I guess you could say that pizza’s beginnings go back as far as ancient Egypt, with one of their common foods being a type of flatbread with other stuff plopped on top of it.

Centuries later in Naples, Italy, an easy food choice was the same thing: flat bread or crust topped & plopped with meats, vegetables, cheeses, fish, and whatever else they didn’t mind eating. (Wonder if that fish included anchovies?) This unnamed food ‘thing’ was considered to be a lowly type of food – something that only poor or homeless people during the 1700s would eat. Why? Because it was easy to make and easy to eat for those who had to wander the streets with no indoor dwelling to go to. Would the snobby elite stoop to eating this street food? Heck no. It wasn’t good enough for ‘em.

Fast-forward to the 1900s when Italian immigrants began running their own eateries and serving their country favorite…a weird food called ‘pizza’. The first American pizza joint opened in New York City in 1905 but it took until the 1940s before it started to spread through the country. And ever since, pizza has become one of America’s #1 foods. So what does the word ‘pizza’ actually mean? According to Hungry Howie’s website, “pizza comes from the dialectal pinza from the Latin pinsere, which means ‘to pound or stamp’. Other etymologists suggest it is related to the Lombardic word bizzo or pizzo, which means mouthful, and is related to the English word bite.”

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But who cares about all that history stuff, right?
We just plain love pizza.
It’s gooey.
It’s tangy.
Toppings fall onto your shoe when you bite into a slice.
Cheese gets in your hair.
It’s delivered right to your door.

The beauty about making your own pizza is that you can put ANYthing on it you want. Aside from the usual pepperoni, mushrooms, ham, onion, black olives, etc., there’s always that one person who wants something weird on it: liverwurst, anchovies, artichokes, pickled bologna, beef tongue, gizzards, dandelion greens, spaghetti, apple slices, limburger cheese, Cheetos, cottage cheese, potato chips, french fries, pork rinds, strawberries, ghost peppers, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, pickles, blue cheese, broccoli, brussels sprouts, carrots, kumquats, navy beans, beets…..no food is spared from the almighty pizza. Anything goes!

So just what is Michigan's favorite type of pizza...is it:
Thin crust? NO.
Flavored crust? NO.
Stuffed crust? NO.
Round, square, rectangular, pre-sliced, no-sliced, depends on the toppings...all a big NO.

According to Mlive, Michigan's favorite pizza - bar far - is deep-dish.

Below is a gallery of pizza joints and memorabilia from around Michigan…
Take a look, then have a big, juicy, greasy pizza tonight!

Old Michigan Pizza Joints

MORE MICHIGAN FOOD:

Michigan's First Pizza Place

Vintage Hamburger Diners and Michigan's First Drive-in Restaurant

Michigan's Oysters

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