blue artichoke

I used to love Sbarro, the pizza place in just about every mall food court. There wasn't one at Foothills Mall, the mall I frequented as a middle- and high-schooler, so it was always a treat to be at a classy mall with a Sbarro. I thought their pizza unsurpassed, giant slices of greasy cheesiness. Remembering it fondly, I decided to eat at Sbarro today while I was at the mall, shopping with my Christmas gift cards. The mall is no place to be in a weakened state, with all the stimulation, rowdy kids, confused elderly mall walkers and over-enthusiastic sales people. No, one has to be sharp and on guard when at the mall. Anyway, I got a slice of cheese pizza, specifying the exact piece I wanted, the one with lots of browned cheese, no, not the one with errant green peppers, the slice next to it, yes, that's the one. Not as good as I recall. The pizza was good, no doubt; I ate every last crumb and gooey sting of cheese, but it didn't have that Sbarro-ness that I remembered so fondly. Maybe my pizza preferences have evolved. After Sbarro, my favorite pizza was from Papa John's, but now I think the best pizza is from Alexandro's, an Italian restaurant in Maryville, TN. It has a thin crust, excellent sauce and that gooey, greasy cheese. Second place is Shakespeare's Pizza, a local pizzeria here in mid-Missouri. I'm beginning to think that it is the quality of the sauce, not the amount of cheese, that makes a really great slice of pizza.

Getting to Know All About You: What is your favorite pizza topping?