Slice sampling at Porta in Philadelphia; click on any image for full size |
What's a Corleone style pizza? Read on! |
Cozy interior at La Tela, Kiawah Island SC |
18. &Pizza Philadelphia PA. One of the fastest-growing entries in the "fast Casual" pizza market is &Pizza (https://andpizza.com), which calls itself an "anti-establishment establishment built on the renown of its creative pies and craft beverages" There are about 25 locations in DC, MD, and VA, with new stores opening in NYC, Boston, and Philly.
Personal size pie at &Pizza |
17. Napizza San Diego CA. Roman style "al taglio" pizza has finally come to America, and what took so long? Our 2017 Breakout list found Roman style slices from Alice Cucina Romana (Ah-lee-chay) in Philly landing on the #6 slot.
"Al Taglio" slices at Napizza |
16. Crust Wood Fired Pizza James Island SC. Spoiler alert: three Charleston area pizzas made this 2018 list. Can there be a truer sign of the Pizza Renaissance than how easy it's become to get destination pizza here in the land of low country cooking?
Flawless Neapolitan at Crust Wood Fired Pizza |
15. Porta Philadelphia PA. This brand-new Neapolitan pizzeria, with a few other New Jersey locations, occupies the biggest interior restaurant space in Philly.
A slice at Porta |
14. MiDiCi King of Prussia PA. MiDiCi is the highest ranking chain pie on this list; the fact that any chain pie qualifies is just another flashing red light announcing the ongoing pizza renaissance.
Egg and Bacon pizza at MiDiCi |
13. John's Pizza Frazer PA. Regular readers know my soft spot for old-school American pizza; thin and rigid crust, tangy red sauce, no overload of cheese. What a thrill it was to sample the throwback pies at John's, right in my neighborhood, after having ignored it for 9 years.
Throwback pizza at John's in Frazer PA |
12. Tonito's Pizza West Chester PA. Not only in my back yard, but close enough to walk! Tonito's makes conventional round pies, a Chicago pizza, and spectacular square thin crust "Trenton" and "Brooklyn" pizzas.
Trenton pizza at Tonito's |
11. Brigantessa Philadelphia PA. In a year filled with many wonderful but conventional Neapolitan pizzas, the Stella was a head-turning variation.
The "Stella" at Brigantessa |
10. La Tela Pizza Kiawah Island, SC. Can you expect a great pie from a shopping plaza location on the outskirts of Kiawah Island, South Carolina? I didn't, but we found a delightful surprise when we ordered a pizza with nine quail eggs on top.
Quail egg pizza with pancetta at La Tela |
9. Bricco Coal-Fired Pizza Westmont NJ. Finding great pizza means having great sources, and in Jersey you can't do better than Pete Genovese. Bricco made Pete's Top Ten and it's a wonderful Neapolitan hybrid pie.
The short rib pie at Bricco |
8. Pizza-Grill.com Trenton NJ. An unusual pizza from an unusually-named pizzeria, this square pie is made in the "Corleone" style. What is a Corleone style pizza? It looks like a Sicilian pizza, but I found the dough to be light and airy yet crisp -- much like that found in the Philly-style tomato pies offered at bakeries.
Corleone style pizza at Pizza-Grill.com |
7. Paulie Gee's Hampden Baltimore MD. I met Paulie and first tried his "Hellboy" Neapolitan at the Pizza Palooza near Washington DC in 2017, so it became a priority to motor down Interstate 95 to visit his Baltimore location.
Paulie Gee's "Hellboy" Neapolitan |
6. All-Purpose Pizza Washington DC. Our nation's capital region is already blessed with some fine pies, such as 2Amys and Seventh Hill Pizza. The pies at this new spot in the Capitol Riverfront area are inspired by the old-school joints in NJ and NY. These non-Neapolitans take about 10 minutes to cook in a conventional gas oven.
"Buona" pizza at All-Purpose |
5. (Tie) DeLorenzo's The Burg (Levittown PA) and DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies (Yardley, PA). Okay, this was a sneaky way to get 19 pies into my list of 18, but this was a fitting tribute to the two great legendary pie makers of Trenton.
Sam Amico, owner at DeLorenzo's Yardley |
Tomato pie from DeLorenzo's Yardley |
DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies - Yardley PA |
A slice of DeLorenzo's tomato pie in Yardley |
A large pizza from DeLorenzo's The Burg |
DeLorenzo's The Burg - Levittown PA |
4. Rione Pizza Al Taglio Philadelphia PA. Roman "al taglio" pizza made our 2018 list at #17 with the slices from Napizza in San Diego. Philly, already blessed with one genuinely authentic al taglio pizzeria at Alice, now has Rione just blocks away.
Brilliant crust on al taglio pizza at Rione |
Choices at Rione |
3. BIGA Pizza and Beer Bryn Mawr PA. Philly is home to great pizzas of all kinds - old school, Neapolitan, Roman al taglio, and excellent hybrids. But the fashionable western suburbs, collectively known as the Philadelphia Main Line, has been largely left out of the pizza renaissance.
"Da Bomb" at BIGA |
The "Daytripper" at BIGA |
2. EVO Pizza North Charleston SC. The third and final South Carolina pie on this list lands at number two for 2018. This pizza was so wonderful, in fact, that my wife declared it best pizza of her life.
Speck and mushroom pizza at EVO |
EVO pizza |
Crust perfection at EVO Pizza |
1. Tribute Pizza San Diego CA. At the end of the day, great pizza comes from passionate pizza makers. The further you get from the pizzaiolo, the less likely the pizza will rise above ordinary. That's why frozen pizza is stuck at ordinary (or worse) and why great pizza rarely remains great once a chain gets a lot of locations. People make all the difference, like the energy flowing from Paulie Gee.
Margherita at Tribute Pizza |
A slice at Tribute |
Tribute Pizza, San Diego CA |
"Brooklyn's Best" pizza at Tribute |
Enjoying a Margherita slice |
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