That's amore!

Of the random sort. A big pizzah-pie hit me this evening, and Larry, the crab that lives in my stomach and occassionally is angered by my food or beverage choices, is not happy. He's poking at my innards and hollering "What are you thinking?"

I am a big pizza fan, and was rather unhappy to think of a region less inclined to offer good pizza than the South, where I would be going to college. I was rather pleasantly suprised to find a DECENT chain pizza place.

Now, when I say decent, this is of course high praise. I am used to locally owned and operated pizza shops, where I know everyone who works there and they know me. My friends and I all had crushes on the various daughters and neices of the owners of the various places workin the register. In my hometown alone there were 3 pizza places, all of them good. None of them were Pizza Hut, Dominos, etc. Which is pretty obvious because why get that formulaic stuff when you go after something that just got made.

So, here I sit in Georgia, looking for pizza. Bad pizza is one of the worst things you can eat. On that list of "100 ways to know you're from South Jersey" I believe # 1 is "Your attitude is: Anyone who makes bad pizza can go straight to hell." Word.

With that said, a hearty endorsement of Hungry Howie's pizza is in order. I got a pepperoni pizza with plain crust and was pleasantly surprised. It's not perfect, but it was good. Suprisingly enough, the company is from Michigan...

My dad and his college buddies go on a golf trip every year to Nawth Care Linah and on one such trip a son in law was present from one of the other guys. He was from Michigan and thought it a great idea to get some pizza while there. Not the brightest of ideas considering NC is probably about the same pizza aptitude as Georgia. Nevertheless, he got some and claimed it was "outstanding", probably in a slightly nasal voice.

My dad, thinking this to be unheard of, sampled a piece and was polite to not mention to the poor, misguided lad that the pizza was shit, and was left to wonder what in the hell passes for 'good' or even 'edible' in Michigan. Upon retelling me this story, I was now bereft of yet another region of the country's ability to make a meal I love. I've yet to eat a Chicago pizza, but I've heard good things. Back to the topic at hand however.

So the Hungry Howie's Michigan pizza was indeed pretty good. A fellow wayward northerner living here in Jojah recommended the flavoured crust for next time. Gooooood call. HH pizza with the buttered crust is pretty damn good, considering the region. Well done.

However... I must point out that Papa John's is not. Uggggg. Deciding to switch it up, I ordered basically the same meal from PJ as I do from Howie's. Pepperoni and some breadsticks. Wow. Seriously, I wondered if my pizza quality detection has wavered in my time away from the Italian saturated Northeast, but alas, no. One bite and I was instantly pissed off. This serves as a reminder to those of you outside the realm of good pizza territory. Take it from a borderline certified coinassuer of the product, search for the Hungry's Howies if you see a Papa John's, and if that's all you find, well, they say Burger King is nice this time of year...

Now, Larry is still pissed off at me, poking around down in my stomach, so I must away for now, beware pizza eaters everywhere and good luck.