Pizza is very personal. Having a local favorite is a must; a civic duty and a sacred American tradition. Nothing is more patriotic than having a neighborhood pizza joint you rave about to out-of-towners and would defend until the day you die. If there is not a pizza parlor you live for, you have truly not lived at all. 
And so the search was on to find such a pizza spot in the Takoma Park-Silver Spring area. Seven experts and myself tested five local pizza shops. In the end the results were clear, a distinct winner and loser surfaced from the taste-test. Read below to find out the results.

 

The Judges: Graham Garvie, Reinaldo Champion, Michael Wertheimer, Mike Sharkewich, Ryan Daniels, Corey Shea and Corey Pererson

Meet the experts:
There is no one more qualified to taste-test pizza than college students.According to Larry Dykstra, vice president of Pizza Hut on Bison.com, kids and teens eat the most pizza, 30-40 percent more than the average American consumer, and pizza is by far their favorite food. I recruited seven hungry University of Maryland student experts to make up my pizza-testing panel.

Graham Garvie, a junior marketing major has been eating pizza for 19 years. “My mom ate a lot of pizza,” said Garvie. “So I’ve been eating it since the womb.” The lifetime pizza aficionado has tried some strange variations such as an apple pie pizza at Hungry Howies, in Florida.

Corey Peterson, a senior government and politics and communications major dreams about paper-thin crusted Colony Pizza from Stamford, CT, her favorite hometown pizzeria.  Besides eating Colony Pizza, Peterson enjoys making homemade pizzas for dates. The best pizza she made was with prosciutto, mozzarella, tomato and fresh basil.

Mike Wertheimer looks at the empty boxes and thinks about his grandfather

Mike Wertheimer, a senior kinesiology major, has pizza in his blood. According to Wertheimer, his grandfather Ernest Wertheimer invented the pizza box for his Chicago-based corrugated paper company, Wertheimer Box and Paper Corporation. The box was a big hit for packing Chicago deep-dish pizza. Mike Wertheimer’s own favorite deep-dish pie is from Pizzeria Due, in theheart of the windy city.

Corey Shea, a senior finance major, loves pineapple pizza and says everyone makes fun of him for it. Shea knows pizza, he orders it two to three times a week, and more if it is during final exams. His prefers his pizza thick, and “with bubbles.”

Reinaldo Champion, a senior environmental science major, loves pizza from Asaro’s Pizza in his hometown of Hagerstown, Md. He estimates that he orders pizza once every two weeks, and could probably eat a maximum of four slices in a sitting.

Ryan Daniels, a senior economics major, is known to eat a pie in one sitting. At the time of the interview for his bio, Daniels was actually on his way back from a pizza dinner. “I have been eating pizza for as long as I can remember,” said Daniels. Daniels refers to himself as a “plain jane kind of guy” because he really only likes cheese pizza.

Michael Sharkewich, a senior kinesiology major, craves pizza from Pasquale’s in his hometown of Ft. Lauderdale, even when he is away at school at the University of Maryland. He likes the large size and sweet sauce of Pasquale’s pies. “I’ve been eating pizza since I could chew solid food,” said Sharkewich.

Sara Wald, a senior journalism major lives for Fridays, make-your-own-pizza day at her sorority house. Wald even makes sure not to schedule a class on Friday at noon, because she would be devastated if she ever missed Pizza Day. Wald has tried unusual pizza flavors such as a chocolate pizza and a gourmet dried fruit, nut and cheese pizza one time at a pizza party.

 

Test Conditions:
Being pizza purists in this competition, we decided to compare cheese-only pizzas, reasoning that the basis to any good pizza is a pizza in its most natural form, cheese, sauce and crust. We feel that fancy toppings could sway a tester to rank an otherwise mediocre pizza higher than deserved, thus leading us to test no-frill pies.  Pizzas were judged in five categories (delivery time, sauce, cheese, crust, and overall ranking). Delivery time was noted for those pizzerias that offer delivery and experts were given the opportunity to review sauce, cheese, and crust. At the end of each testing, experts were asked to give the pizza an overall ranking from one to ten.

Graham Garvie not finding a ten

zPizza
815 Ellsworth Drive
Silver Spring, Md.
(301) 495-5539
Delivery Time: 45 minutes
Cost (for a large cheese pizza): $11.95
Average Ranking: 0.8

We thought this pizza was the worst of the bunch, and according to some testers the worst pizza they ever had. Zpizza, a chain from Southern California, offers what they call “healthy, gourmet pizzas.” Substituting real mozzarella cheese for skim-milk cheese, and traditional tomato sauce for organic tomato sauce, may result in a healthier pizza but in this case, not a tastier one. “Organic shmorganic,” said taste tester Graham Garvie, “They need to stop making pizza.” Most testers agreed that the pizza lacked sauce. The sauce that was present was “bitter,” said tester Corey Peterson, and “too organic,” according to tester Cory Shea. Most testers agreed the cheese was too chewy and dry, some felt there was not enough. “Cheese? What cheese?” asked Garvie. Crust was controversial. “Thin and good” said Peterson. “Crust tastes like the box,” said tester Mike Wertheimer. Were there any plus points for Zpizza? Testers agree the packaging was original. “Cute box,” said Peterson. “They tried to compensate for the bad pizza with the nice box, noted Shea.

Pizza Movers
6901 Laurel Ave
Takoma Park, Md.
(301) 270-5600
Delivery Time: Pizza was picked-up, although delivery is offered
Cost (for a large cheese pizza): $12.50
Average Ranking: 3.75

Our testers found Pizza Movers less than mediocre. “It was bad,” said Garvie. The crust tasted “stale” according to Wertheimer. “Too chewy, not crisp,” said Peterson. Sauce was another downfall. “Taste is awful,” said Shea of the sauce. Sauce was “watery, no spices,” said Peterson. A majority of the taste-testers noticed an absence of cheese on the pie from Pizza Movers. The cheese that was present was “thin, white,” according to Peterson, and “rubbery, dry” according to Wertheimer. One taste-tester, however did enjoy Pizza Movers pizza. According to Sharkewich, Pizza Movers crust was “soft and doughy,” and sauce was “sweet and thick.”

Corey and Sara testing the cheese

Pizza Palace
7322 Carroll Ave
Takoma Park, Md.
(301) 270-1900
Delivery Time: 30 minutes
Cost (for a large cheese pizza): $8.99
Average Ranking: 4.2

The pie from Pizza Palace was absolutely average, according to taste-testers. The thick crust was “airy,” “doughy,” and “soft” according to most of the testers. The pizza experts had trouble finding the sauce. “No sauce,” noted Shea. “Not found,” said Garvie. All the experts agreed that what the pizza lacked in sauce, was made up with an excess of chewy, rubbery cheese. “Overkill,” said Garvie about the cheese. “Tastes funny,” said Peterson.

Pizza Boli’s
7831 Eastern Ave,
Silver Spring, Md.
(301) 585-9500
Delivery Time: 27 minutes
Cost (for a large cheese pizza): $10.45
Average Ranking: 5.75

In just fifteen years Pizza Boli’s has over one hundred locations in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia areas. They must be doing something right. Our testers were pleased with the above average local chain. “Very good” said Champion about the pizza crust. Other testers said the crust was “just okay,” or “average.” Sauce also got mixed reviews. “A good amount and tasty,” said Shea. “Tastes like it’s out of a can,” said Peterson.  Most testers agreed that the cheese was the downfall of the pizza pie, Shea, Sharkewich and Wertheimer also said there was “too much,” Peterson said there was “a lot,” and only Garvie felt it was “a good amount.” Testers described the cheese as “rubbery,” “chewy,” and “greasy.” Shea described the pizza overall as, “satisfying.”

Ledo’s Pizza
7435 Georgia Ave NW,
Washington, DC (Near the border of Takoma Park)
(202) 726-5336
Delivery Time: doesn’t deliver
Cost (for a large cheese pizza): $11.99
Average Ranking: 8.5

Ledo’s pizza was the clear winner. Testers raved over Ledo’s pizza squares. The fifty-two year old franchise, boasts "Ledo Pizza is square, because we don't cut corners." The truth behind the square pizza is that when Ledo Pizza was first made, it was not popular to bake round pies. Oprah Winfrey featured the original Ledo’s Pizza as one of the best pizzas in America. Our testers agreed, ranking it highest of the pizzas. “There’s something addictive about Ledo’s,” said Wertheimer. Many testers said they believed Ledo’s was so addicting because it was saltier than the other pizzas. “But not too salty,” noted Peterson. Tester Mike Sharkewich pointed out that Ledo’s pizza had the most sauce. “It’s sweet and thick,” said Sharkewich. There was “just enough” cheese, according to Wertheimer. “Perfect, sweet and light brown,” noted Peterson. For the testers, the crust made the pizza. Many noted its pastry like qualities, “Thin, doughy and flakey,” Wertheimer called the crust. When the testing was finished, crumbs barely remained in the Ledo’s box and the testers unanimously named in the best. “It was the most unique of all,” said tester Reinaldo Champion.

Fastest Delivery: Pizza Boli’s arrived the quickest.
Best Bite for your Buck: Pizza Boli’s, least expensive pizza that ranked above average
Best Overall: Ledo’s Pizza
Stay Away: Zpizza