Chips, soda, and 13 boxes of pizza at hand on a Saturday night—what else could it be but The Polytechnic’s yearly Pizza Poll? Pizzerias from around Troy and as far as the Watervliet area were buzzing with activity as orders for “large cheese pizza” were made to satisfy 16 hungry staff members.
The Pizza Poll process is really very simple: different pizzerias are contacted and asked to deliver a large cheese pizza. Staff members sample a small slice from each pizza and rate it accordingly. By the time the 13th box was delivered, moans and groans came from the staff as stomachs bulged from the amount of pizza ingested earlier.
Staff members rated pizza slices on a scale of one to ten for various criteria, including the amount of cheese on the slice, quality of the crust, flavor of the sauce, appearance, taste, and temperature. Members also gave an overall rating.
Judging by the overall ratings, the winning pizza came from Big Apple Pizzeria, which scored an average rating of 6.8. Although the “cheese left a little to be desired,” Big Apple Pizzeria received comments which included complements on the pizza slice as having a “good crust,” a “decent temperature,” and “good sauce.” Another comment even stated that Big Apple Pizzeria had “excellent pizza, especially [the] crust.”
Second place went to DeFazio’s Wood-Fired Pizza with an average score of 6.57, which is interesting because it had the longest delivery time of 62 minutes. Even with its long delivery time, the temperature rating for DeFazio’s was at a high point, with a staff member even commenting that it was “nice and hot like it was straight out of the oven.” Some commented that the pizza had “great cheese,” but the “sauce [was] a bit bland” and someone wasn’t a “big fan of the crust.” Others complemented that the spices “add to [the] taste,” and were “nice.”
The title of lowest rated pizza shop went to I Love New York Pizza–Hoosick with an average rating of 3.8; the pizzeria also had the second longest delivery time of 58 minutes. According to two comments, the taste of the cheese on the pizza was like “mac and cheese,” and the pizza itself scored the lowest on appearance, with an average of 3. Though there were few complements regarding I Love New York Pizza–Hoosick, some had said that the “sauce was quite good.” The crust was “burnt,” “crunchy,” and “left something to be desired.”
The second lowest was Gino’s Pizzeria, with an average rating of 4.4. Apparently, the “crust tasted horrible,” and that the “cheese [was] bland, crust [was] soggy in some places, burnt in others.”
Favorites in the cheese, sauce, and taste departments went to DeFazio’s, while members seemed to like the crust at Dante’s Pizzeria the best. Big Apple Pizzeria was rated the best pizza presentation, while the best temperature went to Red Front Restaurant. The pizzerias contacted for delivery were: Big Apple Pizzeria; Bongiorno’s Wings, Hero’s, Subs, Pizzeria; Second Avenue Pizza and Wings; I Love New York Pizza (Downtown and Hoosick); Red Front Restaurant; Hoosick Pizza; Dante’s Pizzeria; Gino’s Pizzeria; Fisher’s Pizza; DeFazio’s Wood-Fired Pizza; Inferno’s Pasta and Pizza; and Notty Pine. Some other places were contacted, but they did not deliver as far as Troy.
