Newsfeed
Printer-Friendly ModeA pizza for every mood
November 16, 2009 —
Since the dawn of college, pizza has had its place as a staple in the average student’s diet. It’s affordable, easy to share, and most importantly, virtually impossible to mess up. But where should you go in the area for your particular pizza needs? Whether it’s a need for deep dish, better crust or maximum value, this list can point you in the right direction.
When you’re short on cash:
Little Caesars’ Hot ‘n’ Ready
You probably won’t ever marvel at the taste of the crust, zest of the sauce, or quality of the pepperonis. Still, it’s tough to beat a Hot ‘n’ Ready when you instantaneously decide you want pizza and must be eating it within the next four minutes. It’s also ideal for the average college student’s wallet, which usually contains no more than a few bucks and maxed out credit cards. Just don’t have any expectations of dancing a jig as you leave the restaurant like all of those buffoons from the commercials. It’ll do in a pinch, but I’ve never felt like performing any sort of dance moves in unbridled anticipation of eating a Hot ‘n’ Ready.
When you’re in a New York
state of mind:
Brooklyn Boys
(Midland St. in Bay City)
New York style pizza is something of an acquired taste. Some can’t get past thinking it’s little more than some greasy cheese atop a floppy cracker. Others welcome the light texture of the pizza and its ability to make eating grease and cheese seem like reasonable dining. If you’re one of the latter, you need not hitch a ride to the Bronx to get your NY-style pizza fix. Brooklyn Boys boasts a menu full of such favorites. Best yet, the restaurant’s interior makes you feel like you’re in an authentic New York pizzeria. It’s like eating in Sal’s Pizzeria from Do the Right Thing, except with a far lower possibility that Spike Lee is going to chuck a trash can through the window.
When you want to go deep:
Timbers
(State St. in Saginaw)
Timbers has a lot to offer its patrons: a variety of dishes, quality drink specials, and the aura that you’re eating and drinking in a remote lodge up north (assuming that lodge seemingly has 182 big-screen TVs). The restaurant also has a selection of pizza that makes the offerings from chain restaurants wither with embarrassment. This includes the deep-dish pizza, which will fill you up without tacking on the guilt of eating the pie-like pizza that calls itself “Chicago style.” And while most people enjoy Chicago style pizza, it’s not something you want to attempt to conquer in a public setting.
When you want more crust
for your buck:
Jet’s 8 Corner Pizza
When most of us were children, the pizza crust was practically a deal-breaker. Only if it was stuffed with cheese did it become at all appealing. But as we aged, our palettes changed. And that meant a greater appreciation for the arts, social issues, and pizza crust. That is, assuming it wasn’t the flavorless chunk of hardened dough (I’m looking at you, Little Caesars). So it was a great day for us suddenly refined pizza-crust-loving individuals when Jet’s Pizza unveiled its 8 Corner Pizza. Boasting a flavorful deep-dish composition of zesty sauce and cheese, the 8 Corner Pizza really shines in that every piece is, you guessed it, a corner piece. This is definitely a pizza you want to share with others, though, unless you’re a glutton for spending your evenings on the ground in stomach-clutching agony.
When you want pizza from your freezer:
California Pizza Kitchen
Pizza is one of those foods that shouldn’t ever have to come from the freezer, since it’s one of the few edible things you can have delivered to your door. But if you don’t feel like tipping anyone, yet still can’t shake a craving for something resembling pizza, California Pizza Kitchen’s line of frozen pizza is your best bet. Tombstone is the veteran of frozen pizza and Digiorno has the all the cute advertisements. But California Pizza Kitchen delivers a large assortment of choices, including a thin crust that isn’t far from what you’d find at all the pizza establishments you avoided calling earlier in the night.