pizza be better than New York-style pizza?

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Sometimes You Just Want A Pizza

December 18, 2008 at 4:35 PM | 1 Comment

It may be a little chilly right now, but Quebec offers as much culture as Europe for way less cash. And thanks to the resurgence of the dollar, there's never been a better time to head to Canada. Dana McMahan just got back and is dishing on the province's eats all this week.

Over the first few days of my visit to Quebec, I consumed large quantities of overly rich (and overly French) food. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! But sometimes, even when you’re visiting another country--or maybe especially when you’re visiting another country--you just have to have a pizza.

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No Boundary This Kiwi Pizza Chain Won't Cross

November 6, 2008 at 9:45 AM | 0 Comments

New Zealand's Hell Pizza knows how to garner free press like Heidi Montag knows how to stay in the headlines. A string of self-imposed negative attention is giving the Down Under chain worldwide notoriety.

First, the company plastered billboards around New Zealand reading, "Hell. Too good for some evil bastards," next to a photo of George W. Bush. People winced. Then they offered a free Thai massage with a pizza purchase. People proclaimed sexism, racism and staged boycotts. Oh but the instigators at Hell didn't stop there. It gets much worse.

Now, the company has incited near-riots after airing commercials that feature the corpses of Heath Ledger, Britain's Queen Mum and Mount Everest conqueror Sir Edmund Hillary. The deceased dance on graves to the tune of Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

Now, we're all for shaking things up, but when something's this offensive we'll give the pizza a pass. The next time we're in Christchurch, we're ordering slices from the parlor with a reputation earned by baking tasty pies: Winnie Bagoes.

Related Stories:
· Hell Pizza [Official Site]
· Heat on Hell Pizza Over Flyer Offering Thai Massage [One News]
· New Zealand Pizza Chain Withdraws Dancing Corpses Ad [AFP, via Google]

[Photo: mangee]

Pizza in Naples: Takes Your Mind off the Garbage

July 3, 2008 at 12:00 PM | 0 Comments

You'd be hard-pressed to find a bad pizza in Naples. Even the most hole-in-the-wall joints will fire up a crispy Margherita pie with just the right amount of cheese and a dollop of perfectly-seasoned, secret-recipe sauce.

We had our first real Neapolitan pizza at La Piazzetta, a neighborhood restaurant in a "little piazza" near the train station. We spent just $5 on it, which sure beats the $15 we spent on gelato.

If the food hadn't been so good, we might've noticed the overflowing trash bins near our table sooner. They had the potential to make a real stinker of our evening, but thanks to some strategically placed latticework, we were pleasantly distracted. Of course, we're still trying to figure out why the pizzeria was watering its fake ivy.

Related Stories:
· Pizza coverage [Jaunted]
· Italy Travel coverage [Jaunted]

Pizza Americana: Says Who?

June 30, 2008 at 12:00 PM | 0 Comments

America's guilty of a few heinous pizza crimes. Domino's, CiCi's and Pizza Hut should all be serving life sentences for terrorizing our waistlines with stuffed crusts and unlimited toppings, not to mention annoying commercials. But none of the US violations of pizza code go as far as Italy's "Pizza Americana."

It's not pizza and it's not American, but rather a caloric masterpiece of French fries, hot dogs, oil and cheese. While it makes us gag, Italian kids go bananas for the stuff, which isn't helping the rising child obesity rate Italy.

Don't get us wrong, we're all for fusion cuisine. But to create such a cringe-worthy pizza and then claim that it hails from America is not OK in our book. Why not just layer on some crumbled cellulite and sliced saddlebags to really give it that extra kick?

Related Stories:
· Pizza Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Italy Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Filippo's]

Pizza in New York: Bond45

August 16, 2007 at 11:30 AM | 0 Comments



Finding Good Pizza in Manhattan Map

Though you'll probably be surrounded by families from Des Moines on their way to see Mama Mia, eating at Bond45 is truly a New York experience. What could be more Manhattan than eating a thick slice of pizza while looking out at the giant Cup O' Noodles hanging in the middle of Times Square?

Located in the middle of the theater district, Bond45 is more than a pizzeria--but pizza is its specialty. In fact, the menu boasts that New York Magazine's insatiable critic, Gael Greene, says it's "the best in New York." We know some places that would argue that, but Bond45 does have our fave: Arturo Schwartz's Salsiccia Pizza, with sausage, rosemary potatoes, mozzarella and basil.

Related Stories:
· Pizza in New York coverage [Jaunted]
· Bond45 [Official Site]

[Photo: Chris in Philly]