When the Moon Hits Your Eye Like a Big Pizza Pie

When I choose to go on a diet, or "make a positive lifestyle change" as the most annoying doctor in the world called it because "diets don't work", I crave only one food... and that's pizza. I'm sure there is more than one reason why... besides it being just delicious, I also have a lot of fond memories that happen to include a slice (or two) of pizza. Back when we were younger we would eat at a place called Ginos East in Chicago where we could write on the walls with chalk, and that was always fun for a third grader. And then there was the "Book It!" reading program along with countless softball team parties held at Pizza Hut. Fast forward to college when my sweet friend Tara was kind enough to date a boy who worked the late night delivery shift at Dominoes and we were so fortunate to have a mushroom pizza arrive at our door at 2 am after many nights at Mulligans. And then there's the real reason for writing this blog post. I received an e-mail from Tripadvisor with a list of top 10 pizzerias in the United States. And what do you know, Lombardi's in New York City is #1! I will have to thank my parents for introducing me to this "slice" of Heaven. Oh wow, I just did that. And I'm not deleting it either. For anyone who lives in NYC (Liza, Zach, Monica, and the list goes on...), if you haven't been to Lombardi's, you must go (32 Spring Street)! I went with my family back in high school and then again with a friend a couple years ago... always a memorable trip for my taste buds. In addition to it being just downright good pizza baked in a coal oven, the place has history! It was established as the first pizzeria in the U.S. in 1905 by Gennaro Lombardi, an italian immigrant: "Lombardi's was originally a grocery store, but it soon became a popular stop for workers looking for something to take to work for lunch. Gennaro started selling tomato pies, which were wrapped in paper and tied with a string, and the many workers of Italian descent would take them to the job site. Most could not afford the entire pie, so it was often sold by the piece. There was no set price or size, so you asked for whatever lets say 2 cents would buy and you were given portion of what was equal to the amount offered." That's amore!