Pizza Pizza

Even when pizza's bad, it's pretty good. Right?

New York City is synonymous with the slice. Theories abound on its origins, but one thing is for certain: There's something in the water here that makes it deelicious. Sure, you might seek out Lombardi's or Patsy's or John's or Grimaldi's or Totonno's when time is on your side, but in a pinch, any pizza will do. After all, this is NEW YORK. It's gotta be good.

Today, I read in the elevator that October is (among many other things) National Pizza Month. I dreamt about saluting the slice by eating one a day for 31 days. The seed was planted -- must have pizza for dinner.

When I got home, I headed straight for my menu binder (yes, I have a menu binder, and it's organized by type of cuisine -- if you know me at all you'd expect nothing less). Since I'm still fairly new to the neighborhood, I'm still trying out the local spots. So I randomly selected a mom & pop pizza shop takeout menu and patiently waited 20-25 minutes for my dinner to arrive.

Well, it did. I took one bite. And it was total crap, blowing my theory all to shreds. There IS bad pizza in New York. The crust was inexplicably stale, the cheese was waxy, the sauce was bitter, and there was so much oregano I might as well have just dumped a whole jar in my mouth and called it even. So I ditched my dinner and ate cereal instead.

Is there such a thing as a bad slice? And where do you go for the best tasting "tomato pie"?

PS: Don't reply with any Chicago-style "pizza" because it stinks. If I wanted to use a knife and fork, I'd have a steak.