2nd week of Jan: National Pizza Week

It's National Pizza Week!  Whether you like your pizza delivered, made from scratch, or simply popped into the oven from the freezer, pizza is one of the most versatile foods ever.  You can personalize it in so many ways. 

In honor of National Pizza Week, I wanted to talk about some of my favorite places to get pizza.

• Pizza Fusion is one of my favorite places to get pizza.  If there's a Pizza Fusion where I'm traveling to, I make sure to eat there.  Pizza Fusion is cool for the fact that they offer gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and vegetarian pizza options.  Plus, the whole wheat crust?  This is the first place I've found where I love the whole wheat crust more than the regular crust.  Definitely check out Pizza Fusion if there's one near you.
• Lily's Pizza in Raleigh, NC, is a pretty cool pizza place.  Maybe it's just the slightly skateboarder-y vibe to the place or it's the fact that the pizza there is absolutely delicious, but I like visiting it.  Plus, any place that puts jalapenos on pizza gets my approval.
• Gourmet Pizza Shoppe in Redlands, CA, is chock full of creative (some might say "weird") pizza creations but I have loved everything I've had here.  I've been known to order one pizza to eat while there, one dessert pizza to share with friends there, and then 4-5 pizzas to-go.  I take those back home and wrap them and freezing them for later consumption.  Peanut butter on pizza?  Definitely sounded weird at first, but it's surprisingly good.  Check out the menu, especially the "...on a pizza?" section.
• BeauJo's in Denver, CO, has a very tasty garlic pizza.  Like Pizza Fusion, you can have gluten-free crust if you need it.  The Honey Whole Wheat crust is a favorite of mine - I love honey breads, so of course I love honey crusts.  Plus, the descriptions of the pizza sizes amused me.
• Pizza Port in Carlsbad, CA, is awesome.  Every year they have a Strong Ale Fest and I love going there.  They have an absolutely delicious pizza called the Festival Pizza which has sausage and sauerkraut.  Sounds weird, but it's oh-so-tasty.  They only make the Festival Pizza when they're having a special event, so be sure to check the calendar.  There are multiple Pizza Ports in the San Diego area, and all have their own flair and serve tasty pizzas, but the Carlsbad location is the only one with the Strong Ale Fest.  Plus, if you're an Angels or Padres fan (I love both teams), Pizza Port is the place to hang out during baseball season.
• Delfina Pizzeria in San Francisco, CA, is cool for the fact that they use local ingredients.  I tried the broccoli raab pizza which was pretty good.  I haven't found anywhere else that uses broccoli raab on pizza.
• Kate's Pizzeria in St. Louis, MO, had a pizza with parsnips. That was actually the first time I had parsnips and I couldn't understand why some people don't like them.  They're pretty darn good on pizza.

Now, you might notice that I listed no places in New York or Chicago.  That's because I have yet to go to either place.  I've had pizza from places that claim to have "New York style" or "Chicago style" pizza, but friends who have been to New York and Chicago always seem to say, "The pizza in New York (or Chicago) is nothing like this."  So I can't form an opinion on New York or Chicago pizza yet.  That's on my bucket list, though!