Pizza

Pizza is among the most popular foods in America. Americans were eating 350 slices per second by the end of the twentieth century, making pizza a $32 billion industry. Children aged three to eleven ranked pizza their favorite lunch or dinner meal in 2000.

Pizza consists of flat dough baked with toppings of tomato sauce, cheese, and a varying assortment of vegetables and meats. Pizza has been made in the United States since the early 1900s, when Italian immigrants first came to America. Italian immigrant Gennaro (or, Giovanni, depending on the source) Lombardi opened the first pizzeria in 1905 in the portion of New York City called Little Italy.

Although pizzerias had spread across the country by the 1930s, American soldiers returning from Naples, Italy, at the end of World War II (1939–45) made pizza a true national fad. The soldiers craved the food they had savored in Italy. Pizzerias sprang up across the country to feed their hunger. Pizzerias— often decorated with red-and-white checked tablecloths—offered casual dining. Pizza could be delivered to one's home starting in the 1960s or purchased frozen in the local supermarket.

Americans relished the informality and convenience of pizza. "Pizza parties" were held during casual gatherings in homes and in college dorm rooms. People began eating pizza slices with their hands in public. Television (see entry under 1940s—TV and Radio in volume 3) events also inspired pizza parties; on Super Bowl (see entry under 1960s—Sports and Games in volume 4) Sunday, more pizza is eaten than on any other day of the year.

By the late 1990s, pizza had become one of America's favorite foods. Much of the cheese Americans ate came melted on pizzas. The amount of mozzarella cheese Americans ate increased seven times between 1970 and 1996. Seventeen percent of all restaurants were pizzerias. Three pizza restaurants ranked among the top eleven restaurant chains in the United States: Pizza Hut, ranked third; Domino's Pizza, ranked ninth; and Little Caesars Pizza, ranked eleventh.

Americans' love for pizza produced unlikely types of pizza. By 2001, almost anything topped with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese—bagels, crackers, or hamburgers—could be called "pizza." Pizza-flavored snack foods such as corn chips, crackers, and even cheese could be found lining grocery isles.

—Sara Pendergast

For More Information

"As American as Apple Pizza Pie." Smithsonian Magazine (June 1997). http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues97/jun97/pizza.html (accessed February 19, 2002).

"The History of Pizza." Homemade Gourmet Pizza.http://www.ghg.net/coyej/history.htm (accessed February 19, 2002)

Slomon, Evelyne. The Pizza Book: Everything There Is to Know About the World's Greatest Pie. New York: Times Books, 1984.