The FOOD (& Drink) Thread
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Yeah. I recently went to a local brewery here that bought a place that had a pizza oven, and they kept it. Now they are probably better known for their pizza that the beer. I got a pizza that had mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, black olives, hamburger, and sliced grilled hot links. Someone chided me for getting a pizza with "spicy hot dog slices" on it. I'll grant you, that isn't a terrible description of a hot link. But who cares, all that plus a little drizzle of siracha pesto... that pizza was excellent.
Yeah, as varied as opinions can be when it comes to food, I stand by my own, but do not actually fault or complain about anyone else's. I might voice my opinions, but that's mostly for the conversation, not to convince anyone otherwise from their preference. But I did actually manage to convert at least one person on pineapple on pizza; they'd never even tried it, just jumped onto the whole "pineapple doesn't go on pizza" bandwagon because apparently, it's a popular opinion/hot take to have. I bought my favorite pizza (pepperoni, onion, and pineapple,) and asked him to take one bite, and he agreed. Now, what's his favorite pizza? Pepperoni, onion, pineapple, and banana peppers; he added the banana peppers because he loves them. He admitted the "salty and sweet" combination made about as much sense as it does elsewhere, without controversy, throughout the culinary world.
But I'll take your hot take a step further: anyone who shits on American takes on pizza can fuck off a bridge; every attempt at dressing a baked dough with toppings is NOT an attempt to replicate the Italian experience. And anyone who wants to argue New York-style versus Chicago-style pizza can fuck off the same bridge as the "real Italian pizza" psychos. It's FOOD; if it tastes good, it's done 99% of its job; the last 1% is successfully turning into shit which most would agree is a fairly leveling playing field for every variety of cuisine, i.e.: I don't think authentic Italian pizza hand-crafted by some Naples nona makes a better turd than a Little Cesar's $5 "Hot 'n Ready" that's been sitting in a warmer for an hour.
Ain't none of their damn business. Had this been me or my brother would have told that god or person to screw off and say, make your own pizza then. You ain't paying for it.
At least they bother keeping it in the warmer. Domino's doesn't. Every has their favorites, but that's kind of why I don't like them. Domino's that is.
I agree with you 100%, all the way.
I have never been a fan of Dominos, and as I've watched them try every gimmick under the sun to get people to give them another chance (fixing potholes? Seriously?), we recently tried their new Pacific Veggie pizza, and it was really good. I could easily customize the exact pizza from another place I prefer, but out the gate, Dominos did a thing I finally respect. I'm reminded of something I once heard referencing a person's preference for perfection in the face of reality: "even bad pizza is still pizza," meaning there's something to appreciate even when the ideal isn't met. I don't hate Dominos; they'll never be my first choice, but if I go to someone's house and they order Dominos, I'll eat it without complaint.
I have to be in a very specific mood, and it has to be done and hot immediately for me to enjoy it. Not helping matters is that there are at least seven or eight different pizza places that are within five to ten miles of each other in my area.
I'm at the point with pizza that if I'm going to treat myself to pizza (as the crust is so unhealthy), I'm buying really fucking good pizza. Aurelio's is the best pizza I've ever had and I'll go there and pay $40 for a medium pizza. It's at least 2 days worth of food for me so $20/day isn't too horrible for food. I don't mind doing cheap pizza like Little Caesars (way better than Dominos IMO) for stuff like parties. And Dominos is oddly expensive without deals whereas Little Caesars the prices are really fucking simple, $5.99 for the basic pizza; another dollar for more cheese/toppings, another for stuffed crust, another for pretzel crust, etc.
$40 for a medium pizza? Are you out of your fucking mind? For $40, that pizza better be handmade by the Pope, delivered by a private jet flown by sasquatch, then chewed up and transferred into my mouth while French kissing by Scarlett Johansson.
Wait, how big is a medium US pizza that you can get 6 meals out of it?
Cuz over in Italy (and basically the rest of Euroland) it's really simple. 1 pizza is 1 meal for 1 person.
Cuz over in Italy (and basically the rest of Euroland) it's really simple. 1 pizza is 1 meal for 1 person.
I kind of understand it, I'll admit to becoming a bit of a pizza snob over the last decade or so. But since moving to my apartment about 10 years ago or so I've been within walking distance of 2 fairly good local restaurants with good pizza and if we expand that to a 5 to 10 minute drive we could probably add a half dozen or so of varying quality and price. And considering all for their quality, they do cost more than Ceasars or the Hut... but nothing like 40 for a medium. We did have a place like that open up, surprisingly just after the covid "lockdown" hit. But their closing had nothing to do with that and a whole lot to do everyone getting carryout there once and then never again because of the prices.
I'd say a medium is... 12 to 14 inches? That's diameter. And to convert that is 30-35 cm.
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Aurelio's "medium" would need to be a least 2 feet in diameter for a $40 price tag by any sane person's reckoning. I don't know about Aurelio's, but a typical medium is good for maybe two meals, assuming the standard 8-slice cut, one person could eat four slices in a sitting and be full. $40 for a typical medium is way too much for pizza; I don't care how good it is.
It's not being a snob to prefer certain pizzas. I don't mind anyone being particular about their preferences for pizza; I've not asserted that all pizzas are created equal, but $40 for a MEDIUM is patently absurd. If I ever entertain spending $40 on a single pizza, then I clearly don't want just pizza anymore. $40 could buy so much better food than pizza.
Aurelio's is the Pope's favorite pizza.
It is a 13" loaded pizza (though I do not get the green peppers). With tax and tip and everything, it comes to like $40. I get at least 2 meals out of it. Last time I got it, I got full before even getting halfway done. I mainly do one meal a day, so it's at least 2 days worth of food for me. I don't feel $20/day for food is crazy expensive, especially if you're treating yourself to what you'd consider the best of the best. People start their days with like $8 coffees.
At least 2 feet pizzas is a thing over yonder? So 24+ inch? A regular Italian is like 10 inch, 12 at most. So the US pizza comes out to almost 5-6 times the amount of food. And half of that is one meal? I'm only kinda sorry for this, but damn, no wonder y'all yanks are fat as fuck.
I was being facetious. No pizza places here offer a 2-foot pizza beyond exorbitant novelty; I was just highlighting that $40 for a MEDIUM is absolutely bat-shit crazy. He tried to further qualify it by saying the $40 includes tax and tip, but even still, unless he's a very generous tipper, that's way too much. A typical medium pizza here from the common brands might run you $10-$20 depending on what/how many toppings you opt for.
For grins, I went on my Pizza Hut app and started an order for a medium Supreme, with delivery, $17.99. Still high for pizza, but less than HALF of what Phoenixmgs is shelling out for fucking pizza.
Yeah, that's about what they cost over here too, tho more towards the 20 if from a proper pizzeria. Or you get like a frutti di mare (seafood), those can go up to 30.
Langel's by me does do a 20-inch jumbo that is really fucking big (that could be like the equivalent of 3 Little Caesar pizzas), barely gets in the car. People do eat way too much here, but it's mainly because they eat food that I wouldn't consider food.
The price I snipped from the menu might be a bit outdated, but even at $31.50, tax probably gets it up to at least $33 and 20% tip for that would be over $6.
Pizza Hut is garbage pizza. When I was a kid, Pizza Hut was legit but it's so trash now, Dominos might be even be better and that's F-tier pizza. I'll take Little Caesar's any day over those 2 on taste and actual quality too. I'd much prefer a frozen Home Run Inn over Pizza Hut/Dominos.
I'm not advocating for any pizza's quality over any other; I'm simply saying that $31.50, $40 after tax and tip, is too much for ANY medium pizza. If I'm spending $40 on a meal for myself, I for damned sure ain't picking pizza.
I'm not saying you can't get two meals out of that pizza, I'm saying you can get a lot more than a medium pizza and/or better food for $40.
I didn't say you couldn't get more food because, yeah, a Little Caesars large is $6. You could get a steak or fish/seafood for like $30 but that would be just one meal, it cost like $50 for an aged steak at Weber and I didn't feel the age steak was really any better. I was just saying $20 for a days worth of food is so exorbitant.