THE RESULTS ARE IN! THE ULTIMATE PIZZA COMPETITION!

The Trio and I were rehashing our latest "challenge" one afternoon. Let me explain:The Trio is made up of my grandchildren: Todd, 10; tess, 9 and Tanner 7. In the past, we had a contest between "McDonald's" and "Burger King". See the blog: THE CONTEST, written about a year or so ago. We recently cast our votes and opinions about Ice Cream Parlors during THE TRIPLE THREAT ICE CREAM CHALLENGE (blogged about a month ago, or so). Assorted friends and family have begun asking about our criteria and results. Some asked what our next competition would be. Fun with a purpose, you might say. Todd nixed Chinese. All three can use chop sticks, but he doesn't like the Cuisine at all. A light bulb went off among the three at the same time! The next contest: PIZZA! Armed with paper and pens, we jotted down our ideas, by which we would judge three local pizza shops. We labored, debated and decided which shops, the location, the categories to be judged and the scoring system. "Cassano's" would be running the race against "Marion's" and "Flyi8ng Pizza". "Cassano's" is a long time Dayton tradition. A pizza from Cassano's was the first Mid-West Pizza that I had ever tasted. I had never seen pizza cut into squares before! "Marion's" is also an old timer with a huge following. "Flying Pizza" is "New York style, imported from the East Coast. SLICES - YES!!!! I took our hand written notes and created "score sheets" for each of us. The three pizza establishments were to be judged on the number of toppings, the varieties of crusts. On a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best, we were to judge oily/dry, crust, freshness of ingredients, overall taste, inside atmosphere, cleanliness, decor, overall experience. I printed out the score papers, packed four pens in my purse (and a few dollars) to begin the ULTIMATE PIZZA COMPETITION! Over the course of three different days, three different "meals", we pursued PIZZA! We went to Cassano's first. One has to admire "Cassano's". It sponsors a display/installation at the "Boonshoft Children's Museum of Natural History" in Dayton, thereby, embracing fellow Daytonians. We enjoyed the dispositions of the staff, the restaurant in general. Pictures of old Dayton, old "Cassano's", Vic Cassano and celebrities adorned the walls. The crust had a slight hint of salt, but was perfect! The top -not dry, not oily whereby you have to blot, but, just right! We ordered a pepperoni pizza (Trio's favorite). As we licked our fingers and pushed away the empty pizza tray, we began our scoring. !Lively discussion, comparison of notations, "Cassano's" would be tough to beat! Before we went to pizzeria number two: "Marion's", I was told that "Marion's" would put "Cassano's" to shame. Well readers, the judges could not disagree more! "Marion's" pizza was dry, dry, dry! It was palatable because Todd kept the soda run going at a steady pace. Tanner said he filled up on the soda, because he couldn't eat the cardboard! Tess said that the little squares were great to make a craft project, maybe a mosaic of a picture of a pepperoni pizza? There was no pleasure to be had at all! The pepperoni was so old that I think that it was on Social Security and Disability all at once! Maybe "Marion's" was having a bad day. Plates were an issue until I got up and began to whine and scrounged some from the counter. The decor was pleasant enough, but, frankly, we were too hungry and disappointed to appreciate trees "growing" mid restaurant. And, society frowns upon gnawing on the furniture in public. We whipped out our score sheets and let the our pens' ink do its polka. before we left disappointedly! Our third and final contestant was "Flying Pizza". As a New Yorker/East Coaster, myself, I thought that "Flying Pizza" (New York import, new York Style...slices!) would sweep me away. The decor was nothing to look at ...a few New York Photos, but, hey, we were there to fill the pizza space in our tummies! Our order was interrupted twice by one customer who asked for water and another looking for a plate, but eventually taken. Then, we seated ourselves. A delicious looking pepperoni pizza was delivered to our table. Slices excited me! Dry crust that tasted like cardboard did not excite me so much. Tanner said that his teeth were going to crack, break and fall out of his mouth all at once! Todd doubted that and responded that his teeth were getting stuck. No breakage if you're stuck in a crust. Tess rolled her eyes and tried to make the best of the entire episode. Todd, finally removing his teeth from his slice, asked for a bag of potato chips. I never grasped the concept of potato chips with pizza, but, I chalk it up to a "Mid - West" thing. I got up, took a bag from a nearby rack and approached the counter in order to pay. I held a $5.00 bill in view and the bag of chips. There was not a single customer at the counter at that time. I stood watching two workers chat. I remained, in full view, totally ignored. I asked if one of the two could assist me, just as a customer came into the door. Attention was turned to the newly arrived individual. Assuming that I am constructed out of clear plastic wrap and invisible, I left the chips on the counter and returned to my seat announcing "POINTS OFF - PENALTY 5!" Of the fast food play places, of the ice cream parlors and previous "pizza joints", we had a new, unfamiliar issue: IGNORE- or lack of respect for the customer and indifferent disposition! We finished our so, so pizza. We took out our score papers and our lethal pens to begin. Those pens strutted their stuff on no uncertain terms! As we left, we politely said good-bye. The staff did reply, without looking up from their crossword puzzles, "Bye now!". Tanner turned as he straddled the threshold: "You lost points you know!" and scurried out of the door. Our findings: "Cassano's" blew the anchovies off of both "Marion's" and "Flying Pizza" with a combined score of 221.9 out of a possible 236! "Marion's slipped into second place only because "Flying Pizza" was in dire need of an attitude adjustment! The two were a whisper apart in the 118-117 range in second and third place! We are not "restaurant critics" by any stretch of the imagination. But, think about this...we are grandchildren with a grandmother out for pizza (or ice cream, or a bounce in a play place). Baby Boomers, like myself, are considered to be the "big spenders" of our era. At last count, 3.75 million Baby Boomers are entertaining their grandchildren. We are the Pizza consumers! OUr findings just might be advantageous for Pizza establishments to consider. My peers might accept our suggestions and possibly use our "results" (and a coupon) to determine where they will purchase pizza for their grandchildren. That being said, we had fun. I can't say that any of us are clamoring for pizza in the near future. We will be at "Cassano's" when we are, so look for us there! Let the pit fall of "Flying Pizza" teach Pizza merchants something though...Placement will be tarnished by questionable attitude in THE ULTIMATE PIZZA COMPETITION!