We are Generation X. Pizza is life for us. I think my great love of pizza started here:
When I hit the teen years, Pizza Hut became the place to hang out. When they introduced the pan pizza, it changed the pizza landscape for pretty much everyone outside of Detroit.
After Pizza Hut, our city got Godfather’s Pizza (the only pizza restaurant where my father would eat), and then finally chains that delivered. My love of pizza grew to frozen varieties like Stouffer’s French Bread Pizza and Totino’s; now there are literally dozens of brands you can buy and bake at home (which is what we had tonight for National Pizza Day).
We now have many local artisan pizza places to satisfy nearly everyone’s preferences: thin crust, thick crust, unique toppings, you name it. Here are some of the best for your viewing pleasure:
We’ve also enjoyed pizza when traveling. Delicioso Pizza at Cabana Bay Beach Resort at Universal Orlando while sitting outside (with the ducks) is a favorite memory.
One of our favorite TV shows even featured pizza in its 4th season, and had tie-in products in stores!
In short, I love pizza. Pizza pizza pizza!
The Soup Diva 
This makes me miss the pizza of my youth. Growing up in Buffalo, with such a huge Italian population, there were serious pizza wars, even within my own family. My mother and sister preferred Bocce Pizza, which even in the 1980s after every other pizza place had delivered for decades, did not deliver, so if you wanted it, you had to get in your car and brave blizzard conditions to get your fix. I, however, preferred Santora’s pizza, with a thinner, less doughy crust and a tangier sauce. In college, I preferred to go to the (late, lamented) spot called The Nines, and I’m salivating just recalling it.
Oddly enough, I almost never have pizza anymore. When I first moved here, there was a Pizza hut just a little ways in from the corner of Shallowford and Lee, but for more than 20 years, it’s been some or another form of Asian (Chinese, Japanese, fusion, and now Vietnamese). On Lee Highway, a very quick drive from me, there’s Gondolier, and if I get pizza, which I only do about once a year, that’s where I go. If you buy one regular pizza, you get another for free. The crust is the closest to what I loved in Buffalo, neither thin nor thick, and the sauce is neither too sweet nor too spicy, but with full flavor. The only issue? I’m not a fan of reheated food and hate food after it’s been frozen, so anything more than two nights’ servings will go to waste.
But now I am craving it! 😉
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We should meet up there sometime! Have you tried Lupi’s? You can create your own slice, hot and fresh! My favorite is mushroom and roasted garlic ❤️
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I used to like Lupi’s, but the last few times I’ve been (in various locations), I’ve been disappointed. I used to like to get a regular slice and then an artichoke and feta slice, but although the people who work there are lovely, I’ve had a number of experiences where the food didn’t feel as fresh as it should, both the pizza and other items. I had one SERIOUSLY bad salad, with rusty lettuce and stale croutons.
And yes, one of these days we do need to get together for ‘za!
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