The Pizza Bowl

[SugarJ]

Hi all. I have been lurking here for over a year now and am stepping up to my first post, seeking your wisdom.

With deference and the utmost respect your guys and your pizza knowledge, I wonder if you could help me build my at-home challenge: we're moving to the graduate hospital area in a month. Soon thereafter we will host a few friends for our own pizza competition. We will order two pies from each place that makes the list: one cheese pie (the control), and another with half sausage (have to know if its links or crumbles, sometimes affectionately called "turds"), half mushrooms (are they canned or fresh and not everyone likes them so they are relegated to only a half), and onions all around (because we want to). Oh yes, and they have to deliver!

Making the competitor list thus far are: (the new) Gianfranco on Broad, Gusto, Lazaro's, and Mama Palma's.

And here is where you come in - am I missing any? Does NYPD deliver and would they to the Grad Hosp hood?

Note: we don't care for "greek" pizza

Many many many thanks in advance for your sage advice.

[mrbigjas]

welcome to the 'hood, sugarj, and to the forum.

if you don't like greek, don't get lazaro's or society hill or towne or omega. although if you're underage you should go get some beer at omega.

randazzo's is on 18th, and it used to be pretty solid. sometime in the last couple years some asian folks took it over, and while they're nice, it's just not as good as it used to be. or else my tastes have changed. but if you're nearby, it's worth tossing into the competition. ask for it well done.

also dolce carini is big ol floppy NY style pizza. it's at 19th & chestnut and will deliver, but they close kinda early. worth a shot though.

[SugarJ]

Interesting comment on Lazaro's as elsewhere on the internets I read that it was of the Lorenzo's "genre". Now, that doesn't make me hurry hurry hurry to get a slice, but, in the scheme of things, floppy large-sliced pizza with slightly sweet sauce does have its place.

Dolce carini?? have never heard of it. BUt i like what you say of it. The competition will probably be on a saturday afternoon/early evening so their timing ought to work.

[mrbigjas]

i don't remember it being like lorenzo's, but more like towne. but i could be wrong. they make good big sandwiches at lazaro's, but the pizza leaves a lot to be desired, even for takeout..

[I_call_the_duck]

Welcome, neighbor!

I don't think Lazaro's is that bad. The sauce is slightly sweet, and the slices are huge, even by NY standards. But they're right around the corner from me, and are good in a pinch.

I'm pretty sure NYPD Pizza does not deliver to the 'hood. Paolo Pizza, which is located at 13th and Pine, is a favorite of ours. I've never had it delivered, but we do get their menus in our mailbox, so I'm going to assume that they do deliver to the GH area.

[mrbigjas]

ok dredging up this thread from the past to do a self-correction--i had a slice of lazaro's last week and it was not at all as i remembered it; it was indeed big ol' floppy piece of pizza, and wasn't bad at all. the sauce was too sweet by half, and the cheese had that plasticky texture of cheap industrial mozzarella, but all in all it serves the purpose just fine, and i'll go back there when i need a slice.

[urbanfabric]

I've found that grabbing a slice at Lazaro's is a lot different than having them deliver a pie... a slice will be twice-baked (and crispy) and a pie only once (and floppy). A delicious modification: have them deliver a pie, toss on some arugula and throw the whole thing in the oven. Yum.

Someone mentioned Towne Pizza... entirely different, much doughier, fresh toppings (mushrooms, spinach, etc), and a great sauce with a bit of a spice. Used to run around the corner when I first moved to Philly, and pick it up myself. When we moved EOB (east of Broad), we tried the around the corner places, and then decided it was worth it to have it delivered from Towne.

A pizza competition? What a fabulous idea!