I Tried The Best Pizza In America

Pizza is one of the largest food businesses in the world, it is valued at $141 billion and the United States alone owns $3 of all that and half of that third is spent on Pizza Hut Papa John's Little Caesars, but what about the other half? This is where things get difficult. kinda interesting America has done a good job of adapting this European invention into something of its own while still respecting the traditional art form. That's why today we're going to try to find the

best

pizza

in the United States. There is only one problem. More than 80,000 pizzerias exist here, so how can we reduce that?

We are using a rigorous three-step process. Step one. We asked you on my Instagram what is the

best

American style of

pizza

and what is the best restaurant that represents that style to make. In this Fair our control is the pepperoni cheese and the sauce, that's it, the second step, we are going to take your top three cities and pizza restaurants, go to them and rate them because I have to try them for myself and finally the Third step, the most important city. If you win, we'll go find a local pizza expert to take us to all the most influential pizzerias in that area.

The highest-scoring pizza from our tour will be crowned America's Best Pizza. Thousands of you voted for this and the top three were New York City comes in second place Detroit style and Chicago deep dish comes in third place, New Haven is very close but unfortunately didn't make the top three according to our vote. With all that said, we'll start in Chicago, the land of Italian beef, something I love. but let's see how their pizza fares at the original Lumina in Chicago, perhaps Chicago's most iconic deep dish. There are many styles of pizza here, but deep dish has three times as many votes as pan pizza and twice as many as thin crust pizza and 10 times more than those things, so here we are, the classic and famous pepperoni crust butter and marinara cheese, simple, right now I feel like I'm suffocating, it was a fight, sometime you get in the water and you even breathe enough and you start to panic, that's what just happened.

To me, appearance-wise, it looks great. I like to see the whole tomato. I like to see that the cheese sauce has a good texture. It's hard for me to get through the crust. Crispy and crumbly. Not really what I want in a pizza. I thought the crust would be something special, it's more like a cheesy dessert style pie rather than a pizza. I don't think I need that much cheese, but it helps with that unsalted crust when I think of pizza. I think the chewy crust has good structure. Saua Integrity Fair cheese ratio, not a ton of cheese, not a ton of sauce, and then it should all come together as a singular Crescendo.

I'm biting into a piece of food and getting everything I want in one small bite, like you don't know what's going to happen at the best of times. I can give it this quick pause of 5.5 because I know Chicagoans will be upset with this take, but I have a real Chicagoan here to share his opinion. Mr. Beef himself, I'm a Chicago deep dish. it's garbage Pizza that's disgusting it's like going to McDonald's just being honest with love and respect towards Chicago We move on, very good Chicago, that left me wanting more, but it's not over yet in Detroit, we are at the original location of folks, yeah I don't know, folks, he's essentially the pioneer of Detroit-style pizza.

Everyone in my close circle has been promoting this place for a long time and you, the public, chose it, so it better be good, they have a lot of awards. in there I've never seen so much verified flexing in a room in my entire life but I respect it but I respect it we moved we got this beautiful pizza without further ado clap the pepperonis under the cheese really weird, a nice myard reaction doesn't really develop, really I don't like it, it looks smart, it looks great, the texture is really good, you have this crazy Crunch and it's soft inside, but the flavor is really missing.

I'm a little disappointed, you saw how good it looks. It doesn't taste as good as it looks, this pizza right here in front of me has a solid 5.8, but I will say that the hospitality here is truly unmatched, so I have a lot of respect and love for that, the pizza didn't do it for me I'm just being honest I love you Detroit Sorry, okay, last stop in New York City, we're at Joe's. This was by far the most voted, four times more than the number two spot on the list. He's one of the main pioneers of New York City cuts culture, so if you're in Manhattan late at night, this is where you go.

The size, the foldability, the cheese, the sauce, it's everything that makes the New York City cut, it's really good, super thin as it narrows like paper. We have the cheese we have the pepperoni sauce it's really delicious I love you I love you what's your name? Nice to meet you Sam, of course you can, you look amazing and you, who is amazing, this pizza is amazing, you heard it crunchy, the dough is chewy, it's Super crispy and crunchy on the outside. Here's one thing people don't talk about: the salt level in the dough is almost perfect.

I almost want a little more salt in the dough, just a little bit. That being said, this is almost a perfect pizza. I give this a solid and mighty seven, this pizza is the perfect bar Setter, that's why New York City is the winner, that means we're going to do our deep dive here, but with over 2,000 pizzerias in five burrows it's almost impossible to eat at every single one, so to tell me all the right places to hit, I'll hand the plates over to the only person I would do this with is New York City pizza expert Scott Weiner, who has eaten at all of New York City's notable pizzerias while leading his pizza tour business, Scott's Pizza Tours, and holding the Guinness World Record for the world's largest collection of pizza boxes.

Shout out to Scott for doing most of the research for us and narrowing it down to a concise list. This man bleeds pizza sauce, okay, Scott. How can we make this count well? We're just going to cut to the chase by making the most influential and quintessential slice shops, so these are the ones that are classic old school historic places and some of the new school places that defy convention. I know you like scars that will fit perfectly in the pocket of what we were doing last time. I voted the scars the best. I'm curious to see if it sticks, so let's get started, but if we're going to do this kind of Expedition, we're going to need to try to get Ste in to do this, presto, this makes me uncomfortable, so we're at John's Pizza, one of the oldest coal oven pizzerias in New York City, opened in 1929, we said pepperoni, but now have cheese, why cheese, because this is a New York style pizza and I know that with other styles the toppings are a big part of it, but with New York style pizza it's all about the Holy Trinity, the cheese sauce crust and if they're making a good pizza, it has To find us in this format we have new data, so in In the future all pizzas will be cheese only according to Scott, that is the only way to make this decision as focused and fair as possible.

I'm ready, are you ready? Yes, I see my elegant portion. It's fancy, it's low moisture sliced ​​mozzarella topped with tomato sauce on top of the cheese and this is a variation that many charcoal chimneys made in the past because the sauce acted as a protective element preventing the cheese from drying out at this point. . oven completely dry and cold it is a very delicate dough that melts in your mouth you don't have to chew the dough much in a good way super crispy crust the sauce you wish there was a little more salt in this this is straight from California tomato, It's just a completely clean pizza, nice to eat, it's a great pizza.

I'm going to give it a solid six and a half. I want you to understand something that I aggressively rate five is good, 10 is no better than what I. I'm eating right now and one thing is that I don't want to eat this again. We're going to have to go back to Joe's for a cheese one and see where it lands. This time we return to Joe's. I want the biggest portion you earned. You can really smell the cheese, you don't have to lean on the pepperoni crutch, listen, I really like pepperoni, okay, totally different, not as good, oh I think it's much better, that's why they call it opinion, people, New Yorkers are on the move. take a slice of this a slice of pepperoni you need more time to slurp it's much cleaner to eat without pepperoni I feel like the pepperoni weighs down the pizza a little this is really like maintaining its structural integrity I like that I understand this whiff of CR in the back It's a 6.4 moving to JN and Joe's are tied, but now we move on to Harlem, one of the oldest and most iconic pizzerias in New York City.

Old school 1930s coal oven pizzeria, unlike John's Pis sells its pizza by the slice, so this has become a New York institution. Charcoal has a very dry heat and you can see that on the crust it looks quite crispy and you were talking about the excess flour, what are they going to do here? The thing is that they partially stretch the dough and then leave them stacked with FL flour between the sheets of dough so that they don't stick to each other but the excess flour can stick to the dough and burn a little in the oven and that's when you burn yourself. on the bottom and you get a little powdery on the crust, it just means you might have a bitter taste on your tongue.

I want that bit that I'm a little nervous about, that's beyond Char, that's in the burning territory. I agree with this, it has a very nice crunch that I enjoy, you get a traditional New York pizza flavor. This is a very ordinary pizza for me and when I say ordinary I don't mean bad, I would. Come back and eat it, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. I think he deserves a solid position, five in the middle of the field. Now we head to Luigi's, another pizza icon. Open since 1973, it is still run by the same man.

The family that opened New York Pizza switched from the coal we had at John's and Piss when natural gas became the economical pizza option, so the gas deck oven is what makes this style of pizza possible. It is a longer bake because it is lower. temperature and that leaves a really crispy crust but not even charred and I mean, look at this, it's a classic New York slice. I already took a bite. This is a spicy pizza and I love it. It's a super simple crushed tomato and clear oregano. I like it. the oregano is not in my face, I can barely detect it, which is exactly how I think it should be used on pizza.

Salt lovers usually look great. I like a saltier crust, but the toppings and sauce are salty enough to balance it out. I'm picking up some pepper, which really diversifies the flavor profile. If you come to New York and have an idea in your head imagining New York Pizza, this is the pizza I'm going to give you. a really strong 6.99. I'm leaving room, but I love it, this gives me everything I could want and without relying on pepperoni, I wouldn't even want pepperoni in this, it's as perfect as it is, so Luigi takes the well-deserved first place, but it's a place Old school stuff like this is really going to win, so we move on to see if our next pizzeria dethrones it.

At Tara, the super famous place has been open since 1965, if you are eating a pizza that has fresh basil, it is because of darara. Many of the trends that are happening in New York are due to the influence of darara, so if you are on the shoulders of giants, this is one of those giants that what's up, man? You're trying to exclude, yes, yes. What do you think about this? I'm about to receive my review. I love it a little flatter in the crust, which I don't love. That being said, the crust is very nice, has a good crunch and is chewable.

I like it. juiciness one thing I noticed is different here, there are little bits of whole tomato, it's like a little touch of freshness, but it's not super, super, noticeably different from some of the other good ones I've

tried

. I'm going to give this a solid 6.6, nice and traditional, it doesn't shake me to my core, it's giving me what I want. I finished the portion, so let's move on to what's in second place in the current rankings, moving on to LC col in Brooklyn, which is actually Beyonce. and jz's favorite place is kind of a bridge between those old school places and modern revisionist pizza style darara influence oven host parmesan post oven basil and a pretty pie I want this charred slice, so I'm going to try it.

I'm glad you took that one because I wanted this one here to be juicier. I like juicy pizzas when I say juicy, they are spicy, but the cheese holds and encapsulates their texture. It is not chewed. I want it to have a little crunch. chew I don't think this tastes any different than any of the pizzas I've had today. I know this has a lot of buzz. I know a lot of people love it. I know Beyonce loves it. Shout out to Beyonce. I'm alone. Saying maybe it's a little overrated, this isn't Scott, this is me, look, I like pizza, it's slightly above the ground, it's tasty, I wantmore and I feel like it doesn't have that for me, it's just a good experience, so for me. that 6'2 we're judging this in a vacuum we're not including the restaurant atmosphere we're isolating this as pizza and the pizza only moves forward in a low range for lucali our last truly old school inspired stop now it's time for day two and our first new place in school, we are, at best, pizza in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, opened in 2010 and was really the first place to start this artisanal approach to the New York slice.

They bake the pizza in a wood-fired oven. There's like oregano in this. There is pizza, visually it is beautiful, the crust is pleasant, the crunch is excellent, the texture is good, the cheese is quite typical, the oregano is what is killing me, it was the first thing you said when you smelled it, it is Sicilian oregano, it is bright, it has punch, like that that a little goes a long way. This is what any dough-made pizza sauce or tomato sauce tends to have. oregano and an exquisite amount of sugar, which is why oregano reminds me of these dough-made sauces, although there is this pleasant herbaceous floral quality of oregano that takes me away from this pizza and transports me to that oregano you abused when When young oregano He abused me, I have emotional scars.

I like this because it's so light, it's like this soft whisper of a pizza. The only thing that isn't subtle is the oregano. If it weren't for the oregano, this would be about a seven. I think I could give it a six. We're moving toward the best pizzas joining the back of the pack as we head to our next stop, which has deep roots in Staten Island. Ruby Rosa is a new school place but it pays homage to the old school because it's the same family that has been in the pizza game in New York since the '60s, so it has this classic old school New York vibe, but It is a thin crust pizza.

Greetings, yes, a great advance in my opinion. I talk a lot about salt, but really what I do. I'm talking about balancing the salt, the acidity, the sweetness, just the perfect sauce. This is one of the best, if not the best, thin crust pizza I have ever had in my entire life. The crust has a really deep toasted flavor that I love. Pizza usually has a texture that is just cookie-like, it has a softness just beneath the surface. I want to slap myself with this. It's the perfect amount of cheese for this style of pizza. I'm going to give this one a 7.2. it's a great number of Josh it's a great number of Josh I have nothing to say this is awesome Moving forward not only has Ruby Rasta taken the top spot from Luigi's but new school Pizza takes the lead over old school we just have a few more stops to the left - this will actually be our highest score.

There's only one way to find out at Mama's 2. As soon as I got there, they immediately put me to work. Frank's parents have owned a pizzeria for decades two blocks away called Mamas in both locations. coexist doing slightly different things moms with the classic New York pizza m is with the most thought out pizza as the most intentional pizza for people, yes, moving fast because it's very cold and this one will get cold instantly, the one I made is not. The one we classified, look, this is a very good slice, it is crispy and melts instantly, apart from the basil, the sauce is very soft, it is a fresh cake, it makes you feel like that freshness of a Neapolitan pizza, but the anxiety like that of a New York pizza.

York I like that this pizza is more substantial I like that there are layers to the different toppings here that little bit of fresh Parmesan adds the Umami and depth of flavor that I crave makes this pizza a little bit special do you think this Is it a classic traditional New York pizza or does it fit in with the New Wave? To me, this feels like a classic, the only New Wave element. Fresh basil parm sorted, but to me it just feels like a more thoughtful take on traditional. I really like it, I'm going to give it a 7.35 minute, oh it was really good, it was supposed to be round, okay and so, Mama's 2 takes the first place one after another, it keeps dethroning, let's see another one first place after this advantage.

Pizza is New York's rebuttal to its own dollar-slice culture. There were all these pizzerias in town that had a slice of the dollar, it certainly wasn't high quality, but in 2019 some of the owners decided to open a place that I make high quality ingredients with whole sourdough and that's the good thing. Pizza this it's a style that I enjoyed there is some moisture in this cheese you can see it it has little moisture and fresh mozzarella is like its own drink this slice yes I love this texture it has a crunchy crunch that not all puffed crust pizzas have this super crunchy and then you get the softness on the inside flavor wise, it's less in the sour toasted range more in the creamy, buttery french bread type, nice when you say sourdough pizza I think a lot of people think, eh, I'll stay away.

This reveals the truth about sourdough, which is that very often it is not sour and there is some Umami that I am also picking up and really enjoying. It's like a roasted tomato. and they roast it with a thick layer of oil on top and then they pour what it's called when you take a bunch of herbs and wrap them bouquet garne by bouquet gar in appearance it's beautiful, I'm going to give it a seven High Praise that moves up joins the top three as we head to our next place in Queens, you know, I could be dreaming of so many things, probably not the pizza from monkey pizza, it's a classic pizzeria run by this guy, Nick, who he loves.

Push more water into the dough so we can get a crust with a lighter air area. Sometimes people think it's going to be too short. I feel like I have a handlebar to hold onto before I eat my pizza. It is 95% air. Which? Do you think I'm going to? Oh, I know you're going for that. You like a life with some imperfections. Wait, listen to this. That is cute. My God. I just bit into a piece of heaven. It was like a crispy French fry. In this cloud of salty, yeasty air, the salt level in this dough is very good, it's not as chewy as I'm looking for.

I'm not complaining, although I like it. This is definitely on the new school side because Nick treats pizza like bread you don't get a crumb structure like this with big open air pockets without knowing what you're doing this is like a perfect combination of everything everything I said About this pizza he puts it at a solid 7.1 monkeys. monkeys but our job doesn't end here we're going to see another dethronement with one of my favorite pizzerias in New York City let's find out so we're at Scars one of my personal favorites in the second most voted pizzeria in The Scar of New York City York is a super big place that they opened in 2016.

The idea of ​​Scars is to make a quintessential classic New York slice and make you feel like you're in a quintessential classic New York pizzeria, but to upgrade the components. By using some of their own homemade flour, they are using much less higher quality cheese and organic tomatoes in the pizza sauce. I don't know man I'm nervous, extremely good, you get a little bit of the puppy crust, but you get a lot more crunch than what you did the other way around, seasoning a little less than I want it to be, but the cheese is very salty , which I love, it's a complete picture, you know, you're not just eating crust, I'll say it's conical. experience, it starts out thin and gets a little thicker and thicker as you get closer to the edge, is it a flaw or a positive, no, it's positive, because you get multiple texture experiences in this, and you know how I feel about that flavor. perfect perfect sauce it's a little sweet but not too sweet it's a little tart but not too tart it has a deep flavor but not too deep it's not overcooked it has a lot of umami this gets a solid 7.8 I don't I don't know if you were going to go that high.

I really love this SP. I would eat this whole pizza and not stop and I don't care if my body hurts. My feelings are fine. What can I say? Scars has been my favorite pizzeria in New York but it's not over yet, we have one last stop to go tear down my long time favorite pizzeria in New York or our last place is going to take the crown from us, let's find out the industry is Owned by a guy from Tuscany who is making New York style pizza with this Italian mentality. The pizza they are making now is the result of constant progress and constant learning, so this is really the definition of a new school.

Place basil, parmesan and post-baking olive oil. Excellent Char, greetings. My two favorite things about a pizza together, you get a crispy crunch right away, you know, almost like a cookie style, but when you chew you think, wait a minute, this dough has some tensile strength, it's a little chewy on Good sense sticks. chew with my teeth, which I really like. You can't have a good pizza without a good crust because you can have a bite that has less cheese or less sauce or no basil or whatever, but for me it's the base of this pie and then they just don't ruin it and the dough is perfectly seasoned the sauce is perfectly seasoned perfectly mousse the flavor is deep but not overpowering it is still clean I love the amount of cheese this is not a gooey slice of cheese, not necessary If you ever eat a pizza that has too much cheese and you chew it and it's great and about 50% of the way through the chewing process it becomes hard and rubbery, that doesn't happen with this, it disintegrates.

I mean, this is great pizza, the best. America's pizza crown comes down to this. I think you will get a 785 wo, just a 0.05 difference. A marginal increase means a big win for the industry. Look, I have a lot of respect for old school stuff. You know I grew up and worked old school. traditional school restaurants, but I'm a new kid at school. I like the idea of ​​taking the old learning from him and applying the new and then lifting it up on the shoulders of giants and I feel like lustry did a great job. Moral of the story here. is that Pizza in America deserves a seat at the culinary table and I think Scott, you could agree with that 100%, so thank you Scott for making this possible.

He couldn't have done it without you. Your endless source of pizza knowledge is truly remarkable wherever you are, whether in New York or anywhere in the United States, try a local pizza place, have an experience, do it for me, if not, do it for Scott, I want do it, goodbye.