I LOVE those Primantis sandwiches…and get one each time I visit Pittsburgh…but get a half and share with someone else. They are huge! Nothing like them anywhere else!
Someone upthread asked about St. Louis pizza. Lived there for 10 years. To me it tasted like burnt tomato paste on a saltine cracker, topped with some orange, cheddar-y cheese. Disgusting.
Thankfully, we eventually found a place that had decent normal- or thick-crust pizza.
@thumper1. I have to share one too! I usually get the capicola and cheese. The original Primanti Bros. location in the Strip District is the best! Fun area to walk around in too.
Deep dish pizza! That’s another local specialty of some other locale that I am happy to do without!
New Haven pizza, on the other hand . . . I distort my life in any number of ways in order to get back to Pepe’s.
^Better than Sally’s? (which I’ve never tried – love Pepe’s – but have heard people say it’s the best in New Haven). Ex went to graduate school there and first time he took me to Pepe’s it was SO good. Good other times too but nothing like the first time 
I’m with JHS on the Chicago deep-dish pizza. When I visit cities I try for the authentic regional food and the pizza I had in Chicago was underwhelming.
I thought of another one from college days that I miss - Freihofer’s chocolate chip cookies. They are small, roughly Nilla Wafer size, gooey soft, and come piled in a box. My fraternity bought them by the caseload.
Two more from college in Troy, NY:
Mike’s NEBA sandwich, halfway between a restaurant French dip and an Arby’s original.
Mini hot dogs with their special chili from Famous Lunch.
@Magnetron Freihofer’s is still easily found in my area. As is Entemann’s which is basically the same thing. Owned by the same company. I have a feeling, though, that you might find they are cookies better left to nostalgic remembrance and that you won’t find them as tasty as you remember.
Also not a deep dish fan. Like thin crust, but prefer regular thickness.
I don’t know what Amoroso vs hoagie roll means. Same thing, I thought. They make what we think of as a hoagie roll… Unless it’s more local lingo, secret code.
I think it’s just that Amoroso’s has national distribution and a big frozen line, and its products are designed for shelf-life and Wonderbread average tastes. The bakers that the best steak/pork/hoagie places use are still strictly local and not selling stuff in supermarkets thousands of miles away.
I gather Amoroso’s is still private and still owned by the same family. I had assumed it was a brand Bimbo or somebody owned.
Here’s an article (again older) on Amoroso’s, still local and family owned. I think it is just local loyalty, like Philadelphians’ love for Tastycakes and Wawa.
http://www.phillymag.com/articles/2006/10/06/icons-bread-winners/
Stuffed pizza has top and bottom crusts with layers of cheese in the middle. The crust is flaky and cracker-like. Blended tomato sauce on top. Toppings like sausage or spinach go inside the layers, not on top with the tomato sauce.
https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/0b/e2/28/db/stuffed-deep-dish-with.jpg
Deep dish pizza has only one layer of crust, which is dense and buttery/short. The crust may include cornmeal. Typically there are crushed tomatoes on top, not sauce. Toppings go on top amongst the tomatoes.
Some people use “deep dish” to apply to both kinds. And both are, in fact, made in a deep dish. But stuffed pizza is different.
The mozzarella goes directly on the first (bottom) crust so it doesn’t burn.
@sevmom I’ve been to three…the one in the Strip District…the one downtown that is very small, and one up the hill near Pitt or CMU.
Thanks for the info, @Hanna. I’ve had Deep Dish, and like it, but haven’t had stuffed crust.
Speaking of pizza, I’m a big fan of Detroit style pizza.
I like different kinds of pizza, I just treat them as a different food group. I don’t really get the insistence by some that there is only one kind of pizza worth eating. As long as the quality of the ingredients and execution are high, I like variety.
Buddy’s pizza, @doschicos? Is that still around?
Don’t throw things but, to me, if it’s not Dominos it’s not pizza — and I’ve lived in Chicago and stayed in NYC more times than I can count. It’s what I grew up on. Unfortunately, when Dominos changed their sauce recipe, I stopped eating it. DH and I make our own now. We never order pizza or eat it in a restaurant, just too many other options, and our own is so good.
I haven’t tried Buddy’s, @ChoatieMom.
Philly - what about Tony’ Luke’s? I agree that Geno’s and Pat’s is all marketing and tourist-y. Locals know to go elsewhere.
OH please, my dad lived near to one of the Philly icon places. The owner had bad grout, but when my dad came in, he always came out to greet us. Of course, we bought a lot more than a few sandwiches.
I also mentioned we had the owner over to cook for my older siblings party.
Back to New Mexico, I spent a week just eating cheese enchiladas near Santa Fe. Within one city, a lot of variation
Buddy’s pizza is still going strong in Detroit and environs, and still the best Detroit-style pizza. They claim to have invented Detroit-style square pizza in 1946.
I like many different kinds of pizza. Buddy’s in Detroit, A classic New York slice. A white clam and garlic pie at Pepe’s in New Haven. Stuffed spinach from Giordano’s in Chicago. And a California-style pizza with artichokes, garlic, goat cheese, etc in the Bay Area.
I always thought the best pizza in Chicago was from Pequod’s — deep dish (but not too deep) with an amazing caramelized crust.