2011 Pizza Awards

Anyone can make a pizza, but it is an art form when making an excellent pizza. Sauce must be proportional, cheese must be properly melted, and the ingredients always have to be fresh. A good price also helps. Graded from ingredients, to taste, to price, and to service, I listed (from memory) most of the pizza shops I have been to, or a brand of pizza I have experienced. I haven't had all there is to eat in regards to pizza, and certainly I have forgotten quite a few of the places I once ate at. Let's get started:


Best Service: Buddyz Pizza (Lake in the Hills, Illinois)
Great service from this restaurant. Employees were generally interested in the customer and the quality of the meal. Even when you know you are good, the strive for perfection can be seen when you always care about the quality of your pizza. No doubt other restaurants on the list come close to Buddyz score, but they scored the highest. Small discrepancies let some pizzas lose out on this award.


Best Fast Food Chain: Pizza Hut
Gonna give this one to the hut. This award is based solely on fast food chains that have the best tasting pizza. Pizza hut has some pretty good specialty pizzas. That's not to say other chains don't have good pizza- but the hut will take this award.


Best Price: Infinito's Pizza
All you can eat and drink buffet: $8. Over 15 varieties of pizza. The value is enormous here, and eat until you are stuffed. Cici's does not compare to Infinito's this year. Grats Infinito's, you take home this award.


Best Ingredients: Rosati's Pizza
Stores that make it their mission to sell quality pizza use real ingredients that are fresh. This one is a no brainer... Rosati's Pizza. A few stores came VERY, VERY close: but Rosati's is going to take this one.


Best Sauce: Lou Malnati's
Lou and Rosati constantly battle it out in my book, and both have amazing pizza. When it comes to the sauce of the pie, Lou has it. Rosati's is close, but Lou has something very special in my opinion.


alright. The big one. All of this, by the way is a matter of opinion- you make like one pizza better than another. I have been tasting pizza for about 20 years now, so I would think my opinion would have some weight. I should really do some reviews sometime on particular brands. Back on topic. Best taste:


Best Taste: STALEMATE: Rosati's Pizza; Lou Malnati's
What the heck Rob? The thing is, I still cannot decide who should get this one. Rosati's and Lou's both have amazing pizza. They both have their unique tastes, unique sauces, and fresh ingredients. This one is going to be VERY hard to grade, and I will have to give the award at a later date. I need to sample more of both pizza's (yum!) before making a decision. Really, it is THAT CLOSE.