Worst Pizza

[Husky25]

The place on the back of the alumni quad cafeteria - name completely escapes me. Inedible, and started with a frozen (1st strike), dimpled (2nd) crust.

Ray Refectory. Needed a toaster oven and oregano back at the dorm to make it edible.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Did I miss it, or did no-one suggest Big-Y's Party Pizza? I leave the party when that thing arrives.

That stuff is a masterpiece compared to RI Pizza

 

[EROCK CONN]

The worst is Rhode Island Pizza. It’s nit even close. Cold, no cheese, bread is thick. An abomination. New England Greek “house of” pizza isn’t bad, but it’s actually worse than some chain pizza.

Lived lots of places. Looking at the major chains
Imos - quite tasty
Papa Ginos - really pretty good. The rustic is solid.
Pizza Hut - pretty good if you order the right crust
California Pizza Kitchen - fine for what it is
UNO - the thin crust is horrible. Chicago style ok.
Little Caesar’s - a cut above dominoes, at least in the 90s
Papa Johns - bland
Dominoes - need to order wisely and it can be ok or awful
Godfathers - crust is like cardboard. But they had an all you can eat lunch.

never understood the branding behind California Pizza Kitchen. Cali is known for terrible pizza. To me, that’s like opening a place in the south and calling it Yankee or Connecticut Barbecue.

 

[Deepster]

XL Center Pizza
Chuck E Cheese Pizza

 

[Dove]

Agree. Posters here are unlikely to ever have had a pizza that you actually had to get out of your mouth because it was so abhorrent.
...
You guys and gals just don't know from bad pizza.

Great post!

It is said that Buffalo chicken pizza features chicken that is re-purposed giving a restaurant a final reason to not throw out old chicken. I never really bought into this until that night I needed a pie and ordered from Pizza Pub in Centerbrook (noted earlier in thread). That first bite yielded a tough, rubbery nugget of chicken meat that had a rancid flavor that washed over my tongue like old paint. Worst bite ever.

 

[Walker11]

Primo Pizza in FFLD, legit terrible. They started selling a large $5 pie years ago and it tasted like it.

 

[UCLJ0211]

Was forced to eat at a CiCi’s pizza (buffet style) once. It was god awful. A toddler could make better pizza.

 

[8893]

The worst is Rhode Island Pizza. It’s not even close. Cold, no cheese, bread is thick. An abomination.

Chuck E Cheese Pizza

These are the two worst I've ever had and I'd be hard pressed to say which was worse between the two, as both were pretty traumatizing experiences.

The RI thing is just so off that it should be illegal to be called "pizza." Had it once at my sister's house when she lived there and hosted a family party around 15 years ago. I grabbed a slice early on and spent the rest of the party trying to get the taste out of my mouth and the memory out of my mind. And I am certain that I alienated many locals with my ranting about it in the meantime.

And Chuck E Cheese? Rancid. The pizza is just a front for an arcade, playroom and giant petri dish. Last time I was there was for my oldest daughter's seventh birthday, which was 13 years ago. I brought her and our then five-year old middle daughter while Mrs. 8893 was in the hospital with our then newborn baby daughter. Even a five and seven year old found it inedible. We literally spit it out of our mouths and left it on the table, and then they ran around and played for like a half hour before we left. We have a ton of pictures from that day and we regale each other with memories of the horrible pizza every time one of the pics pops up on the computer screen saver.

 

[David 76]

I've been lucky, grew up next to the cradle of a pizza civilization, but I would say any pizza I had at UConn during the 70s and the place that burned down in Madison.

 

[8893]

and the place that burned down in Madison.

Village Pizza, where Grand Apizza is now? Yeah, they sucked.

 

[RichZ]

Reminds me of a pizza I tried somewhere near newburgh ny. Completely inedible I took one bite and ended up getting McDonald's after leaving

There is something about upstate NY. Specifically the Hudson River Valley and east of there, north of, I don't know, maybe Salem, that requires all pizza places to serve awful pizza. I've had some more than acceptable pies in Western New York, even touristy places like Alex Bay that are only open May through September. Had a really good pie in Troy once. No problem finding OK pizza around Buffalo. But get on the eastern slope of the Adirondacks or the Catskills, and you're in a pizza wasteland until you get a lot closer to CT.

The problem seems to be a universal refusal to actually cook the pizza. The crust is typically on the thick side, and if you look at the bottom, it is somewhere in the color range of -- remember almond kitchen appliances? half way between there and beige. And the dominating taste is just doughy. I think they put it under a heat lamp to melt the cheese after they take it out of the oven, because temp-wise, the sauce is often tepid. And this is not a one time thing. I used to try a new pizza place on most every trip out of state, and pies in Northeastern New York have been consistently under cooked. I think of natives from that area ever went to Sally's or Modern and saw the crust they'd have a conniption fit.

A rare exception I've found is House of Pizza in Ticonderoga, where the pie is oily, but consistently edible, and occasionally in the quality range of your average neighborhood pizza joint in southern CT. Warning! Do not confuse Olive's Ti Pie around the corner from it with House of Pizza.

Speaking of Eastern NY State north of Westchester, there's a Barbecue place on Rte 22 near the junction of 295 that I used to stop at quite a bit on my way home from upstate. It appears to have changed hands in the last year or two, so I don't know if they still do, but they used to have a convection, conveyor belt pizza oven, and offer pizza. I stopped there for a pulled pork sandwich when the pizza machine was newish. I'm the only one there, so to make conversation, I asked if the pizza out of that machine was any good. The lady who was half owner says something to the effect of 'It's cooked on a conveyor belt, so if you're looking for a great pizza, you're probably going to be disappointed. But I guarantee, if you get the pulled pork pizza, it'll be the best pulled pork pizza you've ever had.' Their'cue was good enough that I took her at her word. But I never did try the conveyor belt toaster oven pizza.

TLDR: Upstate NY pizza sucks.

 

[Deepster]

There is something about upstate NY. Specifically the Hudson River Valley and east of there, north of, I don't know, maybe Salem, that requires all pizza places to serve awful pizza. I've had some more than acceptable pies in Western New York, even touristy places like Alex Bay that are only open May through September. Had a really good pie in Troy once. No problem finding OK pizza around Buffalo. But get on the eastern slope of the Adirondacks or the Catskills, and you're in a pizza wasteland until you get a lot closer to CT.

The problem seems to be a universal refusal to actually cook the pizza. The crust is typically on the thick side, and if you look at the bottom, it is somewhere in the color range of -- remember almond kitchen appliances? half way between there and beige. And the dominating taste is just doughy. I think they put it under a heat lamp to melt the cheese after they take it out of the oven, because temp-wise, the sauce is often tepid. And this is not a one time thing. I used to try a new pizza place on most every trip out of state, and pies in Northeastern New York have been consistently under cooked. I think of natives from that area ever went to Sally's or Modern and saw the crust they'd have a conniption fit.

A rare exception I've found is House of Pizza in Ticonderoga, where the pie is oily, but consistently edible, and occasionally in the quality range of your average neighborhood pizza joint in southern CT. Warning! Do not confuse Olive's Ti Pie around the corner from it with House of Pizza.

Speaking of Eastern NY State north of Westchester, there's a Barbecue place on Rte 22 near the junction of 295 that I used to stop at quite a bit on my way home from upstate. It appears to have changed hands in the last year or two, so I don't know if they still do, but they used to have a convection, conveyor belt pizza oven, and offer pizza. I stopped there for a pulled pork sandwich when the pizza machine was newish. I'm the only one there, so to make conversation, I asked if the pizza out of that machine was any good. The lady who was half owner says something to the effect of 'It's cooked on a conveyor belt, so if you're looking for a great pizza, you're probably going to be disappointed. But I guarantee, if you get the pulled pork pizza, it'll be the best pulled pork pizza you've ever had.' Their'cue was good enough that I took her at her word. But I never did try the conveyor belt toaster oven pizza.

TLDR: Upstate NY pizza sucks.

Rich - You ever been to Kay’s Pizza on Burden Lake?

 

[Husky25]

The Chuck E. Cheese in Manchester got rid of Afterburner. There is literally no logical reason to go there, where Dave and Buster's is a half mile up the road.

 

[HuskyHawk]

never understood the branding behind California Pizza Kitchen. Cali is known for terrible pizza. To me, that’s like opening a place in the south and calling it Yankee or Connecticut Barbecue.

That actually wasn’t my experience. Loads of Italians in San Francisco. Two places stood out to me having excellent pizza. Pizza my Heart (Capitola, Santa Cruz) and Tomatinos (sp?) near the AMC Theater in Santa Clara. Vastly better than most pizza I’ve ever had. And just about the best Chicago Style I ever had was in Berkeley.

 

[Caronimo]

Any pizza that’s undercooked

 

[8893]

That actually wasn’t my experience. Loads of Italians in San Francisco. Two places stood out to me having excellent pizza. Pizza my Heart (Capitola, Santa Cruz) and Tomatinos (sp?) near the AMC Theater in Santa Clara. Vastly better than most pizza I’ve ever had. And just about the best Chicago Style I ever had was in Berkeley.

Tony’s in North Beach is very good. Also excellent meatballs.

Tony’s Pizza Napoletana – Tony Gemignani – San Francisco, CA – Restaurant

tonyspizzanapoletana.com

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

That stuff is a masterpiece compared to RI Pizza

You mean you don’t like thick wet cold saucy bread?

 

[UConnMatt813]

Pie guys in Waterbury - cardboard would have tasted better

Gino’s in Bloomfield - tasted like sweat

 

[RichZ]

Rich - You ever been to Kay’s Pizza on Burden Lake?

Can't say I have. Kind of off the beaten path unless you're going to the lake, and its fishing rep isn't strong enough to attract me. If my legs get fixed in time though, I hope to go to an event in Lebanon Valley this September. Is it an above decent pie? If so, it would probably only be a half hour ride from there.

 

[EROCK CONN]

That actually wasn’t my experience. Loads of Italians in San Francisco. Two places stood out to me having excellent pizza. Pizza my Heart (Capitola, Santa Cruz) and Tomatinos (sp?) near the AMC Theater in Santa Clara. Vastly better than most pizza I’ve ever had. And just about the best Chicago Style I ever had was in Berkeley.

Thanks for the tip - might have to try those. i’ve had pizza in so cal many times and once in Napa and it was trash.

 

[ElGuapo]

Rudy's Little Italy in Rocky Hill is the worst pizza I've ever had.

Rudy's Little Italy

RISTORANTE • PIZZERIA • BAR & LOUNGE • BANQUET FACILITY • OUTSIDE PATIO • (959) 230-4696 ABOUT RUDY'S LITTLE ITALY We are dedicated to everyone who enjoys food at its best, prepared and served with special care. We pride ourselves in obtaining the best ingredients

www.rudyslittleitaly.com

Horrible on all crust, sauce and cheese levels.
Instantly realizing it was the worst I ever had was crazy because when is pizza really that bad?
The judgement came instantly so congratulations on them for making the worst pizza ever.

 

[8893]

Thanks for the tip - might have to try those. i’ve had pizza in so cal many times and once in Napa and it was trash.

Abbot's Pizza Company in Abbot Kinney (Venice) is very different (made with bagel dough instead of traditional pizza dough) but very good. They have a great salad pizza and their "everything" crust is awesome, if you like everything bagels. Lots of other very creative combos there. Nothing like apizza Napoletana, but a very good and interesting take on pizza.

Abbot's Pizza Company | A Real Neighborhood Place

www.abbotspizzaco.com

 

[RichZ]

Abbot's Pizza Company in Abbot Kinney (Venice Beach) is very different (made with bagel dough instead of traditional pizza dough) but very good. They have a great salad pizza and their "everything" crust is awesome, if you like everything bagels. Lots of other very creative combos there. Nothing like apizza Napoletana, but a very good and interesting take on pizza.

Abbot's Pizza Company | A Real Neighborhood Place

www.abbotspizzaco.com

Sound like pizza for people who don't really like pizza.

 

[8893]

Sound like pizza for people who don't really like pizza.

Disagree. I love pizza, and I loved this. Been there a few times now, with friends, family and clients; all have enjoyed it.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Not the worst, I guess...

but the most overrated I’ve had, out here in SD, is Pizza Port. Pretty bad