Bon Appétit magazine, in conjunction with the Food Network, went across the country looking for the best pizza, hamburgers, ribs, fried chicken, and tacos. Three finalists in each category are written up in the September issue of the magazine (the blurbs are rather generic-sounding), and the winner is going to be announced on a Food Network special hosted by Alton Brown August 18. What isn't clear to me after reading about their search is the methodology they used. What criteria did they use in each category? How did they go about finding and then eating at the best places in... More

Late last week, our long-lost roving reporter, E-Rock, checked in with a voicemail message stating that he was waiting in a two-hour line for a seat at Phoenix's Pizzeria Bianco. Here's his report: I thought the place was really cool. It's kind of just off downtown, right near where the Diamondbacks play. As your photo shows, it's a pretty small place, but they own a stand-alone bar next door (Bar Bianco) where you can wait. And it's like drinking in someone's house. They also have benches and stuff outside where you can sit. A very relaxing, homey set-up. I... More

It's been a while since we've heard from Slice roving reporter E-Rock, so I was surprised and then jealous to get a voicemail from the dude. He's apparently out in Phoenix, and he phoned from the line at the legendary Pizzeria Bianco. [Warning: As is the case in most things associated with E-Rock, questionable language is involved.] Further Reading All entries on Pizzeria Bianco [The Slice Archives] All entries by E-Rock [The Slice Archives] All Serious Eats–Slice videos [The Serious Eats–Slice TV Video Archive]... More

The previous post about Ed Levine's top pizza picks drew some emailed and IMed responses that the choices were mostly all coastal and that there were no Chicago joints on it whatsoever. Well, here's a list that ran earlier this month in USA Today. In it, Jeff Ruby, coauthor of Everybody Loves Pizza (along with Penny Pollack), gives the paper his and Ms. Pollack's top spots: Metro Pizza [four locations, Las Vegas NV; metropizza.com] "The pizza menu at this gourmet oasis in the desert reads like a map of regional flavors. With grilled shrimp on the New Orleans, barbecued chicken... More

Pity poor Ed Levine. When his workday doesn't involve ordering one of each doughnut at a well-regarded New York City doughnuttery, he gets to eat pizza from some of the country's best pizzerias and write about it for Details magazine. His findings cover some familiar ground to readers of Slice and of Mr. Levine's 2005 book PIzza: A Slice of Heaven, but there are some new entries to be savored. Pizzeria Bianco [623 East Adams Street, Phoenix AZ 85004; map] "The sauce tastes like a distillation of the ripest tomatoes."Di Fara[1424 Avenue J, Brooklyn NY 11230; map] "... a Di... More

From a nice profile of Phoenix pizzaiolo Chris Bianco in the Arizona Republic today: The faithful and the curious, the foodies and the tourists, the hungry, the whiny and the just plain crazy come to Pizzeria Bianco in downtown Phoenix, and settle into the outdoor picnic tables insanely early, even in 113-degree heat, eyeing each other with a mix of glee and gloating. For sure, they're going to get tables tonight. They will shovel into their grateful mouths wood-roasted vegetables just barely picked, and fresh mozzarella cheese that Bianco coaxed from curd into milky wonder that morning. They'll dunk fire-tinged... More

Speaking of Pizzeria Bianco, back in November, reader Alex K. sent Slice some photos of the place on a recent trip out there. Alex probably didn't think we'd ever use these, but here they are. Of Pizzeria Bianco, he said: Some people claim this is the best pizza in the U.S. It is very good, but not No. 1. The crowd lines up daily at least an hour before opening, and by the time the doors open, the entire place is full with more still waiting. Pictures include: The Wiseguy (right): Wood-roasted onion, house-smoked mozzarella, fennel sausage. A crowd... More

FURTHER READINGNewsday explores coal-fired ovensJeffrey Steingarten on coal ovensThe New York Times's Francis X. Clines visits the Grimaldi's in Phoenix: Finding Patsy Grimaldi's name on a pizzeria out in Phoenix, amid all that sun and desert, is weird. Anyone who knows Patsy can only picture his coal-fired pizza oven glowing in the long shadows of the Brooklyn Bridge's eastern arch, with the patient lines of hungry customers outside and a firm no-delivery policy inside (except in the old days when Frank Sinatra ordered out from the Waldorf-Astoria or sent a plane from Los Angeles for two score of Patsy's... More

A nice story in the Times by one of our favorte food writers, Ed Levine. Levine visits Chris Bianco in Phoenix. Bianco is a Bronx native who moved to the Valley of the Sun and worked his way to crafting what Levine says "might be the best pizza in America." What makes the pizza so good? Levine says it better than we can (primarily because we've never been): His crust is simultaneously thick and thin, puffy and crisp on the outside and softer and chewy on the inside, with hole structure like great bread. His mozzarella, which he and his... More