Ordering Pizza Today? Beware!

If pizza from your favorite pizzeria is on your Super Bowl party menu, beware: Super Bowl Sunday is the busiest pizza day of the year. More pizza is sold on this day than on any other day the entire year. So place your order early and be prepared to wait.

As USA Today puts it, "Pizza has become to Super Bowl Sunday what eggs are to Easter. Or candy canes to Christmas." Fully 62 percent of those responding to a poll by Jacent Technologies said they are most likely to order pizza during the Super Bowl, and they don't want to spend more than two minutes on hold. (Good luck with that!)

More than one in eight Americans order takeout or delivery food for the Super Bowl, according to the National Restaurant Association. While the majority order pizza, about half also order chicken wings and 20 percent get sandwiches. In addition, football fans will consume more than 11 million pounds of potato chips on Super Bowl Sunday, which is second only to Thanksgiving as the day on which Americans consume the most food.

Pizza may be fattening and not a staple of any nutritious diet known to man, but it's perfect for those days when we're too busy to cook or have too many people to feed. It's cheap, easy to serve and ideal for large groups.

And that is precisely why the top 5 pizza sales days are:

1. Super Bowl Sunday
2. New Year's Eve
3. Halloween
4. The night before Thanksgiving
5. New Year's Day

Here is proof positive that almost anything can be used as a pizza topping. While Americans prefer pepperoni and extra cheese on their pizzas, the Japanese like eel or squid and Australians prefer shrimp, pineapple and barbecue sauce. Russians put red herring on their pizzas, while Costa Ricans top theirs with coconut.

Fun facts to know and tell about pizza, according to How Stuff Works, FranchiseHelp and USA Today:

• 94 percent of Americans eat pizza regularly.
• 93 percent of Americans have eaten pizza in the last month.
• Pizza is America's fourth most-craved food, behind cheese, chocolate and ice cream.
• Americans consume over 100 acres of pizza a DAY, about 350 slices per second. And that's on a regular day--not Super Bowl Sunday or Halloween!
• Pizza accounts for more than 10 percent of all food service sales.
• Approximately 3 billion pizzas are sold in the United States each year, plus an additional one billion frozen pizzas.
• On Super Bowl Sunday, pizza delivery drivers can expect $2 tips to sometimes soar as high as $20.
• Domino's delivery drivers will log about 4 million miles on Super Bowl Sunday.
• Delivery sales of pizza spike the most during close Super Bowl games.
• There are approximately 61,269 pizzerias in the United States. These pizzerias represent 17 percent of all restaurants.
• Frozen pizzas that could be purchased in grocery stores were first introduced in the United States in 1957 and soon became the most popular of all frozen food.
• October is National Pizza Month.

How to eat pizza guilt-free, even if you're on a low-carbohydrate diet: Eat a slice or two--not the entire pie.

--From the Editors at Netscape

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Need to cut your pizza slice?
Try these pizza kives available online at Sur La Table:


Pizza Rocker Knife
Pizza service on a grand scale. This 14'' high-carbon stainless steel knife cuts right across a large pizza. Rock the knife from its comfortable polypropylene handles for a few easy strokes and the pizza is ready to serve.



Rösle® Pizza Cutter
This German made pizza cutter by Rosle, with its sharp blade and well-designed handle, ensures a straight cut every time without removing your toppings. The blade is solidly anchored into the frame and has a protective guard to keep your hands safe. 18/10 stainless steel.



OXO Pizza Wheel
Slice right through crispy thin-crust and chewy thick-crust pizza with this sharp-edged stainless steel pizza wheel. The large, soft handle absorbs pressure and a die-cast guard keeps fingers away from the blade. 9" long. Dishwasher safe.



Van Vacter™ Pizza Cutter
Invented by a surgeon, this precision tool cuts through pizza in just one pass. Large wheel’s Slicing Slots™ separate hot molten cheese, followed by a smaller finishing wheel that cuts through any remaining cheese or crust. Comfort-grip plastic handle. Dishwasher safe. 8¾" long.



Zyliss® Pizza Wheel
An ingenious new way to cut pizza, this palm-held wheel gives you maximum cutting control with a minimum of force. The plastic cover and blade separate for thorough cleaning. Dishwasher safe.
Zyliss® Pizza Wheel



Mario Batali Pizza Wheel NEW!
Mario loves the look and feel of this new utensil. Unique imprints on the wheel make cutting through cheese a breeze. Smart design requires less pressure when slicing. Soft-grip handle. Dishwasher safe. Made in Canada. 9.75 x 4.5 x 1 in.


p.s.: if you're not busy watching TV, try our free delicious pizza recipes at Recipes.it!