PIZZA FACTS

Welcome to the wonderful and weird world of Pizza Facts! Did you ever wonder that the origin of the word pizza was? Do you want to know who invented the first pizza? Then your in luck! We have all the best pizza facts and info ever!

FACT #1

PIZZA ETYMOLOGY
THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD PIZZA

The word Pizza comes from the latin root word Picea which means the blackening of crust by fire.

FACT #2

WHO MADE THE FIRST PIZZA?

Though pizza is everywhere in America, the first pizza was neither made in the USA or even Italy. The ancient Greeks created the first pizza. They baked thin, flat, round breads and topped them with olive oil, spices, and veggies. 

FACT #3

IS PIZZA REALLY ITALIAN?

The first commercial pizza was created in Italy during the 18th century. These “pizza’s” didn’t actually resemble the pizza of today. They were plain, flat, round breads that were sold to the poor at a cheap price. The vendors in Naples would call these crusty breads “Pizza”.

FACT #4

THE PIZZA QUEEN

Queen Margherita of Italy ruled during the 19th century. In 1889 she was touring the country and noticed a peasant eating a round crusty bread. She requested one for herself and thought it delicious!

FACT #5

THE FIRST PIZZA CHEF

Queen Margherita asked chef Rafaelle Esposito to make her some pizza’s. The chef added tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil. The chef was attempting to create a patriotic dish for these were the colors of the Italian flag. 

FACT #6

WHEN DID PIZZA CAME TO AMERICA?

After World War II the pizza gained popularity around the world. Soldiers who fought in Italy gained a taste for the bread, mozzarella combo and brought it back to their home countries. 

Pizza was available in America even before WWII. Italian immigrants would sell it in their tight knit communities. Once soldiers returned from the war, the dish became much more mainstream. 

MORE PIZZA FACTS! 

When is national pizza month? How many pizza's are sold in the US every year? Whats america's favorite pizza topping?

Did you know that October is the US national pizza month.

36 percent of all pizza orders want their pizza topping pepperoni.

Pizzerias represent 17% of all restaurants

Some popular pizza toppings in Japan are squid and Mayo Jaga (mayonaise, potato and bacon)

Popular gourmet toppings are chicken, oysters, crayfish, dandelions, sprouts, eggplant, cajun shrimp, artichoke hearts, and tuna.

The top 5 pizza sales days are:
Super Bowl Sunday, New Year’s Eve, Halloween, The night before Thanksgiving, & New Year’s Day

The longest pizza delivery was from Cape Town, South Africa to Sydney, Australia

Most expensive pizza created was made by the restaurateur Domenico Crolla who created a $2,745.00 priced Valentine pizza which included toppings such as sunblush-tomato sauce, Scottish smoked salmon, medallions of venison, edible gold, lobster marinated in the finest cognac and champagne-soaked caviar

During TV news, pizza is most often ordered during the weather

36% of people consider pizza the perfect breakfast

The world’s fastest pizza maker can make 14 pizza in 2 minutes and 35 seconds

About 3 billion pizzas are sold annually in the U.S.

Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza a day or about 350 slices per second.

Saturday night is the most popular night to eat pizza

Domino’s delivery drivers will log about 4 million miles on Super Bowl Sunday

93 percent of Americans have eaten pizza in the last month

The most popular pizza size in the U.S. today is 14 inches in diameter.

Each person in America eats about 46 pizza slices a year.

There are approximately 61,269 pizzerias in the United States.

Over 5 billion pizzas are sold worldwide each year.

We consume around 251,770,000 pounds of pepperonis every year

The largest pizza ever made was 122 ft. 8 in. in diameter. The pizza needed 9,920 lb of flour, 198 lb of salt, 3968 lb of cheese, and 1,984 lb of tomato puree.

Regular thin crust is most popular in America, 
It is preferred by 61% of the population
14% prefer deep-dish, and 11% prefer extra thin crust

62% of Americans prefer meat toppings while 38% prefer vegetables.

There are approximately 61,269 pizzerias in the United States.