How Big's your Pizza?

It seems there's a growing effort by the big pizza chains to sell the affordability of the large pizza. I probably have 10 coupons on my kitchen table for a $10 large pizza, not to mention the web ads, news paper ads...it's everywhere! So, what's the catch?  There is none!  If you want pizza, you can get a large for $10...sometimes even a little cheaper.  Good deal?  Maybe not.  Whether you're trying to get the best value for your up-coming Super Bowl party or whether you're trying to have the most leftovers available for your lunch, know the true cost of that pizza you're bringing home...


I was fortunate enough to get through school delivering pizzas at the local pizza shop.  It didn't take long to learn the biggest misunderstandings people have when ordering pizza...nobody knows how big their pizza is! More often than not people called the shop and asked for a "Medium" or "10 slices".  Neither of those in any way indicates how much pizza you're going to get.  Imagine going into Best Buy and asking for a "Big TV" or or a "TV with Picture in Picture".  Both are great, but you wouldn't hand the sales associate $500 and take the 1st unit he handed you.  So many of us make it a weekly tradition to order pizza...if you're spending $10/week then you're dropping $500 annually, and you may not even know what you're getting. Here are some tips for the next time you order a pizza.

1. Number of slices doesn't matter!  If you call and say that you want 8 slices of pizza, I could cut the smallest pizza we make into 8 pizzas and you'd be getting what you asked for.  Order a size that is appropriate for you and ask the kind pizza folks to cut it how you need it.
2. Small, Medium, Large - it all means nothing!  Look, here's the real catch. At our mom-pop's pizza shop, if somebody called and ordered a "large"...we gave them an 18" pizza.  That's about 250 square inches of pizza, and we sold that for about $13.  To compare that to all of these ads I see around for $10 large pizza...those folks' large pizza is only 14"!  That's about 150 square inches, 40% less.
3. Ask if they have any specials.  Every store is different, but we were told if somebody asked for a discount over the phone we were to give them one...even if it was just $2.  

Know how much pizza you want, and then look for the best deal.  All of those bulk coupon sites like Groupon often have really good deals at small pizza shops...so keep your eyes open.  

I like pepperoni and onion...what's on your pizza?

(photo credit: oakleyoriginals)