Fort Lauderdale—South Florida is officially a United Nations of pizza, with new styles arriving on our shores every week, from Chicago’s casserole-style deep dish to Detroit’s square pies with red sauce on the cheese. Yes. On. The. Cheese.
Owing partly to local ingenuity and the pandemic migration of Californians, Midwesterners and Northeasterners, South Florida today is home to at least 13 regional pizza styles—including Cuban and Haitian, Argentinean and Greek.
Just how well do you know your pizza styles? There are some for whom these pies are a religion. Then there are those who can’t tell a Neapolitan apart from a Grandma. This guide is designed for the latter.
Now, by no means is this lineup of styles and locations authoritative. For example: Times Square Pizza, in my opinion, bakes a fine slice of New York-style, but is it objectively the best? If you live anywhere but Fort Lauderdale, chances are strong you’ll disagree.
Always remember South Florida’s third law of pizza dynamics: For every native New Havenite who cries foul about over-charred crust on a white clam “apizza” at Frank Pepe’s, there is a native Michigander raving about the authenticity of Jet’s Pizza. (Yes, such heated debates run thicker than marinara. Don’t believe us? Take a stroll through the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s 113,000-strong Facebook food group, “Let’s Eat, South Florida.”)
Without further ado, behold this tasty investigation below, in which we slice into the 13 pizza styles that call South Florida home.
California
Let’s be honest: The Golden State is far better known for sushi, wine and In-N-Out Burger before its pies come to mind. Wolfgang Puck and “California cuisine” pioneer Alice Waters are credited with introducing it in the 1980s, back when people watched “Airwolf” and listened to Night Ranger, but the gospel of this style was truly spread in the early 2000s by California Pizza Kitchen. Its thin, hand-tossed crust melds two well-known styles, New York and Neapolitan, with toppings less traditional than pepperoni and sausage, such as avocado and crème fraîche and grilled barbecue chicken.
California Pizza Kitchen: multiple locations; CPK.com
