In Fall 1999, Congress Street claimed the top spot in the poll. It slipped a bit in 2000, but rebounded to finish second in 2001.

I Love NY is one of the best known and most consistent establishments in the area. It has multiple pizza poll crowns to its credit, including Fall 2000, and finished third in last year’s voting.

Gino’s is a relative newcomer to the Troy scene, but in its first contest surpassed all competition to become the Fall 2001 champion.

With this in mind, The Poly decided to hold the ultimate contest to determine who deserves the (dubious) title of Undisputed King of Troy Pizza: three pizzerias ... a horde of hungry staffers ... and 15 topped pizzas.

From each establishment we ordered five pies: pepperoni, mushroom, chicken parm, veggie lovers’, and meat lovers’. Each staffer was permitted to sample as many or as few types as he wanted, but had to try each of the three offerings per type. The horde congregated at an undisclosed location. To avoid bias, one non-voting staff member was chosen to place orders and tabulate results. A pizza place was selected at random ... and the first call was placed.

I Love NY was first up and delivered some of the most impressive-looking pizza ever seen in this city. The pies were huge, the toppings looked fresh, and there were loads of them—one poller even said there were too many toppings on the veggie pie.

The taste was not quite at the same level, but it still polled very well. The pepperoni pizza drew several positive comments for actually not being greasy, and the meat lovers’ pie was almost uniformly praised. The chicken parm pie got mostly positive reviews, but I Love NY lost some points for its meatless pies, especially the veggie lovers’, which was repeatedly called bland. On the whole, though, it was clear that I Love NY was going to be tough to beat.

When the next set of pizzas arrived, it became equally clear that Congress Street was not going to fare well. Their pies looked rather anemic compared to the first set, and the staff agreed that the flavor was equally unsatisfying. The most positive comments were made about the chicken parm pie, which people said was very good but needed more of the toppings. One staffer got a slice of pepperoni with no pepperoni on it at all. The mushroom and veggie pies were not overly well received either.

One thing that definitely hurt Congress Street was the lack of speciality pies. There was no meat lovers’ or veggie lovers’ pizza on the menu—we had to select the toppings we wanted—and the balance was just all wrong. On the other hand, this was the cheapest of the three establishments, but saving the extra buck probably isn’t worth it given what you get.

This left Gino’s. Their pizzas looked appetizing, although not quite as good as I Love NY’s offering. The pepperoni pie was folded over a bit on one side and fairly greasy, resulting in lower ratings. Otherwise, though, the staff was quite impressed with Gino’s. The mushroom and veggie pizzas drew rave reviews—several people described the veggie pie as “awesome.” People also seemed pleased with the meat lovers’ and the chicken parm, but not noticeably moreso than with the I Love NY pies—the vote was going to be close.

Out of 13 staffers voting, five sampled the mushroom pies, six tried the veggie lovers’, seven ate pepperoni, nine went in on the meat lovers’, and 10 people had some of the chicken parm. (Two brave souls tried some of everything.) The pizzas were rated, the poll sheets collected, the ratings computed, and the winner is ...

Gino’s, hands down. I Love NY had the best pepperoni pizza, but Gino’s claimed top honors, with an amazing average overall rating of 7.8 on the other four pies. Their veggie lovers’ pie took best in show with an 8.2 overall score. The final results back the idea that you get what you pay for: Gino’s speciality pies were the most expensive, but also the best tasting.