I often read Americans complaining about not being able to decide on a pizza with their friends, and this is always baffling to me. Why not order individual pizzas so everyone can get what they want?
In my experience (I live in Germany, but it was the same in other European countries and Mexico) a Pizza is made for one person and is usually enough to satisfy them. In some places you can order really big pizzas, often called familiy or party pizza, but that is a thing that you do not do very often.
So Americans, what are experiences regarding pizza size?
24 comments
>Why not order individual pizzas so everyone can get what they want?
Its cheaper to get one big pizza rather than 5 small pizzas.
>this is always baffling to me
…seriously? This *baffles* you?
Pizza is is cheaper per cm^2 or per inch^2 when you buy a larger size.
I reckon cost.
I just looked at my local pizza place and its 8 bucks for a personal pizza, and then 15 bucks just for a small pizza (20 for large and 30 for party size).
So if theres a family of 5 deciding pizza, it’s cheaper just to spend 30 on the party size (and get more slices too) rather than 40 on everyone getting their own special pizza.
You’re also assuming people never buy individual pizzas. When my family gets pizza, my dad always get his own because he likes nasty shit and we don’t want it contaminating our pizza.
It’s a question of economy I would say. Buying a bunch of individual smaller pizzas ends up costing a good bit more than if you were to buy a few big ones.
[Here is a pizza size/cost calculator.](https://dqydj.com/pizza-size-comparison-calculator/)
It’s sometimes much cheaper to just get a couple of large pizzas instead of individual ones. What typically happens in my family, is we get one half of a pizza with one topping and one half with a different one.
I am curious as to the price difference. Here’s a way to figure out which is most economical.
http://www1.udel.edu/CIS/103/pconrad/06F/labs/lab08/pizzaForm.html
My favorite pizza from my favorite pizza place is $15 for a small, $23 for a large, $25 for an extra large. I’m not doing all the math but an extra large is about 2.5 small pizzas so I’m saving $12.50 and feeding the same number of people.
Also, if it’s a good pizza shop then everything will be good so it doesn’t really matter what the toppings are.
Having enjoyed pizza in Germany i think i know that you mean. I’m married to a German and the first time we met friends at an Italian pizza restaurant in Germany i was a little surprised to learn that we’d all be ordering separate pizza. They were not small either! I thought it was a little funny because each individual pizza was so large that I’m not sure anyone finished theirs.
In general food costs in the US are higher, which probably explains the phenomenon, but also we view as the pizza as a communal eating experience. Pizza is to be shared!
Also, the pizzas were not pre-sliced in the kitchen and our friends, my husband in included, ate the pizza with forks and knives starting with the crust. Blasphemous pizza behavior, really.
The pizza places near me let us put half and quarter sides of toppings on full pizza. Also I just take the items I don’t like from my slice.
Individually sized pizzas exist, but sizes intended for sharing are much more common.
American living in Germany so I see where you’re coming from. Pizza in Germany is a lot thinner than in the US (at least most popular chains). Think 2-3x as thick in the US and it’s mostly cheese, so it’s really heavy. I can (and frequently do) eat an entire 36cm pizza by myself here, but I can only eat half or just over half the same size US pizza.
Plus, like what a lot of people are saying, larger pizzas are cheaper and you can usually find someone else who will want the same toppings as you. Splitting a pizza (e.g., half pepperoni and half pepper and mushroom) is also common and is basically the same thing as ordering your own smaller pizza.
Quite a lot of food in America is shared ‘family style’ and pizza typically is. Everyone could order separate little pizzas but that would seem, i dunno, unfriendly. American pizza is a group sharing food. Pizza night is exciting for kids and they share it with their siblings and parents. Then young adults share pizza together and it’s also a fun bonding. Sharing food involves compromise and bonding.
ETA: this even carries over to work pizza parties and such. Those are supposed to build morale and collegiality. We’re sharing pizzas, not ordering individual ones for each employee.
Some places don’t offer this option here. Some do; it’s not unheard of. But also if you get an individual pizza, it’s a lot of food if you just want a slice.
A lot of places don’t offer individual or small pizza sizes (the pizza place closest to my apartment only offers a size that would be considered to be a large, for example). The assumption is that you are ordering a pizza to split with people.
That’s one of the cultural differences that i’ve noticed after living in Europe. You’re right, in Europe pizzas are almost always for one person. In America they’re almost always pretty big, and enough to feed 2-3 people. Personal size pizzas are a novelty that have become more common lately but still aren’t the norm.
Individual small pizzas have too much crust compared to toppings.
Big slices have a better crust ratio
Purely because of cost, as personal pizzas or smaller ones certainly do exist. As does “by the slice”
Just the cost of making a product is usually mostly labor and overhead for making it, and not the materials used. As such making two 9 inch pizzas will take more time and cost more money than making one 18 inch pizza.
Personal pizzas are a thing here but typically if everyone is so picky we’ll just get pizza by the slice. Get your plain cheese slice, get one with pepperoni, maybe another with peppers and mushrooms, find a slice with some pineapple on top too if you want. Pizza by the slice is more expensive but everyone gets exactly what they want if they’re willing to pay
The way you put this, it makes Europeans sound picky as hell.
Most folks I know are flexible about what toppings to choose and aren’t so picky about getting exactly what they want to the point that everyone would end up getting a solo pizza. If someone does have dietary restrictions or absolutely cannot stand what others want (e.g. “Hawaiian” pizza), they will indeed get a solo pizza or something else altogether (such as a calzone).
Even though it might be true for some that “a Pizza is made for one person and is usually enough to satisfy them,” a good number will want more and a good number will want less, so IME there’s less wasted food overall if the pizzas are communal. This is especially true if folks are going somewhere else afterwards where there’s no refrigeration, food isn’t allowed, folks don’t want the pizzas stinking up their cars while they’re doing something else, or they’re on motorcycles or bikes.
Additionally, in America, most places will make half/half pizzas, so long as the crust and base sauce are the same, so you can get different groups of toppings and satisfy more of what folks want, and there are also many places that will sell by the slice.
I live in the suburbs of NYC where the kids of Italian immigrants from the city have moved out to the suburbs in drips and drabs over the years. The result of that is that they moved their mom and pop pizza shops to the suburbs and we have amazing pizza, like 3 good mom and pop pizza places per small town.
If you are taking pizza home for everyone, most people buy a pie. You can get half and half on the pie. We get half pepperoni half plain because my husband and one son like pepperoni and my other son and I don’t like it.
If you are eating in the pizza place, most people buy it by the slice instead of getting a pie. Like my 12 year old will ride his bike up with his friends and they will all order a slice and a fountain soda. Kids from the high school also walk up to the nearest pizza place for their lunch period and get a slice and a soda.
Every pizza is an individual pizza if you try enough.
Every pizza is a personal pizza if you are hungry enough
Individual pizzas are absolutely available at any place you can order “normal” pizzas.
I think the people who make posts like what you described are just confused, or can’t get past their own pride: what you call “individual” pizzas are often sold as “kids pizza” or something similar.
Some people just can’t get past the idea of ordering off the children’s menu. Which is a silly thing to get bent out of shape about: a children’s pizza is the same ingredients cooked by the same people in the same oven.
But something about being the only person at the table eating a kids’ meal does something wonky to their personal pride.