So, as a service to the student body, The Polytechnic conducts its annual pizza poll to help students get the best pizza for their limited funds. One large plain pie was ordered from each pizzeria, and the testers did not know which pie was from where until after the evening was over.

Pizzeria	Price	Delivery Time (mins.)	Shape	Cheese	Crust	Sauce	Look	Taste	Temp	Overall	Final Score (out of 70)
New Yorker Pizza	$10.00	21	circle	6.59	6.36	6.32	6.9	6.91	6.92	6.82	46.73
Pizza Bella	$10.29	48	circle	6	6.27	5.5	6.23	6.57	6.34	6.48	43.39
I Love NY (4th St.)	$10.00	40	circle	6.5	5.91	5.32	6.32	6.32	6.36	6.25	42.98
The Rathskellar	$8.60	N/A	circle	5.6	6.3	5.65	5.65	5.8	6.85	5.93	41.78
I Love NY (Hoosick St.)	$10.00	22	circle	6.23	5.36	5.3	6.14	5.82	6	5.98	40.82
Gino’s	$8.50	38	circle	5.64	6.09	5.5	5.77	6.05	5.55	5.95	40.55
Elda’s	$8.95	52	circle	5.52	5.33	5.31	5.86	5.86	5.76	5.93	39.58
Domino’s	$11.90	22	circle	5.27	5.45	4.77	5.91	5.27	7.09	5.34	39.11
Notty Pine	$9.20	21	square	5.02	5.52	5.05	5.24	5.24	7.29	5.45	38.81
Dante’s	$8.70	52	circle	4.9	5.67	5.14	5.19	5.1	5.12	5.12	36.24
Inferno’s	$9.55	53	square	4.5	4.59	4.68	4	4.59	3.73	4.55	30.64

The approximately two dozen testers did not abandon hope at the start of the night, despite each of the first three pizzas being worse than the one before. Gino’s, the first arrival, received overall high scores to place fifth in the final round-up. Domino’s and Dante’s followed, and with a lack of size and a lack of quality of cheese, respectively, both lowered the bar of pizza standards.

The fourth pizza, from I Love NY Pizza on Hoosick Street, was a welcome change, scoring slightly better than Gino’s and setting the standard that most of the remaining pizzas met or exceeded, with two notable exceptions.

Looking at a pie from Inferno’s, it’s easy to see that a little more cheese and a little less burnt crust would do this pizza wonders. Also, many testers complained that parts of the pie, namely the middle, were cold. Little surprise that Inferno’s trailed the rest of the pack by a considerable margin.

The other exception is New Yorker Pizzeria, the breakout hit of the evening. Formerly known as Goomba’s, it recently changed its name to New Yorker Pizzeria under new management, and their pizza reflected that change. Last year, Goomba’s placed a low ninth out of the dozen local venues, but the new New Yorker Pizzeria beat out the second place Pizza Bella with room to spare.

In addition to tying for the fastest delivery time (21 minutes), the overall look and taste of New Yorker Pizzeria’s pie pleased the tasters, earning the highest average score in those categories.

Several pizza places failed to qualify for the poll. Apparently DeFazio’s closes at 10 pm on Friday nights, which is of limited use to college students who keep late hours. Also, Biff’s simply did not answer its phone.

The Rathskellar was also tested in this year’s poll, since many students who stop there to get a bite to eat sample its slices. It scored fairly well, ending up fourth in the final ranking.