Pizza talk

Just when I thought pizza couldn’t get any smaller Dominoes comes out with their newest add of Three ‘Full Size’ one-topping pizzas $4 each. If you can catch the fine print you find that the ‘full size’ pizzas are whopping 10-inches. The few pizzas I have had from Dominoes are o.k. but they were never over the top great and they have never been a bargain no matter what deal they have running.

I remember one sale where you could get any pizza for half price. That sounded wonderful to me so I ordered the largest pizza they had with all the toppings, I mean the works. The final price was still 60% more than I was used to paying but it was going to be worth it because this was going to be the best pizza they could make. I waited with great anticipation as the smells from the store wafted into my already anxious nostrils. I was hungry.

They called my name and I went to the counter to retrieve my bounty when the guy hands me a rather small box. “What’s this” I asked, “I ordered the large.” “That is the large”, he replied. Their large was a mere 14 inches. I took the box and went my way thinking live and learn. The pizza was once again, just o.k. and come to think of it I haven’t been back since. Mediocre is what mediocre is.

I have often been disappointed with the national chains and often with other people’s pizza recommendations. This was not the first time I had been disappointed. I remember a time when my buddies and I had a coupon (poor starving students that we were) to buy a large and get a medium free at the local pizza joint, one that was supposed to be highly recommended. Well, we ordered four pizzas for the five of us thinking that should be enough, but no, the large was a 14 incher and the medium even smaller. We ended up having to buy another pizza to polish up our appetites. You see, when it comes to pizza, size matters almost as much as the quality.

As a matter of comparison, our normal places had a large that was 16 inches in size with one of our favorite places having a 17 incher that would generally feed three of us. Their pizza was so good that when they had the grand opening of their second store my friend and I went and ate the equivalent of a large pizza each. Those were the days. I can still handle a 12 incher as an individual pizza but I am more apt to split them now.

There are places with bigger pies, like the one that used to make a wonderful New York style 20 incher and a couple of college places where you can find a 23 incher, but I must insist that quality still matters. Volume used to work when I was a kid and just wanted to fill my belly but since that time I have acquired some taste buds that are pretty insistent that the food I stick in my mouth be appropriate. I am all too happy to oblige whenever I can.

Pizza is a necessity and one of those little jewels life has to offer. I think I am feeling the need again.

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.