Papa John's blames NFL protests for declining pizza sales

[Sheik Yerbouti]

rather, you should be thanking us for helping to pivot this to a proper pizza discussion thread.

Well yea, pj's pizza is shit, the owner is a shit and tough shit on the sales falling.
Now, NYC pizza vs Chicago Pizza, that's a whole different debate. I do like a good thin crust pizza and NYC doesn't have a good crust, usually soggy and floppy. Same can be said for pizza places around Chicago, but if you find the right one and they cut it into squares, it's excellent.
por ejemplo

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

It's okay, they're talking about pizza, not casseroles or pot pies (minus the lid), you shouldn't have any reason to be offended.

FWIW I didn't know what pizza was until I came to upstate NY, holy crapballs there's no comparison.

I'm from Chicago, and I understand our pizza is different than all others.
No, you can't walk around munching on this, but sometimes it's good to sit and enjoy a really, really good pizza

 

[MomentsofSanity]

I'm from Chicago, and I understand our pizza is different than all others.
No, you can't walk around munching on this, but sometimes it's good to sit and enjoy a really, really good pizza

You eat that with a knife and fork right?

 

[zinfamous]

Well yea, pj's pizza is shit, the owner is a shit and tough shit on the sales falling.
Now, NYC pizza vs Chicago Pizza, that's a whole different debate. I do like a good thin crust pizza and NYC doesn't have a good crust, usually soggy and floppy. Same can be said for pizza places around Chicago, but if you find the right one and they cut it into squares, it's excellent.
por ejemplo

If you are having "NY Pizza" with a soggy and floppy crust, then you aren't having a NY slice. It should be slightly burned and crisp, with an audible, tactile crunch when you fold it over on itself, in preparation for its final journey down your gullet.

^That up there, is the real problem I have always had with Chicago pizza. I really do love the stuffed/deep dish...but that is the only good pizza in Chicago. All of the "thin" "pan" styles I tried at the various places were soulless, bland, often just greasy more than anything. Too thin to be fulfilling. And few, if any solid options for a real NY pizza joint. It wasn't that I dislike deep dish and stuffed--it's that Chicago has no other viable options.

 

[vi edit]

Ny crust soggy? Not in my experience. Most of the places I went to they toss the slice in the oven @ 500 degrees for a few minutes. Slice comes out crispy on the bottom and nice and fluffy the rest of the way through. Almost perfect.

 

[ivwshane]

I'm from Chicago, and I understand our pizza is different than all others.
No, you can't walk around munching on this, but sometimes it's good to sit and enjoy a really, really good pizza

No wonder you guys call it "pie". I bet you can't even eat that shit cold!

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

If you are having "NY Pizza" with a soggy and floppy crust, then you aren't having a NY slice. It should be slightly burned and crisp, with an audible, tactile crunch when you fold it over on itself, in preparation for its final journey down your gullet.

^That up there, is the real problem I have always had with Chicago pizza. I really do love the stuffed/deep dish...but that is the only good pizza in Chicago. All of the "thin" "pan" styles I tried at the various places were soulless, bland, often just greasy more than anything. Too thin to be fulfilling. And few, if any solid options for a real NY pizza joint. It wasn't that I dislike deep dish and stuffed--it's that Chicago has no other viable options.

I grew up by a place that had killer, flavorful, crispy thin crust pizza. Not sure where you could find a NY pizza place in Chicago, or a Chicago pizza place in NYC. I have to say that my experience with NYC pizza was one time and was not at anyplace I even vaguely remember the name of.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

No wonder you guys call it "pie". I bet you can't even eat that shit cold!

You sir, are incorrect. The above statement has been proven wrong by thousands if not millions of hung over Chicagoans the next morning.

 

[zinfamous]

I grew up by a place that had killer, flavorful, crispy thin crust pizza. Not sure where you could find a NY pizza place in Chicago, or a Chicago pizza place in NYC. I have to say that my experience with NYC pizza was one time and was not at anyplace I even vaguely remember the name of.

strangely enough, there was one under the tracks at Addison, many years ago, called "Chi-town Pizza." I think it was run by these two Armenian guys, and it was only NY style by the slice. You could get two big slices for about $5, and it was perfect, and right there at Wrigley. I think they closed down ~2006 or 2007, only to be replaced by one of the Cubs' many shady ticket-reseller fronts (those stores that sell Cubs tickets, purchased from box-office and up-charged to tourists. You know...the Cubs selling themselves tickets and making further profit...but it's Chicago!)

Though, I do think Chi-town opened up a shop somewhere in Up Town, I forget the street, but I never tried that one. Not sure if it's still there or if it is the same?

 

[zinfamous]

You sir, are incorrect. The above statement has been proven wrong by thousands if not millions of hung over Chicagoans the next morning.

well it's not like we ever had a choice: you wake up the next morning on your kitchen floor, pizza in your face, discovering that you could only eat half of last night's slice before passing out. You have to finish the slice before you can even get up!

 

[KMFJD]

Only thing wrong with Chicago Deep Dish Pizza is the fact it has pizza in the name....it's not really a pizza but it sure does look good....

 

[K1052]

There are a few NY style places in Chicago but nothing worth the calories, IMO, if you've had the real thing. To be fair I've never had a decent NYC style slice outside the northeast.

As for thin crust skip 95% the average style stuff around here and go get some Neapolitan goodness at Spacca Napoli or head to Bebu for their own kind of hybrid take on it that seems like the love child of NYC style and Neapolitan style.

 

[zinfamous]

I haven't been back to Chicago since 2008. Damn, I miss it.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

strangely enough, there was one under the tracks at Addison, many years ago, called "Chi-town Pizza." I think it was run by these two Armenian guys, and it was only NY style by the slice. You could get two big slices for about $5, and it was perfect, and right there at Wrigley. I think they closed down ~2006 or 2007, only to be replaced by one of the Cubs' many shady ticket-reseller fronts (those stores that sell Cubs tickets, purchased from box-office and up-charged to tourists. You know...the Cubs selling themselves tickets and making further profit...but it's Chicago!)

Though, I do think Chi-town opened up a shop somewhere in Up Town, I forget the street, but I never tried that one. Not sure if it's still there or if it is the same?

I worked at Wrigley about a decade before then, I don't remember that place at all, and the El was my main mode of transport. And yea, there are numerous ticket resellers within a block of the park. So many small places have been bought out, hell I was friends with someone who lived right across the street on Sheffield before they put those damn bleachers on the roofs. It was lawn chairs and hibachi's and watch the Cubs slide into the last place year after year. Now it's all hyper expensive condos, and I think they're owned by the Ricketts family or something like that.

 

[woolfe9998]

There are a few NY style places in Chicago but nothing worth the calories, IMO, if you've had the real thing. To be fair I've never had a decent NYC style slice outside the northeast.

As for thin crust skip 95% the average style stuff around here and go get some Neapolitan goodness at Spacca Napoli or head to Bebu for their own kind of hybrid take on it that seems like the love child of NYC style and Neapolitan style.

I don't know about American places which mimic Italian style pizzas, but I went to Italy for a month a few years back and, while I loved the food there, the pizza was consistently inferior to what we have in the US.

 

[K1052]

I don't know about American places which mimic Italian style pizzas, but I went to Italy for a month a few years back and, while I loved the food there, the pizza was consistently inferior to what we have in the US.

I have little pizza experience in Italy that I can speak to since the only time I went was for 3 days and I stuffed my face full of all the good pasta I could find. I found a lot of it.

That said this place just landed here in Chicago from Rome:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/bonci-chicago

It's pretty fucking amazing and unfortunately for my waistline only 6 blocks away.

 

[woolfe9998]

I have little pizza experience in Italy that I can speak to since the only time I went was for 3 days and I stuffed my face full of all the good pasta I could find. I found a lot of it.

That said this place just landed here in Chicago from Rome:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/bonci-chicago

It's pretty fucking amazing and unfortunately for my waistline only 6 blocks away.

Almost every restaurant in Italy seems to have pizza on the menu. I think I had it 3 or 4 times. The crust is thin but not crispy. It's like a store bought pizza dough that is slightly undercooked. The sauce tastes like plain tomato sauce with few added spices. And they don't use as much cheese. So far as toppings, they may have 20-40 options, including stuff you'd never think to put on a pizza. No peperoni though. It doesn't exist there.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I'm from Chicago, and I understand our pizza is different than all others.
No, you can't walk around munching on this, but sometimes it's good to sit and enjoy a really, really good pizza

Now that looks delicious.

 

[soundforbjt]

He needs to blame Trump, it’s his idiot followers that aren’t watching the game and ordering his crap pizza. They were probably the only ones ordering it since he’s a Trump supporter.

 

[KMFJD]

I have little pizza experience in Italy that I can speak to since the only time I went was for 3 days and I stuffed my face full of all the good pasta I could find. I found a lot of it.

That said this place just landed here in Chicago from Rome:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/bonci-chicago

It's pretty fucking amazing and unfortunately for my waistline only 6 blocks away.

I'd like to try these deep fried spaghetti things they make....

Pizza looks ok as well

 

[Chaotic42]

If you are having "NY Pizza" with a soggy and floppy crust, then you aren't having a NY slice. It should be slightly burned and crisp, with an audible, tactile crunch when you fold it over on itself, in preparation for its final journey down your gullet.

^That up there, is the real problem I have always had with Chicago pizza. I really do love the stuffed/deep dish...but that is the only good pizza in Chicago. All of the "thin" "pan" styles I tried at the various places were soulless, bland, often just greasy more than anything. Too thin to be fulfilling. And few, if any solid options for a real NY pizza joint. It wasn't that I dislike deep dish and stuffed--it's that Chicago has no other viable options.

Exactly. I'll add that the very act of cutting a pizza into squares ruins it. It could be the very best pizza made by the very best pizzamaker in New York and the instant the first square shape is cut, all of the deliciousness and quality flies out of the pizza and into the aether. Also, puppies, Jesus, and Puppy Jesus all cry.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Exactly. I'll add that the very act of cutting a pizza into squares ruins it. It could be the very best pizza made by the very best pizzamaker in New York and the instant the first square shape is cut, all of the deliciousness and quality flies out of the pizza and into the aether. Also, puppies, Jesus, and Puppy Jesus all cry.

Lies, lies and more lies.
jesus himself cuts pizza into squares, sick puppies are made well and play with frolicking kittens.

 

[NostaSeronx]

Pizza in square cuts with squares that have no crust, get rid of it.

 

[Chaotic42]

Lies, lies and more lies.
jesus himself cuts pizza into squares, sick puppies are made well and play with frolicking kittens.

I live in Saint Louis. Have you seen what sick things they do to pizza here?

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

I live in Saint Louis. Have you seen what sick things they do to pizza here?

No, and if I go to my grave never knowing the atrocities St Louis does to pizza I will be good with that. Thank you for the heads up. I've seen chili in Cincinnati, and I still have to go to counseling.