Pizza Delicious has some of the U.S.'s best pizza
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A pepperoni pizza from Pizza Delicious. Photo: Courtesy of Pizza Delicious
New Orleans' own Pizza Delicious was named to a list of the 50 best pizzas in the country in a New York ceremony Tuesday night for the second year in a row.
Why it matters: For a few bucks and a trip to the Bywater pizzeria, you can score a slice of some of the best pizza anytime you want.
Flashback: Pizza Delicious started as a pop-up about 14 years ago, co-founder Mike Friedman tells Axios New Orleans.
- He and fellow co-founder Greg Augarten were after something deceptively simple: a slice that reminded them of what they could get at home in New York.
- With that goal, they quickly built a local following and opened a brick-and-mortar location in the Bywater about 12 years ago.
- "We're still having a lot of fun with it," Friedman says, adding that a few of their staffers have been with the company for a decade-plus. "It still feels really good but also, dang, we're getting old."
By the numbers: Last year, the restaurant was named No. 39 on the 50 Top Pizza list.
- This year, they moved up to No. 38.
Between the lines: Since Pizza D opened up, New Orleans' pizza culture has only gotten more refined, and "any recognition for us is recognition for the city and what other folks are doing, too," Friedman says.
- "Pizza's good here now!" he laughs. "And you can find it closer to you than before."
- Friedman especially loves Zee's Pizzeria and has enjoyed the pathway Adrian Chelette took from Ancora and Margot's before opening his own place, Nighthawk Napoletana, in Algiers.
- Another Friedman favorite, St. Pizza, was also just named to a New York Times' list of the 22 best pizzas in the U.S. this week.
Yes, but: There still may not be anything like the original pies that inspired Pizza D.
- While up in New York for the 50 Top Pizza ceremony, Friedman, Augarten and general manager Madison Beaudet will cram as many slices as they can into their bodies.
- During the two-day trip for last year's ceremony, they managed to eat at 10 or 11 pizza places.
- "A lot has changed in 20 years [since we left] so it's fun to go check in on that and see what's happening," Friedman says. "It's a bit harder to find the old school New York slice. Like anywhere else, you have to seek it out."
💠My thought bubble: I especially love this win for Pizza Delicious because it can be tough to recognize and celebrate the restaurants that are putting in the work day in and day out but are beyond shiny-newness and not yet to longtime-icon status.
Go deeper: Where to find New Orleans' best pizza.