Happy National Pizza Month!

Yes, that's right... for those of you who don't know, October is National Pizza Month. If you've eaten pizza during the past four weeks then congrats... you've done you're duty! If you haven't, you still have a couple of days left.

One man that takes National Pizza Month seriously is Sean Taylor. He has a great blog -- 31 Days Of Pizza -- on which he chronicles his pizza eating adventures every October. More specifically, he has a slice of pizza every single day of the month at a different pizza place with at least one other person. This is the 8th year he's doing it. You should check out his entertaining blog.

In the meantime, here are some interesting pizza statistics I was able to dig up in honor of National Pizza Month.

The people of America eat 350 slices of pizza each second, or 100 acres per day.

Every year pizza is a $30 billion industry in the USA.

In the USA, there are about 62,000 pizza parlors.

The average person in the USA eats about 23 pounds or 46 slices of pizza every year.

Each year in the USA, 3 billion pizzas are sold.

More than 1/3rd of all pizzas made each year in the USA include pepperoni.

Motorino Update - Longer Hours

According to Grub Street, Motorino's new East Village location has a new lunch special -- $12 for pizza and a salad or soft serve. I can't decide if this beats the lunch special at Veloce Pizzeria down the block -- a slice, salad, and a beer for $10. You get less pizza for less money + a beer, which sounds pretty good to me. I guess it depends what you're in the mood for.

Motorino is also expanding its hours and will toss pies until midnight (1AM on Friday and Saturday). I swung by this past Saturday around 7PM and there was no wait for a table for two. The pizza was excellent and the experience lived up to expectations (and my experience at the Brooklyn location).

They somehow managed to squeeze 36 seats into the place, which made things a little tight, but I understand they're short on space. I'm sure I'll be back there in the near future, although it's hard to justify ordering a $16 pie whenI can fill up on Artichoke around the corner for $3.50.

photo via Slice

Billy Mays New Pizza Stone!

Billy Mays might be dead, but that hasn't stopped him from promoting his newest product -- a different take on the pizza stone:

Skip The Brooklyn Commute? I Think Not.

In Ryan Sutton's new piece about pizza on Bloomberg.com, he raves about Motorino's new East Village location, but he didn't have any accolades left for Lucali, Di Fara, and Grimaldi's which he repeatedly trashes. Since I haven't been to the new EV Motorino yet, I won't comment on it in detail, but as someone who lives around the corner from the location, I can say without hesitation that I'd much rather trek out to Brooklyn for a large $25 cheese pie from Di Fara than spend $14 (plus tax, plus tip) for a personal pie at Motorino, no matter how good it tastes.

Sutton says that pizza, "isn’t about crossing town. It’s about crossing the street." I wonder what he'd think about the Slice.com meetup in Hopewell, NJ last weekend? For me, part of the whole experience there (or any trip to Brooklyn pizza places) is the trek out there. What better way to pregame a pie than with a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge? Part of the whole Di Fara experience is watching Dom DeMarco make each individual pie as you start to salivate at his craft. For me pizza is about crossing the street. But it's also about crossing town, state and city lines. Whatever you have to do to satisfy that pizza craving.

Other poor points Sutton makes:

(1) Motorino serves actual appetizers. That's great, but nobody goes there for that. Co has amazing appetizers. It's a great start to the meal, but other than that, a pizza review should focus on what's important -- the pies!

(2) There a great wine list at Motorino (can anyone else name a pizzeria with a master sommelier?). I sure can't. But if you're spending $60 on a bottle of wine, don't throw a stink that pies at Di Fara are $25. Both Di Fara (off the record?) and Lucali are BYOB, so you can get a much better overall value at either place than if you're dropping a wad of cash on some nice vino at Motornio.

(3) Di Fara isn't worth the wait. Sutton's entire review of Di Fara is: The cashier quoted me a two-hour wait for a $5 slice. A bunch of guys outside were smoking cigarettes and complaining about the place. They recommended Lucali. It appears that he never even waited to try the pizza. And anyone who lives in New York knows that wait times can vary. Obviously if you go on a Saturday night at 7PM it's going to be a madhouse. Go to Di Fara during a time when you can avoid the lines. I've never waited two hours for a pie at Di Fara and I'd say the average wait there is about 1 hour when I've been. I'm sure the wait time at Motorino is comparable.

(4) Lucali and Motorino are date places. True. But Sutton leaves Grimaldi's off this list and he even dares to compare it to Pizza 33, a slice joint with a couple of locations in Manhattan. Not only is the pizza far superior at Grimaldi's, but I've been on some of the best dates of my life there. Romantic walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, a stroll down to the pizza place for a very affordable pie, and perhaps a little hand holding down by the promenade afterward. I'm sure Lucali and Motorino are great ways to impress a special lady friend, but leaving Grimaldi's off the list incomprehensible.

I know that the Motornio is great and I look forward to trying it soon. But to trash three of the most iconic pizza place in New York City to give props to the "new kid on the block" just doesn't make sense. I'm sure those who have been to Lucali, Grimaldi's and Di Fara know how great all three places are. But to anyone who hasn't been out to Brooklyn for pizza, I encourage you to do so... ASAP!

Jersey's Finest: A Worthwhile Trip Out To Nomad Pizza Company

Saturday afternoon, I had the pleasure of heading out to the quaint town of Hopewell, New Jersey for a pizza meet-up at Nomad Pizza Company. It was organized by "Pizza Madman" Paulie Gee and Adam from Slice -- the holy grail of pizza blogs.

Before I breakdown the first rate pizza we ate, one of the main highlights for me was the company. My fellow diners included Scott from Scott's Pizza Tours, Nick from Pizza Rules, Sean from 31 Days Of Pizza, Brownie from Blondie & Brownie, Philip from The Susquehanna Photographic, Stacey from Stacy Snacks, Linda from Ciao Chow Linda, and Cary & Lillian Steiner from Passion-4-Pizza. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly. I'd exchanged messages with many of the group members at some point since starting I Dream Of Pizza and it was great to finally put faces to blogs and e-mail addresses. It was definitely a different experience to share a meal with so many people who are just as passionate, if not more passionate, about pizza.

My friend Katie, who was visiting me from Seattle, joined me on the 90-minute drive down to Hopewell. There are certain stereotypes that characterize New Jersey, but once we got off the Turnpike it was nothing but beautiful countryside and scenic side roads. By the time we pulled up to Nomad, there was no doubt I felt like we were out in the country. The place itself holds about 40 people, and our group took up almost three quarters of the restaurant. Katie and I shared a table by the door with Adam, Brownie & Lawman, Cary & Lilian, and Philip.

There are lots of pizza places with open kitchens, but because of Nomad's size, they literally prepare the pizzas on top of you. At places like Keste, Motorino, and Lucali you have to venture to the back of the restaurant to watch the pizzas being made, but at Nomad you'd have to purposely not look at the kitchen in order to avoid seeing the staff hard at work. At any given time there were as many as seven people playing their part in producing Nomad's mouth watering final products.

We tried a total of six pies: Pepperoni, Shitake Mushrooms, Spicy Sausage, Marinara, Margherita di Bufala, and Margherita di Bufala w/ Arugula and Prosciutto. More detailed descriptions of the ingredients in each pie can be found below.

Every pie was distinctly good. Because there are so few pies on the menu, each one really stands out. There are times when I'll go to places that have 10-20 pies on the menu and end up ordering a couple of pies that taste similar to one another. This was not the case at Nomad. The only place in NYC I can recall with such few pies on the menu was Una Pizza Napoletana (R. I. P. U. S. F - Rest In Peace Until San Fransisco?).

My favorite pie, hands down, was the Shitake Mushroom. There seemed to be a bit of consensus around me about this one. Mushrooms and onions happen to be my favorite pizza toppings and the fact that each came together so well on this pie was a match made in heaven. Throw in some fontina cheese and you have a top notch pizza.

The pepperoni pie was above average, and I like the fact that there were so many other ingredients to spice up the slice other than just cheese and sauce. Another hit seemed to be the special pie which had arugula and prosciutto. This was the 6th and final pie I tried at Nomad, so it can be a bit tough to judge, but I thought it was excellent. I'd be interested to see how it'd taste with different greens like, say, spinach. The Marinara pie was probably my least favorite. It was tasty and had a nice kick to it, but with so many great neopolitan pies to eat, I wouldn't suggest ordering it. Especially when there are so many other "must try" pies there.

Pepperoni



Shitake Mushroom



Spicy Sausage



Marinara


(via The Susquehanna Photographic)

Margherita di Bufala



Margherita di Bufala w/ Fresh Local Organic Arugula and Prosciutto

Although lots of my friends and fellow pizza eaters tend to like a more charred, almost burnt crust, I tend to like a softer crust. At Pizza Libretto in Toronto, the crust was so soft it fell apart. That's no good. But at Nomad, the crust was thick enough to support the ingredients. In my opinion, that's a great crust. I'd compare it to a place like Motorino or Co. in terms of the quality of the pizza and the value you get. All the pies were priced at $14 except the Marinara ($11) and the pie with arugula and prosciutto ($18). Pies at Co. range from $9-$18 and at Motornio they range from $9-$16. So the same ballpark. One might think the price would drop a bit outside of New York City, but that wasn't the case at Nomad.

So is it worth the trip? The simple answer is yes. The drive out there is part of the whole experience. Friends thought I was crazy when I told them I was driving 90 minutes for pizza. But Nomad just happened to be a destination. It was exciting weaving my way down a windy country road in anticipation of eating my favorite food with some great company. The outing exceeded expectations and I look forward to more pizza meet-ups in the near future. But in the meantime, perhaps I'll be returning to Nomad with some friends so they can enjoy New Jersey's finest pizza.

If you read this blog regularly, you'll know that I'm not the world's best photographer. Despite all of the super expensive cameras I was surrounded by, I still managed to snap some half decent photos at Nomad which were posted earlier in this piece. But if you're looking for some amazing photos, check out Philip's photos at The Susquehanna Photographic.

The Paparazzi

Here are detailed descriptions of the pies we ordered.

Pepperoni
San Marzano Tomatoes, Fresh Mozzarella, Aged Parmesan, Applegate Farms Pepperoni, Organic Basil, Organic Olive Oil, Sea Salt

Shitake Mushroom
Local Shitake Mushrooms, Organic Caramelized Onions, Fontina Cheese Imported from Italy, Organic Olive Oil, Fresh Garlic, Sea Salt

Spicy Sausage
San Marzano Tomatoes, Fresh Mozzarella, Aged Parmesan, Simply Grazin’ Local Sausage, Organic Caramelized Onions, Organic Basil, Organic Olive Oil, Sea Salt

Marinara
San Marzano Tomatoes, Fresh Organic Basil, Fresh Organic Garlic, Fresh Organic Oregano, Aged Parmesan, Organic Olive Oil, Red Pepper Flakes, Sea Salt, Black Pepper

Margherita di Bufala
San Marzano Tomatoes, Mozzarella di Bufala Imported from Italy, Aged Parmesan, Organic Basil, Organic Olive Oil, Sea Salt

Margherita di Bufala w/ Fresh Local Organic Arugula and Prosciutto

$5 Pies @ Fornino In Williamsburg This Week

I've always thought that Fornino in Williamsburg was underrated, especially for a place in such a prime spot on Bedford Avenue. It might not be worth trekking out to Avenue J for, but there are few places to get pizza of this quality in the area. Motorino gets so much more press and attention just a few blocks away. So much so that Fornino was essentially overlooked in pizza features by The New York Times and New York Magazine earlier this year.

Perhaps this has caused some people to drop Fornino off their "must try" lists of New York City pizza places. Well this week, you can't find a better reason to add it back on. Today through Friday, they are celebrating their 5th anniversary with $5 Margherita pies (via Slice). They are delicious. And now they are cheap. Go get one. You won't be disappointed.

A Throwback To 1950s @ Charlotte's Fuel Pizza

Last weekend, I went down to Charlotte, North Carolina to visit a friend. The region is probably better known for its fried chicken than its pizza, but a little pre-trip research indicated that there are a number of beloved pizza places down there. Reviewers, however, never seemed to come to a consensus on one "must-visit" place. After consulting with my friend down there, we decided that if I could only make it to one place during my trip, it had to be FUEL PIZZA.

Currently there are nine Fuel Pizza locations in North and South Carolina -- it's a relatively new chain with a promising future. It was started seven years ago by three people from New York who had trouble finding good pizza in Charlotte. They took it upon themselves to open a pizza place and their first location was converted into a restaurant from a 1950s gas station. The rest is history. But pizza is only part of the story.

Each subsequent Fuel location has been converted from a gas station. And the similarities don't stop at the name. The gas station theme is carried out in nearly every aspect of the place. There are old school gas pumps inside as well as signage that looks like it's been there for 50 years (see the Standard Oil Company sign above the register). The place has a vibe of an old-school retro pizza place, but it's designed well. You don't get the feeling that there are dusty artifacts rusting away in the corner. You can tell the place was only built a few years ago, but the throwback vibe makes you feel like you've stepped into a time machine and been shot back to your parent's generation.

They have an eclectic selection of pizzas -- all available by the slice or pie. When we ordered slices that weren't currently available, they created pies from scratch. Some of the more ambitious pizzas include selections like the lasagna pie and there are also a number of pies that stick with the FUEL theme: The Extreme Fuel Pizza includes pepperoni, Italian sausage, meatballs, ham, ground beef, and mozzarella... while The Whole Engine Pizza comes with pepperoni, Italian sausage, meatballs, roasted onions, green pepper, fresh mushrooms, and mozzarella.

I ordered a Margherita Slice (fresh mozzarella and vine ripened tomatoes with fresh basil) and a Spinach Ricotta & Tomato Slice. My friend Phil had an Artichoke & Tomato Slice. All three were delicious. I'll admit that I hadn't had pizza in a week and was incredibly hungry at the time, but I really liked the pizza there. There's so much fresh produce from local farms that I'd have to imagine the ingredients are even fresher and more organic than what you would find in NYC. I'm not sure I've seen a place in New York that has this vast a selection of slices, so I was definitely a fan of the variety. And I realized how great of a cheese ricotta is on pizza (as opposed to gorgonzola which I've decided I don't like!).

I'm not sure the pizza at Fuel was similar to what you might get in New York -- people from North Carolina shouldn't mistakenly think they're getting a New York slice of pizza there. Pizza in New York doesn't taste like that. This is not to say that the pizza isn't as good as, if not better, than the pizza we have here in the city. But it's just different. And wasn't it your parents that told you there's nothing wrong with being different?

Margherita Pizza



Spinach Ricotta & Tomato Pizza



Artichoke & Tomato Pizza

A Space Saving Pizza Contraption

Today, a quick note about a great new product called The Pizza Butler. There are so many times I sit down for dinner at a pizza place and when my pie comes out there is nowhere to put it. Glasses need to be rearranged and plates removed, only to find that there is still little table room left to maneuver. Well this space saving contraption solves this problem. Especially in NYC, where space is so limited, it's surprising that every new pizza place doesn't have one of these. It is made of brushed stainless steel and can be used not only for pizza, but appetizers and desserts. For more information, contact ericjeffers@thepizzabutler.com.

Pizza With... Rats?

I've heard of some pretty crazy pizza concoctions... but pizza with rats? Well sort of... only in New York! But beware... after you watch this video, you may never want to eat pizza again!

Artichoke Basille's Expanding... Finally

It's been close to a year since Artichoke announced plans to expand [Artichoke Basille's Pizza To Expand]. Since December though, there have been very few updates. Well last week we finally learned that Artichoke has acquired the space at 17th Street and Tenth Avenue that housed Red Rocks West. Reports say that it'll be a sit down restaurant.

Let's just hope customers are served in a slightly more timely fashion than at their 14th Street location!

The New Haven Pizza Experience - Third Stop: Modern Apizza

As the sun set over New Haven, Pizza Club's day trip was coming to a close. But before we headed back to New York, there was one more place we had to try: Modern. Our first stop of the day was at Frank Pepe, which was followed by Sally's. Even though our stomachs were full, it was imperative that we dined at Modern in order to complete the New Haven pizza trifecta. When we had arrived at Frank Pepe's at noon, I was eager to down as many slices as I could. I'd been awake for three hours and was anxious to get some food in my stomach. The exact opposite was true at Modern. Please... no more pizza - I thought to myself. However, once we entered the place, I was able to rally myself. This all looks delicious!

I do think it's true that it is impossible to accurately rate a pizza place after you've already been eating pizza elsewhere for seven hours, and I might have had a completely different feeling about each place had we visited them in a different order (I might add that I practically starve myself every time I make the trip out to Di Fara, which might inflate my ratings from amazing to heavenly).

Modern, established in 1934, reminded me most of a New York City pizza place -- it had a bit more of an upscale feeling than the previous two spots. But once again the prices distinguished itself from places in the city. Large pies ranged from $12 - $22 and the most expensive small pie was $12. There were six of us left at this point and we decided on one medium Italian Bomb (with bacon, sausage, pepperoni, garlic, mushroom, pepper & onion), one medium plain pie (1/2 with pepperoni), and one mozzerella pie (1/2 with mushrooms).

I'll be honest. Much of my dining experience was a blur. I was full, a little drunk, and exhausted. I didn't try The Bomb, and I remember the mushroom pie being solid. I'm not a huge topping guy when it comes to pizza, but mushrooms are my favorite add-on followed by onions. This was the first mushroom pie of the day we'd ordered, and I'd love to go back and try mushroom pies at the other two places. The plain pie didn't live up to that at Sally's, but there was more cheese on this one. The pie at Sally's was essentially tomato sauce on crust.

Unlike the first two places, Modern had a number of non-pizza menu items including Baked Ziti, Manicotti, and Eggplant Casserole. I never understood ordering these types of items somewhere that's known for it's pizza -- but it's an option for those who are interested.

If there's one conclusion I'd like to draw from this whole experience it's the following: No place in New Haven would crack the list of my top 10 favorite pizza places in the city, but that would be holding New Haven to New York's pizza standards. New York is the pizza capital of the world. We have world class pizzaiolos, Dom DeMarco, and a pizza scene that is constantly looked at under a microscope -- being critiqued, criticized, and praised on a minute by minute basis.

New Haven is not in the spotlight. And even though it's pizza is famous... at heart, New Haven is a small town. And for that reason, the pizza there should be compared with that of other small towns. I grew up in Rockville, Maryland and the pizza in New Haven is as good as, if not better, than the pizza we had there (of course, I do have some hometown bias). I remember visiting my sister in St. Louis last year and the pizza was better than what I had there. It was even better than the pizza I had in Toronto last month. Living in New York City has given me overly high expectations of pizza.

It's hard to beat New York. And I understand that every time I eat pizza elsewhere, especially when drawing conclusions about how those places compare to New York. But New Haven is and always will be known for the iconic pizza it serves. And I'm sure pizza lovers will continue to make the journey out there for years to come, just as Pizza Club did. It's definitely worth the trip. But if you're coming from New York: beware. Lower your expectations and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Here are some photos of Modern:

Medium Italian Bomb
(with bacon, sausage, pepperoni, garlic, mushroom, pepper & onion)



Medium Mozzerella Pie
(with 1/2 mushrooms)
Plus a lucky bubble!



Medium Plain Pie
(with 1/2 pepperoni)

The New Haven Pizza Experience - Second Stop: Sally's

Yesterday, I began recapping Pizza Club's trip to New Haven, Connecticut where we set out to try pizza from the city's three most well known establishments: Frank Pepe, Sally's, and Modern. We hit up Frank Pepe's first and finished up there around 2PM, meaning that we had three hours to kill until Sally's opened just a few blocks away. Our thirst for alcohol led us to Cancun's -- a somewhat authentic Mexican restaurant on what might be considered the outskirts of town (okay, I'm contractually obligated to mention them). The following ensued:



After a few drinks we headed over to Sally's. Although we were seated around 5:15 and ordered around 5:30, our pizzas took more than an hour to arrive at our table. It's most likely that our order was one of the last ones to be put in from the first seating, but unlike at Frank Pepe, where our pizza came out quite quickly, we had a bit of time to kill before we could indulge.

As for what we ordered -- although we'd discussed, argued, and eventually compromised on what pizzas to get, all of our work was thrown out the window when our emphatic waiter threw in his two sense. He told us that the clam pie was much better at Frank Pepe down the street and to not even bother ordering it. I like that type of honesty and frankness. We ended up with four medium pies: a bacon & onion pie, a white zucchini pie with tomatoes and onions, a pie with tomato sauce & parmesan, and a plain cheese pie.

Sally's was the dingiest of the three places, but in a good way -- a far cry from the upscale pizzerias that have been popping up in NYC. The artifacts in the kitchen look like they've been around for decades and you could envision Sally's looking nearly exactly the same 40 years ago as it does today.

Overall, Sally's was my favorite place of the day -- due to both the quality of food and the atmosphere. The zucchini pie was the best pizza I had at the three places and none of the other pies disappointed. The group seemed particularly impressed with the tomato sauce pie, which essentially lacked cheese other than a tad of parmesan. I don't have a good basis for judging the pie because I rarely eat pizza in NYC without cheese. The nice thing about eating with a dozen people though is that you can try a lot of different pies. I'd definitely like to order more cheese-less pies down the road and see how other places compare. But Sally's gave me a strong basis as a starting point.

Even though we ordered four medium pies (which are really the size of large pies elsewhere, thus making large pies the size of XLs) and ordered at least a dozen beers, our bill came out to less than $100 including tax and tip. In fact, the one thing that stood out more than anything else at each pizza place was how cheap it was. In the city, you can easily spend $25 at Co or Keste and not be full. In New Haven, everyone was able to fill up on pizza (and beer!) for less than $10 per person at all three places. So even if the quality of the pies suffered a bit when compared to places in the city, the value was remarkable. Not counting our outing at Cancun's, I spent less than $40 the entire day. I've spent that much at Co. during a two hour meal.

It's worth mentioning that a pitcher of beer at Co costs $25, while a pitcher at Frank Pepe costs $7.50. Not too shabby.

Here are the pizzas we ordered:

White Zucchini Pie With Tomatoes and Onions

Tomato Sauce & Parmesan Pie



Bacon & Onion Pie



Plain Cheese Pie



We Are Slobs

The New Haven Pizza Experience - First Stop: Frank Pepe

Ever since I started Pizza Club 18 months ago, there has been talk of making a trek up to New Haven to try the city's famous pizza from the three most well known establishments there: Frank Pepe, Sally's, and Modern.

Earlier this month, after working out all of the logistics, ten of us packed into two cars and headed up north for the 75 mile drive. The idea was to hit up all three places -- in theory, one for breakfast, one for lunch, and one for dinner. Never before had I gone an entire day consuming only pizza, so that was challenge number one. I suppose the second challenge would be pacing myself so that by the time I got to the third pizza place I wouldn't be completely stuffed. I have a bad habit of finishing any food in front of me, but with the help of my fellow diners, we succeeded at ordering just the right amount of pizza.

We rolled into town just before noon on a Sunday morning and headed right to Frank Peppe. The restaurant was just beggining to fill up and when we left nearly two hours later there was a line of 25 people outside. So get there early. The first thing you'll notice when you enter is their massive oven, located in their massive kitchen. I use the term "massive" lightly, but compared to kitchen sizes that I'm normally accustomed to in New York City, the joint was quite spacious. There was seating for at least 100 people, another feature that many New York pizza places cannot afford (Co. holds 60 people, Veloce holds 50, and Keste holds 40 to give you an idea).

The service here, and at all three places, was excellent -- the waiters and waitresses were helpful, sometimes overly so, in making suggestions and directing our large party in the right direction. After a bit of back and forth, we decided on four pies: 1 large clam pie, 1 large tomato pie with mozzerella, 1 medium shrimp pie with white sauce, and 1 medium pie with fresh roasted red peppers.

Each of the pies were solid. None blew my mind away though. Each person in our group had a different favorite but personally I liked the pie with the fresh roasted peppers the best. The cheese pie was good, but as I said to one of my friends, I'm not sure it was so different from what you might get at one of those sit down Pizza Huts. That's not a cheap shot at an iconic pizza place, but I do wonder how much of the excitement is the experience -- going to this legendary spot... waiting in line... thinking about all of this history this place has been through since it opened in 1925.

The Paparazzi

I would love to do a blind taste test one day with all three places and three corner New York slice joints to see how they fare. I think that part of the problem is that as a group of New Yorkers, we had overly high expectations for New Haven pizza. I'll write more about this in my other reviews, but I don't think that the pizza in New Haven should be compared to that in New York City.

Since we were sitting by giant glass windows, I was actually able to take some half decent photos of our pies. Enjoy!

Large Clam Pie



Large Tomato Pie With Mozzerella



Medium Pie with Fresh Roasted Red Peppers



Medium Shrimp Pie With White Sauce

Recap: 45 Cent Pizza At Rays

I would by no means consider myself a pizza snob (slob, maybe), but I'd rather shell out a little extra money for a tastier slice than, say, a slice from somewhere like Ray's.

But I'm also cheap, which is why I couldn't possibly say no to 45 cent slice day last week!

My dodgeball team and I hit up the Houston Street location around 10PM last Tuesday, and I have to say it's 90 of the best cents I've ever spent. And they didn't even charge tax. There was no line, the pizza was fresh, and it absorbed a lot of the beer that I'd consumed just prior to eating.

So thank you Ray's -- may I suggest you have 46 cent pizza day next year? You're welcome.

y