The Great Philadelphia Pizza Quest

The idea sounded so simple. Why not do a real survey of the pizza available in Philadelphia? Why not call out the best pizzas by name—but only after we knew which were truly the best by eating, well, all of them? Or at least all that we reasonably could—damning the expense, all reasonable restraint and the wise concerns of our tailors and loved ones. Judging food is such a subjective thing, but this one time, we’d get as close to the truth as we could by doing something that no one had tried before: simply eating until we popped.  

That was the idea. What you hold in your hands is the result: an account of the 50 best pizzas (in five different categories) to be had anywhere from the shadow of the Limerick Power Plant to the wilds of South Jersey. By the time we were finished, we’d visited 500 pizza places and eaten more than a thousand pizzas. We’d covered two states and more neighborhoods than can be counted. And while you’d think that all those pies would’ve turned us off forever from the charms of the brick-oven masterpiece or the street-corner slice, you’d be wrong. After taking a breath, pausing to look over our good works and resting a bit in the sure knowledge of a job well and completely done, you know what we all kinda wanted more than anything?
                           
Just one more slice.

Edited by Jason Sheehan and Janine White