Pittsburgh is nation's No. 2 Best Pizza City, study claims

Scott Tady, Beaver County Times
·2 min read

PITTSBURGH — When a survey ranks real high "Pittsburgh-style" pizza pie, that's amore.

What proud western Pennsylvanian wouldn't love hearing that a study rated our region the No. 2 Best Pizza city in the U.S.?

"Sorry, Philly. Your pizza is amazing. But it's the other side of the Commonwealth that has bragging rights for best pizza city in the Keystone State," read the study, sponsored by Rent.com, which measured a number of metrics. "In fact, Pittsburgh ranks No. 1 in the country with nearly 71 pizza restaurants for every 100,000 Pittsburghers. That's almost 3.9 per square mile, good for fifth in the U.S."

Previous pizza ranking: Pittsburgh ranked 3rd best pizza city

To determine the best cities for pizza from over 300 regions, the study considered accessibility based on number of pizza restaurants per square mile (density), number of pizza restaurants per 100,000 in population (per capita) and number of pizza restaurants as a proportion of all restaurants. While customer reviews were not analyzed, the study makes the point that only highest quality pizza places will stay in business.

In many ways, Pittsburgh is more Midwest than East Coast, the study noted, "and as such, the city has adopted its own style of pizza different from New York or Philly. On the coast, the sauce makes the pizza. In Pittsburgh as in much of the Midwest, it's all about the cheese.

Conway Pizza has the mounds of fresh mozzarella and thicker crust of a "Pittsburgh style pizza" as determined by a recent study ranking Pittsburgh No. 2 among Best Pizza Cities in the U.S.
Conway Pizza has the mounds of fresh mozzarella and thicker crust of a "Pittsburgh style pizza" as determined by a recent study ranking Pittsburgh No. 2 among Best Pizza Cities in the U.S.

“'Pittsburgh-style' pizza is a vessel for cheese," the study continues. "They pile mounds of fresh mozzarella high to satisfy a steel worker's appetite. And to support all that cheese, Pittsburgh pizza tends to offer a much thicker crust than usual. You can find great examples of this style at pizza spots like Fiori's Pizzaria (Brookline and Peters Township), Mineo's Pizza House (Squirrel Hill), Ephesus Pizza (Fourth Avenue, downtown) and, most famously, at Beto's Pizza (Beechview)."

The study also recommends trying the neighboring and locally popular Ohio Valley-style pizza, where the cheese (most often shredded provolone) goes on the pizza after cooking, uncooked and at room temperature.

Rent.com's analytics found Rochester, New York, to be the nation's No. 1 Pizza City, with New Haven, Connecticut, Philadelphia and Bridgeport, Connecticut, rounding out the top five.

Beaver County pizzeria news: Buzzi's Pizza in Rochester to close after almost 50 years

More Beaver Co. pizza news: Antony's Pizzeria closes at Beaver Valley Mall; owner explains why

Even more pizza news: Caliente's Pizza set for Sewickley opening Nov. 12

Consumer resource Rent.com also stuck more to its expertise by calculating the average one-bedroom apartment in Pittsburgh rents for $1,420 monthly.

Comparable cities on the Top-10 pizza list: Manchester, New Hampshire, $1,570; Worcester, Massachusetts, $1,212; Cambridge, Massachusetts $3,612; Buffalo, $1,431; Miami, $3,049; Bridgeport, $1,262; Philadelphia, $1,789; New Haven, $2,227 and Rochester, New York, $1,224.

Scott Tady is the local Entertainment Reporter for The Beaver County Times and Ellwood City Ledger. He's easy to reach at stady@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @scotttady.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: More bragging rights for Pittsburgh, rated as No. 2 pizza city in U.S.