PizzaMecca

PizzaMecca Pizza reviews by Bobby Pickles, Charrman of the PizzaMecca™️ of the Universe—Connecticut! Sometimes NYC and the rest of the Northeast. Florida, too.

Plus, PizzaMecca™️ Clothing "The Promised Brand." 🍕🕋

08/25/2026

PORTNOY PIZZA PLAGIARISM

Apparently, I stole the idea of reviewing food on camera from Dave Portnoy.

There’s just one small problem with that theory:

The timeline.

On September 14, 2010, I was standing on the streets of Philadelphia with a cheesesteak in each hand, filming a review of The Original Pat's King of Steaks vs. Geno's Steaks … My verdict? Better cheese at Pat’s. Better bread at Geno’s.

And unlike my memory, the internet keeps receipts.

The original video is still sitting on my YouTube channel — — uploaded September 14, 2010, straight from an Android phone in all its glorious 2010 potato-quality splendor.

That was nearly three years before the first One Bite pizza review in 2013.

Does that mean I invented food reviews? Of course not. People have been criticizing other people’s cooking since somebody burned the first piece of meat over a fire.

But was PizzaMecca born because I saw David Portnoy - El Presidente reviewing pizza and decided to copy him?

Well…

The proof is in the pudding.

And the receipts?

They’re still in the cash register.

🍕🕋





08/23/2026

THE FAT SIGNAL | Fuoco A’Pizza

When the T-shirt inventory at Fuoco Apizza starts running dangerously low, George knows exactly what he has to do.

Light the FAT Signal.

What follows is a perfectly routine custom T-shirt order involving screen printing, coal-fired a’pizza, Roman gods, Wall Street negotiations, heavy metal, acrobatic pizza dough, a portable projector—and a severely underpowered 1979 Ford Pinto known only as the FAT MOBILE.

George needed new merch. FAT ENZO T-SHIRTS answered the call.

From artwork and spot-color separations to pulling ink, curing, folding, boxing and delivery, we follow the Fuoco’s shirts from an idea on a computer screen to finished merchandise ready to wear.

Because at FAT ENZO, the goal isn’t just to print another promotional T-shirt.

We make shirts people actually want to wear.

👕 NEED CUSTOM MERCH?
Screen Printing • Embroidery • Custom Apparel • Graphic Design
FAT ENZO T-SHIRTS
FATENZO.com
We can print anything but money.

🍕 NEED THE A’PIZZA?
Visit Fuoco’s A’Pizza in Cheshire, Connecticut for coal-fired a’pizza from George and the crew—and check out the freshly replenished Fuoco’s merch while you’re there.

📽️ NEED TO LIGHT THE FAT SIGNAL?
Take the big screen anywhere with Infinity Projectors and join the Mobile Projection Revolution.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087622441018&mibextid=wwXIfr

InfinityProjectors.com

Three businesses. One merch emergency.

Fuoco’s A’Pizza × FAT ENZO T-SHIRTS × Infinity Projectors

Pizza. Printing. Projection.

And if the FAT MOBILE breaks down on the way home…

Well, hopefully the projector can signal a cab.

07/18/2026

🥪 Geoff's Superlative Sandwiches | The Most OUTSTANDING Sandwich Shop in America’s Smallest Big City! (REEL)

The menu is the most unnecessarily extensive. The monikers are the most whimsical. And according to my angriest friend, Paddy—a former Geoff’s employee—the stories are even more legendary than the grinders.

I arrived fully intending to order a vegetarian sandwich, but Paddy nearly had an aneurysm at the mere suggestion. Despite being a bleeding-heart liberal from one of the country’s most progressive cities, he harbors a visceral hatred of vegetarian sandwiches. Instead, the guy behind the counter—armed with absolutely no knowledge of my personal tastes—recommended the Jorge Elorza, and I decided to trust the process.

As it turns out, the sandwich almost became secondary. Once I smathered it with Geoff’s legendary Dragon’s Breath hot sauce, every bite exploded with one of the finest hot sauces I’ve ever tasted. It completely transformed the Jorge Elorza. In fact, it’s so good that I’m convinced it could make just about any sandwich at Geoff’s OUTSTANDING according to my professional PizzaMecca rating system.

📍 Geoff’s Superlative Sandwiches – Providence, Rhode Island

🍕🕋





07/18/2026

🥪 Geoff's Superlative Sandwiches | The Most OUTSTANDING Sandwich Shop in America’s Smallest Big City! (Full Review)

The menu is the most unnecessarily extensive. The monikers are the most whimsical. And according to my angriest friend, Paddy—a former Geoff’s employee—the stories are even more legendary than the grinders.

I arrived fully intending to order a vegetarian sandwich, but Paddy nearly had an aneurysm at the mere suggestion. Despite being a bleeding-heart liberal from one of the country’s most progressive cities, he harbors a visceral hatred of vegetarian sandwiches. Instead, the guy behind the counter—armed with absolutely no knowledge of my personal tastes—recommended the Jorge Elorza, and I decided to trust the process.

As it turns out, the sandwich almost became secondary. Once I smathered it with Geoff’s legendary Dragon’s Breath hot sauce, every bite exploded with one of the finest hot sauces I’ve ever tasted. It completely transformed the Jorge Elorza. In fact, it’s so good that I’m convinced it could make just about any sandwich at Geoff’s OUTSTANDING according to my professional PizzaMecca rating system.

📍 Geoff’s Superlative Sandwiches – Providence, Rhode Island

🍕🕋





07/12/2026

🇨🇺 The Least Kosher Foodstuff in Miami? | Croquetas at La Carreta

Forget everything you think you know about Cuban food.

In this episode, I visit Miami’s legendary La Carreta on Bird Road to try one of the city’s most iconic snacks: the Cuban croqueta. Along the way, my friend Enriki Tarō introduces me to the culture of la ventanita—the walk-up window where locals gather throughout the day for Cuban hors d’oeuvres, cafecito, and conversation.

Is the croqueta a uniquely Cuban creation, or just another chapter in mankind’s endless obsession with wrapping meat in dough?

📍 La Carreta – Bird Road, Miami, Florida

🍕🕋





07/11/2026

🍊 Florida’s First Orange Pizza? | The Man Who Invented “Florida-Style Pizza” 🍕

An 18-hour pilgrimage from the PizzaMecca™️ of southern Connecticut brought me to sunny South Florida to visit Francis Cecere of Bucks Coal Fired Pizza.

Months before David Portnoy - El Presidente awarded Bucks an 8.10 on One Bite, Francis and South Florida iguana trapper Ryan Izquierdo made national headlines by creating the first-ever iguana pizza during an historic Florida cold snap. The story spread like wildfire, even earning a mention on The Joe Rogan Experience. Francis also coined the term “Florida-style pizza.”

This time, we had an even crazier mission: bringing my cousin Michael’s idea to life by topping a pizza with Florida’s most iconic fruit—oranges.

Did we create the next great Florida-style pizza… or should this idea have stayed in the grove?

🍊🍕🕋





07/10/2026

I drove 18 hours outside the PizzaMecca™️🍕🕋 from southern CT to Sunny South Florida to experience real bonafide “Florida-style Pizza.”

06/15/2026

I Couldn’t Name a Single Band, So I Sold Pierogies Instead 🥟

Gendobre!

From June 5–7, 2026, I traded my fedora for an apron and headed to The Governors Ball Music Festival in Flushing Meadows, Queens to help Matylda’s Polish Food feed the masses beneath the shadow of the Unisphere.

While thousands of music fans came to see some of the biggest artists in the world, I spent my time slinging Polish dumplings, Polish hot dogs, and half-sour Polish cucumbers while conducting important anthropological research on festival fashion.

And when concertgoers needed a break from the music, many gathered around a giant screen erected on the festival grounds to watch the New York Knicks take another step toward their first NBA Championship in over half a century.

Special thanks to Pizza Nova and (Instagram) for helping to encourage open dialogue and healthy debate.

Na zdrowie! 🥟🥒🇵🇱

🍕🕋





06/01/2026

🍕 Happy Birthday, Pizza Hut! 🎂🏠🇺🇸

On May 31, 1958, brothers Dan and Frank Carney opened the first Pizza Hut in Wichita, Kansas.

Sixty-eight years later, I drove three hours out of the PizzaMecca™️ to Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, to visit one of America’s most famous Pizza Hut Classics.

The red roof.

The red cups.

The Pac-Man machine.

The salad bar.

Pure, gonzo nostalgia.

Owned by the Daland Corporation, this location has become legendary among Pizza Hut fans for preserving the classic experience that so many of us grew up enjoying.

So on Pizza Hut’s 68th birthday, I decided to celebrate the only way I know how:

By eating greasy pan pizza and experiencing a slice of American history.

🍕🕋





05/31/2026

Is This Even Pizza? Rhode Island’s Cold Pizza Cult 🍕🔮

We’re outside of the PizzaMecca™️ (but the locals might disagree) in the great state of Rhode Island trying what these Rhodies call “party pizza” — or “pizza strips” — although as a self-respecting Connecticut Yank, I have a hard time actually considering it “pizza.”

P-Town Patrick Reilly joins me in an inner-ring suburb of Providence at D. Palmieri's Bakery trying their signature Party Pizza Strips — and yes, that initial “D.” is probably there because Rhode Islanders can’t pronounce Italian surnames like De Niro or the Italian word for “of” properly.

Pizza strips look akin to garlic bread… hold the garlic — smather (yes, it’s a word, you idiots) it with tomato sauce, bake it low and slow, then serve it cold.

I love cold pizza… and I guess Rhode Islanders agree. Dave Portnoy doesn’t, but he’s not even Italian, so who cares what he thinks?

Eric John Pizza Artist fifth-gen pizzaiolo of the D. Palmieri posse — transforms these party pizza trays into prodigious, palatable portraits using toppings like icing on a cake.

One of his standout creations was Hulk Hogan.

So while outsiders debate whether this even qualifies as pizza… Rhode Islanders turn it into art.

🍕🕋





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