Thrillist has come out with its Best Pizza Shops in America list, 33 pie shops mostly from New York and Chicago, a few from California and even a couple from Texas, with one glaring and β by the survey authorsβ admission begrudging βΒ Arizona entrant.
James Beard-winning chef Chris Biancoβs Pizzeria Bianco was slipped between Houstonβs Pizaroβs and Los Angeles pizza-as-all-things Pizzeria Mozza.
βI am, admittedly, tired of Bianco. I wanted to remove it from the list. I wanted to pick another fresh spot that people hadnβt heard of, so that they could yell at me in the comments, and tell me the entire list was invalidated,β said one or both of the surveyβs authors, Kevin Alexander and Liz Childers. βBut you canβt. You canβt take Chris Biancoβs place, now over 25 years old, off of any pizza list, because he was the originator of the artisanal trend, and we owe much of the best pizza in the country to chefs trying his pizza, and then deciding to open their own spot (Nancy Silverton of Mozza, for one). Bianco is essentially the Milk and Honey of the pizza scene, and you donβt mess with a legend. So here he stays. Try the Sonny Boy.β
Bianco opened the Tucson outpost of Pizzeria Bianco late this summer. The restaurant, 272 E. Congress St., is open from 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, and 4 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Details: 838-0818.
Click here to see the full Thrillist pizza rundown, but be forewarned: This is sure to cause potentially embarrassing drooling.
