Back in the day, pizza, as most Americans knew it, used to be circular in shape, layered with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, and studded with standard toppings ranging from sublime (pepperoni cups) to so-so (ham) to unsettling (green bell pepper).
Thankfully, options galore abound these days, with consumers also having the option to choose between various pizza formats, including Neapolitan-style, a wood-fired pizza noted for its thin and blistered crusts; Detroit-style, a square pan-baked pizza with cheese crisped around the edges; and Chicago-style, a deep dish pie where the sauce is layered atop the cheese.
Who serves the best? The Washington Post published a comprehensive pizzeria feature (“The Best Pizza in America: Region By Region”) on Aug. 31. “We created our own national directory of pizza styles by asking Yelp to search more than 85,000 independent and small-chain restaurants for reviews that mentioned 35 styles,” reads, in part, the article. “We only considered pizzerias that had at least 25 reviews and where a substantial share mentioned the pizza style in question.” So, you might not find your favorite or a new favorite on the list, like Dana Point’s nascent Truly Pizza.
While the WaPo experts’ picks included only one — one! — California spot (Speak Cheezy in Long Beach for its Neapolitan slices) among their nationwide favorites, the paper of record’s data columnist, Andrew Van Dam, analyzed 7.5 million Yelp reviews of pizzerias to figure out which regional-style restaurants garnered the most and highest ratings. California pizzerias, as expected, are featured heavily in the dataset, with Orange County receiving a respectable nine pizzerias in the top ranking.
Here’s how O.C. slice shops ranked in each category:
CHICAGO STYLE (“Thick and tall crusts of a deep dish, often with sauce layered atop the cheese. ‘Stuffed’ is a subset of this type.”):
Tony’s Little Italy Pizza, Placentia (ranked No. 4)
Rance’s Chicago Pizza, Costa Mesa (No. 5)
DETROIT STYLE (“Square slices with a thick crust. Cheese often cooked underneath the sauce and used to crisp up the edges.”):
Gibroni’s Pizza, San Clemente (No. 5)
NEAPOLITAN-STYLE (“While ‘Neapolitan’ is strictly defined, Neapolitan-ish includes puffy-crusted wood-fired pizzas with all sorts of fancy toppings.”):
Fuoco Pizzeria Napoletana, Fullerton (No. 1)
Pizza 900 Wood Fired Pizzeria, Laguna Hills (No. 5)
NEW YORK-STYLE (“Thin in the center with a risen lip on the edge, dressed in sauce with cheese atop.”):
Terra Mia Pizzeria, Laguna Hills (No. 4)
Brooklyn City Pizzeria and Market, Laguna Niguel (No. 6
SICILIAN-STYLE (“A pan pizza with a very thick, soft crust and a crunchy base.”):
Big Rob’s Pizzeria, Westminster (No. 3)
Perry’s Pizza, Huntington Beach (No. 4)
TOP RANKED RESTAURANT OF EACH STYLE:
Best Neapolitan Pizza: Fuoco Pizzeria Napoletana, Fullerton
A good list to get pizza plans percolating. Be sure to also check out the Orange County Register’s own best pizzas in O.C. list for a more detailed list of the county’s top pizzerias.
