First - Thank you Patch and all the pizza places for coordinating this last week to make sure the pizzas all arrived there at the same time and still hot. And special thanks to all the Patch Editors for waiting on us. Who knew one could go thru so many napkins. lol

"Most loved' is probably a good title, espcially when you read their loyal customers very passionate posts. One thing that stood out after tasting all these - people definitely have different tastes in mind when it comes to what makes a "great" pizza. Sweet or savory sauce & even the amount of sauce, not enough cheese, too much cheese, even gooey verses not gooey cheese, pre-cooked verses raw veggies, crisp crust verses chewy crust... the list goes on.

For me, none stood out as a great enough pizza to make me want to switch my vote from Foxs or Vito & Nicks to one of these 8. Was disappointed with so many submitting their "best" with undercooked crusts. But overall I wouldn't mind eating pizza again from all but one place. Plus a couple non-traditional pizzas submitted will make great appetizers at a future party.

If these 8 places were my only choices, I'd take Pizza Pete's thin crust, Dozeli's sausage & toppings, Palermo's sauce and Mama & Me's cheese, to end up with the best thin crust pizza in the Southland for me. Course, I already know some of my fellow taste testers would disagree. :-)

Thanks again Patch! It was a fun night tasting and getting to meet a lot of fun people.

I must say that I'm disappointed that the votes weren't adjusted like I thought they would be per the last article. Meanwhile, it's unfortunate that some pizzas (if not all) had to travel far and sit in the box a little while waiting to be tasted. The best pizza is a fresh pizza. Kudos to all who participated though. Will the overall scores be disclosed based on all 3 factors?

Now, I'm curious - "canned sauce" as mentioned in the video...I'm assuming that means by opening a can/jar and putting it straight onto a pizza? Puree, for example, typically comes from a can...but it better go a long way into a cooked sauce before making it onto a pizza! Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that literally making sauce from scratch by cooking tomatoes and creating homemade puree or paste is a waste of time for any pizza place, considering the number of gallons they go through a day. That'd be one helluva prep list.

Congratulations, Salinas.

What Phill pizza in Oak Lawn wasn't nominated?

I think I've had enough pizza for now...

Still, delivered pizza isn't the same as fresh out of the oven and straight to your table. But ick. Salty pizza. I recently tried new pizza (new to me anyway) and I thought it was quite salty. Not sure if it was the cheese, sauce, or maybe even the pepperoni. Either way, I felt like I ate Chinese food...couldn't seem to drink enough water afterward and swollen the next morning.

About the temperature, to do the best with that we sent out the pizzas in the order they arrived, and they did come in a staggered order. The only way to get that optimal "right-out-of-the-oven" freshness would've meant cooking all the pizzas at the same place, and having the tasting there. That's asking a lot from the pizza places to bring all their ingredients to one place, not to mention renting a facility. But even then, some places like Pizza Pete have unique ovens, so that would change the pizza too.

I totally get that ovens effect pizza quality...too many variables to control. It would have been wrong to cook them elsewhere and by anyone other than those whom do it daily. I'm glad to hear that pizzas didn't have to wait around beyond travel time which could ruin any good food. I hope the results do not keep readers from taking it upon themselves to still try the competition. I know I'm working on my list.

Sue N. I think you've explained it best........there will never be a time when everyone agrees on 1 single winner. Everybody loves something different and with so many options for pizza, this debate could go on for eternity. That said, I'll offer my humble opinions on what was presented for us to judge.
1) chicken should be deep fried and served with mashed taters, not on a pizza crust
2) ranch dressing is for salads or dipping veggies in
3) BBQ anything, comes off the grill and see #1
4) Popeye was not on the guest list, so leave the spinach at home
5) Feta cheese?? Really??

So there we have it. While some of my fellow judges enjoyed what I call "specialty" pizzas, to me, submitting them for this contest was not the best idea. They should have stuck with a "traditional" pizza.

After all this i still think i would go with roseangelas pizza in evergreen park

Nate, Amanda and anyone else who thinks someone else should've won, please take a minute and write down your thoughts about your favorite place on their listing in the Places directory. Each site has a search bar at the top. Go to your town's Patch site, search for the business and leave them a rating and review. It'd be a nice reminder for the business owner and staff that they have dedicated fans.

Can you guys do neighborhood fish fries next? Or would such a tight seasonal time window leave your crew more "fried" than the fish? :-))

I guess you guys have never been to Nino's Pizza. I don't think they need the hype because they are the best and we have been going there ever since they opened. Keep up the great work Nino's. Love ya.

This was a fun contest .Thank you Patch
Deb,I thought you would be a fair and very descriptive judge and I wasn't disappointed.
Joe,great idea about the fish fry.Many restaurants really screw that one up.All batter and no fish ,but all you can eat.It would be nice to know the really good places to try.

Lorraine ,great video and a good start for the contest.

What-a-joke! Al's in Palos Heights should have won!

I love the idea of comparing fish fries too! Would love it even more if the Patch could list all the little places that provide them through lent. I always here about local VFW halls, churchs and boy scout groups that have them to help raise funds for their groups. But I always miss hearing about them until after the fact when there's a write up about them. So it would be great if the Patch could provide a list of all the non-for-profit fish fries so I could help these groups out while I do my own local taste test :-)

Salina's Pizza is great - great family business!

Thank you Nancy!!! :). We had a great time with it!