5 Best Pinellas Pizzerias For Celebrating National Pizza Week

TAMPA BAY, FL — As National Pizza Week gets underway and continues through Jan. 15, Tampa Bay residents have no shortage of places to celebrate one of America's top food choices.

Consuming 350 slices every second, Americans rank as the world's second top lovers of pizza. Believe it or not, the top honor goes to Norway.

According to ThePizzaCalc, approximately three billion pizzas are consumed each year. That's 8.2 million pizzas eaten per day, or the equivalent of 100 acres of pizza every day. On average, an American eats more than 6,000 slices of pizza in his or her lifetime.

Approximately 94 percent of Americans eat pizza on a regular basis with 83 percent eating pizza at least once a month and 40 percent eating pizza once a week.

Here are some fun pizza facts:

• 12.5 percent of people eat pizza on any day of the week.
• The majority of pizza is consumed at dinnertime for adults and lunchtime for kids.
• 61 percent of people prefer a thin crust.
• 17 percent of all restaurants in the U.S. are pizza joints. That's more than 70,000 restaurants. totals 70,000+ restaurants.
• Pepperoni is the most popular pizza making up 36 percent of all pies ordered.
• The first pizzeria opened in Naples, Italy, in 1738.
• Gennaro Lombardi, the first pizzeria in the United States, opened in 1895 in New York City.
• The first cities to sell pizza in the United States were New York City; Boston; New Haven, Connecticut; and Trenton, New Jersey.
• Kids ages 3 to 11 prefer pizza over all other food groups.
• NASA funded and tested a 3D printer that can make pizza for astronauts.

Patch readers recommended the following pizzerias:

Madison Avenue Pizza

Last summer, Madison Avenue Pizza at 2660 Bayshore Blvd. in Dunedin launched its Pizza Skiff, Tampa Bay's first pizza delivery by boat. Madison Avenue Pizza will deliver pizza to your favorite sandbar or island spanning 3 Rooker Island west of Tarpon Springs south to Indian Rocks Beach.

A twice Best of the Bay winner, Madison Avenue Pizza made-from-scratch pizza for dine-in, carry-out and delivery including the Dino Pie with red sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, sausage, mushroom, red onion, roasted red pepper, fresh garlic and banana pepper, cooked well done.

Other specialty pizzas include The Caladesi with red sauce, mozzarella, sausage, capicola, red onion, fresh garlic, peppadew pepper and basil and Pickle Pizza with dill-garlic sauce, mozzarella, thin-sliced pickles and fresh dill.

This week's special is Chicken and Andouille, made with red sauce, mozzarella, grilled chicken breast, locally made andouille sausage from The Boozy Pig, fire-roasted corn, red onions, oven-roasted cubanelle peppers and a post-bake dusting of cotija cheese.

Madison Avenue Pizza also gets top marks for its avant-garde decor, including a mural featuring famous faces painted by St. Petersburg artist Derek Donnelly, aka “Saint Paint,” last May, its selection of craft brews and its handcrafted cocktails.

Infinity Pizza

The first superhero-themed arcade pizzeria debuted at 2481 N McMullen Road, Suite D, Clearwater, in June.

Infinity Pizza Clearwater combines America's love of pizza and its obsession with video games and superheroes. Infinity Pizza offers such selections as the Peter Porker with pepperoni, ham, sausage and bacon; The Groot, a veggie pizza with green peppers, black olives, mushrooms, onions and tomatoes; and the Captain America with classic and cup and char pepperoni that's naturally smoked and semi-dry cured with charred, crispy edges. Wash it down with a locally brewed IPA.

Piper's Scratch Pizza Shop

Owning a pizzeria was Jennifer and Bruce Hershey's destiny.

They met while working at a pizzeria in high school but then went off to pursue other careers. Jennifer became a zookeeper and vet tech and Bruce became a marketer.

But in 2002, with the birth of their daughter, Makenzie "Piper" Hershey, they returned to their first love, making pizza.

They launched Piper's Scratch Pizza Shop 31 years ago at 34940 U.S. 19 in Palm Harbor, and that baby daughter who inspired the pizzeria now serves as chief operating officer of the company.

As the pizzeria's name indicates, Piper's Pizza Shop specializes in New York-style pizza featuring dough and sauce made fresh daily from scratch.

Specialty pizzas include The Hot Chick topped with house-made buffalo sauce, crispy, fried Perdue chicken, applewood smoked bacon, Grande mozzarella and drizzled with ranch dressing; Marley the Meatball made with house-made sauce topped with house-made meatballs, fresh garlic, fresh baby spinach and mozzarella; the Twisted Margherita with extra virgin olive oil, fresh diced mozzarella and Parmesan, drizzled with a basil reduction sauce; and the Get 'em to the Greek pizza made with house-made dough and sauce topped with Grande mozzarella cheese, fresh spinach, mushrooms, banana peppers, red onions, kalamata olives and feta cheese.

Charlie And Millie's Pizza Restaurant

A mainstay in Largo since 1954, the family-owned Charlie and Millie's Pizza Restaurant at 10953 Seminole Blvd., Largo, has made pizza the same way for 69 years. The restaurant's Chicago-style thin-crust pizza is cut into 16 squares, allowing three generations of families to share pizza the same way.

Patch readers referred to Charlie and Millie's as a "hidden treasure" and snowbirds say they dream of the classically made thin-crust pizza when they return North of the summer.

Specialty pizzas include the "Alka," or AlkaSeltzer Special with sausage, pepperoni, ham, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, black olives, green olives and anchovies.

Nona Slice House

Nona Slice House owner Jamie Culliton not only makes award-winning pizza, he's a world-champion pizza acrobat, competing with the U.S. Pizza Team.

Culliton, who is also head pizzaiolo, at the restaurant at 997 Main St., Safety Harbor, has been showcasing multiple styles of pizza from around the world for 25 years.

His passion for pizza and dedication to the craft led him to compete in pizza acrobatics, winning two gold medals in Parma, Italy at the World Pizza Championships.

Nona Slice House offers Old World-style and Detroit-style pizza including the Margherita, named Best Pizza in America at the 2011 American Pizza Champions.

The El Diablo with fresh mozzarella, peppadew peppers, hot soppressata and piped ricotta, finished with local "Fire in the Hive" hot honey drizzle and fresh basil won second place in the Southeast Region for nontraditional-style pizza at the International Pizza Expo 2021.

His Detroit-style pizza, cooked in a blue steel pan with Wisconsin brick cheese crust attracts fans of this pizza style from throughout Tampa Bay.

Specialty Detroit-style pizzas include Death by Pepperoni with Rosa Grande pepperoni and cup and charred pepperoni with smoked provolone and The Pan-Demic with no sauce, hot soppressata, cup and char pepperoni, fresh jalapeno, hot cherry peppers and piped ricotta finished with a "Fire in the Hive" honey drizzle.

Check out some of Culliton's dough-spinning moves during the U.S. Pizza Team trials in Orlando below.