We scoured the metro area for the perfect pizza—and here’s where we found it.

August 2006

Here’s the thing about pizza: There’s good, there’s bad, and there’s plenty in between. But even average pizza is pretty darn good under the right circumstances. And at 4 a.m. from the fridge, who can tell the difference? Not us. So this spring, instead of seeking out the Cities’ absolute best pizza—a contrivance of sorts, considering how many places serve it and how many styles have evolved—we’ve acceded to reality and found the best pies where you eat ’em. We know you’re not going to drive eighteen miles for an A+ pizza, because you’ve got a B+ slice right around the corner. And if you’re like us, you want your pie still hot when you get it home or it’s delivered. So proximity matters.

This package is thus organized by region, and alphabetically within each one. There are sidebars to address “VPN” Neapolitan–style pies, dough handling, ingredient quality, and other bits of ephemera. And for you ranking fiends who will drive from Blaine to Cottage Grove for pizza, we’ve bestowed a few awards along the way. One sad note: The exactitude of most suburban pizza remains well below that found in the inner city, with a few noted exceptions.

What’s not in here: national chains (you know what their pizza is like or you have no desire to find out) or the myriad local restaurants that offer pizza, often quite tasty pie at that, but where pizza is not the kitchen’s primary focus (hello, Figlio!). We start in St. Paul, where Minnesota’s first pizza was eaten in 1808 by a French missionary. Look it up. 

—Adam Platt