It’s National Pizza Day! Rooted in Italy, the beloved food can now claim global domination.
Americans consume three billion pizzas yearly in the United States alone.
Whether you go for a cheese, supreme, veggie or the toppings of your dreams, there is no other food as loved as pizza.
Southern West Virginia is home to several locally-owned, iconic pizza restaurants.
One of those is Giovanni’s in Glen Daniels.
“I like the buffalo pizza,” said cook Lymus Gray. “We have the buffalo ranch sauce that we use along with the chicken. Of course it comes with cheese and everything else. One of our best pizzas, has great flavor to it. Basically the sauce, people like the pizza sauce and the crust.”
Giovanni’s uses the finest and freshest ingredients.
“We sell nothing but the quality best,” Gray said. “We do fresh veggies, we do quality meats and cheeses and far as pizza size, ours is a lot bigger than other companies. Ours is a 16 versus a 14-inch pizza. So you get a lot more pizza.”
Prior to world war II pizza was little known outside of Italy, but once it hit the states — it was love at first taste.
Variety is the spice of life and when it comes to pizza everyone knows what they like.
“We do pepperoni, we do pepperoni and sausage, we do meat-lovers,” said Gray. “We do all kinds of stuff. We also have the cauliflower crust pizza that a lot of people ask for.”
Pizza is the comfort food that people turn to no matter what life throws your way. There’s something about this centuries-old love that always makes people smile.
“The cheese, basically it hits the spot — and the way it melts on the pizza and all the toppings on it,” Gray said. “Just depends what you like on it. I’ve got pretty much anything that you ask for.”