Pizza Memories as a Kid

Uhtred

Uhtred

Member
Imagine it's the 1980s. It's Tuesday night, your parents say the magic words: "Let's order pizza tonight." You're instantly pumped. They ask what you want, and without hesitation, you shout, "Pepperoni!" Then comes the big debate, should it be Numero Uno, Domino's, Pizza Hut, or maybe the local joint down the street? One thing's certain: it has to be deep dish. The order's placed, and you're back to playing Nintendo, counting down the minutes. Then the doorbell rings. The box is opened. And my God the smell hits you like a wave. It looks amazing. It is amazing. Do you remember?
 
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I want a pizza like the one in the photo there, it looks delightful. Please provide it to me inside of 12 hours, or I'm unsure of what I'll do. Probably something extreme. Like eat chicken and salad. Or blow a bunch of strangers for $15 a man under the nearest bridge to fill the gaping emptiness deep inside of me that only fellatio and pizza can satisfy. Thank you.
 
Yeah I remember. My family would order it once every 3-4 months usually with a new movie so it was extra special. Then a CiCi's Pizza opened up near our mall. We would go there once a month and I would stuff my face with all the different varieties. I was an odd kid and liked bbq and spinach pizza the most and their cheesy bread, then would finish with their apple pie pizza. Good times!
 
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I remember the times I would go to a local pizza joint in downtown, and just play Marvel Vs Capcom for free with my brother while our mom waited for the pizza. Those were the days.
 
My friend's mom left us 20 bucks which netted us a pepperoni and dessert pizza from round table delivered with tip, imagine that. Bubble Bobble and Kirby's Adventure was played that night. I tried to recreate the experience later in life with my stoner friend and they stopped making the dessert pizza, fucking cowards.
 
Pizza base needs to be thin. The base is the part of the pizza I don't want to notice. I think it destroys. But ofcourse, this is all down to personal flavor.

We got the short end basically. Whenever they went for a weekend, the old folks left us the most cheap oven pizza in the freeze. We had to deal with it.
 
I grew up poor so my mom made pizza from scratch instead. But it was fun and we got to load them up with toppings. Forgot all about that until now, memory unlocked. Thanks op.
 
I just make my own Pizza these days. It's not hard and tastes pretty good. Before that, my Mom usually made Pizza. Best Pizza I have ever eaten, though, was at some small restaurant in Florence.
 
As a kid we didnt have pizza in ireland, so when the folks decided to get a takeaway in we'd get a Fish supper and be just as excited..

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When I was a kid, Pizza was just cheese and tomato, and (if you're lucky) a sprinkle of onion.
At least it was to me anyway.
1980s UK.
Shit was wild when I saw a classmate eating cold pizza from a lunchbox for the first time.
I was all "What the hell are you eating?!"
 
Once a fortnight when going into town with my dad, we'd peruse the shops, either pick up a game or a movie each. Then go to the cinema and afterwards it'd either be Old Orleans (always fajitas for me) or Pizza Hut where 95% of the time we just got an extra large stuffed crust meat feast with extra cheese, mushrooms and mixed peppers. He'd usually have cheesecake or something and I'd take 3-4 trips to the unlimited ice cream factory machine (after having eaten half the big pizza).

Occasionally my dad would ask for anchovies on his half. :messenger_fearful:

I still clearly remember the stringy 'mozzarella' in the crust and that lovely orange grease the base was covered in.

We always cleanly cut the slices off with the triangular thingy and then pushed the edge of it down the centre of the slice from the middle of the crust to the tip and then folded it and ate it that way, then we'd look down our noses at the people eating their pizza with a knife and fork, which unless you're handicapped should basically be illegal in a pizza joint. ;p

... Crazy thing back then for two -- if I recall correctly -- the Pizza Hut was less than £30, the Cinema was less than £15 with a big pick 'n' mix and a trip to HMV/Virgin & GAME/Gamestation for a movie and a game was ~£40, add in bus fair and it was less than £90 for a day out. And my dad worked overtime just to manage that. Same thing would be £150+ now.

On a very strict diet now, so pizza is like a twice a year deal. Usually one in the run up to xmas and another around my birthday. Unfortunately all the Pizza Huts in my city have disappeared too, but then, I doubt the quality is anything close these days.
 
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Back then, we'd order at least twice a week. Our parents worked a lot so it was probably convenient. Plus, you could get two extra-large pizzas for under $20. I still remember the order our father would place.
"Two extra large pizzas. One round and one square. Both with pepperoni, ham, bacon, double Italian sausage, onion, green pepper, and pineapple. Both with garlic crust. Add hot peppers on one." They'd have it done in 20mins flat, almost every time rain or shine snow or not. They're still there through all these years. Fantastic food if you are ever in the area, passing through. The "Buccaneer" subs are on point
 
Going to cici's pizza buffet as a kid was awesome. The pizza itself wasn't anything special, but you could have as much as you want. The cheese bread in particular was probably the best thing there. Not to mention the little arcade they had in the back with stuff like area 51 and nfl blitz
 
Uhtred said:
oId2RZb.jpeg
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Problem is, in Italy, this "thing" wouldn't even pass as focaccia never mind as pizza...

And it's not about being snob either boys, pizza should always follow these rules :
- Thin
- ONLY fresh mozzarella (not that industrial solid as a brick shite that many places use)
- Big-ish border/crust
- Wood oven cooked

Also, when it comes to the ingredients/toppings, less is better, the only "real" choices should always be either A) Margherita B) Prosciutto e funghi C) 4 stagioni D) Diavola and - maybe - a San Daniele (where they bring you some prosciutto crudo and rocket to place It on top the pizza.

Unfortunately, like most things, the Americanization of everything has led to such...results.

The thing in the photo, while it might taste good, is not to be considered "pizza" - imagine this, ordering some Greek Moussaka and instead of the usual tomato sauce and minced meat filling/layers, the thing is filled with...Nutella - it's something that you just shouldn't do.

Having said that, the OP is very nicely written and nostalgic as heck, so, kudos for that OP 😉
 
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We use to Get Hungry Howie's in Central Florida. A lot of PIZZA PIZZA with Little Caesars too.
 
Where I grew up in overseas, they didn't have pizza in my childhood in late 70s and early 80s.
My mother, who had lived in U.S in late 60s - early 70s, was always yearning for good American style food.
One day, she found out there had pizza restaurant in one of the UN affiliated building - so she took me there.
It was eye-opening experience, that I still remember - all that melty cheese! I can still remember decor in that restaurant vaguely in my mind.

Gourmet pizzas are great, especially Neapolitan... been working in NYC for over 25 years, so NYC style pizzas are abundant around me too...
but there's something nostalgic about fast food style, medium-thick dough pizza, personally.

These days my stomach often don't agree with fast food, which is a mighty shame. :(
 
Reizo Ryuu said:
It's not about being a snob
Immediately proceeds to being a snob
Jim Carrey Reaction GIF
Click to expand...

Where are you from broski ?
I'm pretty sure we could find a typical local dish and completely fuck it up in the process.

Again, that shit in the photo might taste OK but a pizza it is not.

Next up : Sushi being made out of oatmeal instead of rice, SPAM meat instead of fish and instead of bathing the thing in soy sauce, we should use guacamole or maple syrup.
 
We rarely had pizza as a kid because reasons, but one time I was allowed to have some of my cousin's Pizza Hut, and I became a Ninja Turtle overnight. And this was back in the '80s when Pizza Hut were on top of their game- piping hot, incredibly soft dough, heaps of cheese, fresh mushrooms and tons of pepperoni. Still to this day it's the best pizza I've ever had. And I've had a lot of pizzas since.
 
All you can eat at pizza hut during Ramadan at Iftar time, used to go with friends to create mounds of uneaten crusts!
 
We'd never order a pizza, it was either from a store or a trip to Pizza Hut.

Pizza Hut has the ice cream factory where you could go crazy with as many sprinkles and sauces as you wanted, which always led to feeling sick as hell after a whole pizza.
 
Every Friday we would order a pizza from the local pizza joint and rent a VHS movie right next door, great memories! The local joint is still in business and unbelievably busy every Friday and Saturday, the tradition continues with my family getting a pizza most weekends.

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Growing up it was this ABSOLUTE TRASH every friday. It was cheap and yu could get yards and yards of it for every party.

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Pizza Hutt was "getting fancy".

There were very few indie pizza places where I grew up so pizza as an actual food to enjoy had to wait till I left for college.
 
My family was poor so I think there were maybe one or two times we ordered pizza, and even then it was not enough to go around (I had 8 brothers and sisters, so even two large pizzas was barely enough for all 10 of us).

But I do remember always getting extremely excited for this:
 
Ultimate Friday night in the mid-to-late 90s for me:

-Best friend coming home with me from school for a sleepover
-Mom takes us to Blockbuster on the way home
-We get to pick out two games and a movie (and usually my mom rents a movie for her and my dad to watch)
-Dad swings by Pizza Hut on his way home from work to pick up pizzas and a 2-liter of soda
-My friend and I play the hell out of whatever games we rented, gorge on pizza, play outside for a bit with the neighbor kids, come back inside and play more games, watch the movie we rented, watch a few episodes on TGIF, play more games, then finally pass out way too late
-Wake up to the sound of my buddy already up playing one of the games we rented and the smell of breakfast cooking in the kitchen

Fuck, man. Life really peaked when I was like 10-11 years old. Those weekends were only topped by birthday party sleepovers with Goldeneye 007 and 4 controllers.
 
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