Forget plain cheese pizza or even pepperoni, these different styles of pizza will have you hungry for more unusual toppings!
It’s February 9, do you know what that means? It’s National Pizza Day! So let’s talk about that savory pie us Americans can’t get enough of.
We like it deep dish and thin crust, round and square. We get it saucy, cheesy, stuffed and in under 30 minutes. And, we eat it All. The. Time. (Admit it, you had pizza at least once in the past month.)
But I bet you haven’t tried some of the best and most unique pizza styles around. I’m talking the off-the-wall ones that represent regional tastes across the country.
Trying new foods that locals love is a HUGE part of traveling. So if you happen to be in a part of the country that’s serving these crazy flavors please, please, puh-leeze order one (and let us know if it gets your thumbs up!).
Cajun Crawfish Pizza in Louisiana
If you’re shaking what your mama gave you down in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, don’t miss getting a Cajun crawfish pizza at Reginelli’s Pizzeria. It’s a Louisiana chain with seven locations in New Orleans alone, which shows you just how popular it is with the hometown crowd.
During Mardi Gras, they offer a 10-inch pie topped with crawfish tails, Creole Alfredo sauce, mushrooms, onions and garlic. Gonna be in Louisiana a different time of year? Order their gumbo pizza instead – it’s on the menu year-round.
Barbecue Chicken Pizza in California
You know those crazy Californians, always outside enjoying their ridiculously good weather. So it’s only natural that a pizza coming from the West Coast would be all about the barbecuing.
California Pizza Kitchen created the seemingly bizarro (but tasty!) combo of BBQ sauce, smoked Gouda, red onions and cilantro in 1985. The pizza became an instant hit in the golden state and beyond.
Hamburger Pizza in South Carolina
What happens when you put two of America’s favorite foods together? Um, a little flavor explosion called The Mac Daddy. You can find this wannabe-burger pizza loaded with ground beef, cheese, lettuce, pickles and special sauce at Spaced Out Pizzeria in Spartanburg, a small city in the northern part of South Carolina.
Chicken Spinach Alfredo Pizza in Missouri
Just because you’re eating at a theme park doesn’t mean you have to settle for a sad, greasy slice. Oh no, at Crossroads Pizza at Silver Dollar City theme park in Branson, they take pizza-making seriously. They make their dough from scratch at 7 a.m. every morning and then top it with Alfredo sauce, grilled chicken, fresh spinach and four different cheeses. They put that bad boy in a 490-degree brick oven, and voila!, it turns out a gourmet pie with perfectly crispy crust.
Quarantine Pizza in Maryland
They say necessity is the mother of invention and for Giuseppe’s, an eatery in the small mountain-town of Frostburg, that’s certainly true. Guy Witt, the owner’s son, was feeling bummed about not being able to do the usual fundraisers to support his high school because of the pandemic. So he came up with a delicious new pizza flavor he deemed The Quarantined Guy Pie.
For every purchase of this pizza, $10 goes to the Mountain Ridge High School Performing Arts Association. And, you won’t even be doing it for charity so much as for your tastebuds. The pie is topped with a winning combo of balsamic-grilled chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes, red onions and feta.
This list of fun and unusual pizza styles makes me want to get a little creative in the kitchen tonight. What about you?
If you’re game to whip up a homemade pizza you can borrow the no-rise pizza dough recipe I use and try to come up with a soon-to-be-legendary flavor combo.
Because if you’re stuck at home and don’t live close to these pizzerias, you might as well have fun creating your own saucy masterpiece!
Happy travels,
P.S. Speaking of food, check out the best desserts in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and my picks for affordable but awesome eats in Nashville. So yummy!
