Seattle: 2024 top pizza city in the USA!
New claim to fame besides the monikers: Jet City, Rain City, and the Emerald City
Who would have thought that a West Coast city would be the new recipient of the unlikely moniker of Pizza City?! Maybe proud Italian Americans, for one.
Recently, Mandoe Media analyzed consumer interest, quality, variety, and pizza ratings across the United States and declared Seattle the #1 best—a designation we’ll gladly take over other more pizza-entrenched towns like New York and Boston. Though it was not a scientific study, it surprised everyone, though probably not Seattleites, who love their pizzas—even though, back in yesteryear and the days of yore—it took a while for the locals to get accustomed to this pie. Oh, and hat tip to Portland (#3) and San Diego (#5), two other West Coast cities in the top 5 in the country.
You can visit Mandoe’s website to learn about their survey methodology.
Read on to learn a bit more about early pizza making in Seattle.
Seattle’s pizza history (in brief)
The first sighting of pizza in Seattle, according to the Daverso family, was in 1946 when they introduced it at their Palace Grill restaurant. As the story goes, brothers Julio and Peter Daverso had to give pizza away for the first four years. That's hard to imagine now. And they were long years, too, until a Seattle Times newspaper reporter noticed it and described it as a “phonograph record.” It took off from there. Other establishments like Jannellis, Alfieris, La Casa, and Ricardo’s joined the pizza trend.
Initially, it seemed like the flat, baked dough with toppings was too foreign for these parts, but advertising helped. Sailors and others in Seattle who had had pizza in Italy or the eastern U.S. saw the Palace Grill ads, and their patronage elevated the status of pizza, which is now arguably one of the most famous foods in the world.
Pass me a slice, Seattle!
Be sure to read Peter Blecha’s detailed HistoryLink article for more pizza history.
P.S.
Two weeks ago, I attended the San Gennaro Festival and enjoyed a slice or two (who’s counting?) from local pie joint, Tutta Bella. It’s fig season now, which means the return of their iconic Fig Pizza—my absolute favorite! Doesn’t it look scrumptious? It is only back for a limited time, so check them out before fig season ends!
To read more about Alfieris and other Italian grocers and restaurateurs in the early days of the Pacific Northwest, pick up my book, ITALIANS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST—wherever books are sold.
Amazon Barnes & Noble Bookshop.org Powell’s Third Place Books