Pizza

The Best and Worst Pizzas in America

By David Zinczenko, with Matt Goulding - Posted on Fri, Aug 28, 2009, 1:46 pm PDT
Eat This, Not That by David Zinczenko, with Matt Goulding a Yahoo! Health Expert for Nutrition
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Somewhere between the brick ovens of Italy and the delivery cars of America something went horribly wrong. The traditional pizza, made with just bread, cheese and tomatoes, is now tricked out with inflated crusts, four-cheese toppings, and a surplus of pepperoni, all of which contribute to its quadrupled caloric count. And man, do we love it. With 69,000 pizza joints scattered across the U.S., it's no wonder that each man, woman and child devours an average of 46 slices a year. That's the equivalent of 23 pounds of pie!
Any way you slice it, we're taking in a lot more fat than our slimmer friends in Italy, where only 9 percent of the population is obese compared to our 34 percent . Their secret: Thin crust, half the formaggio, and extra vegetables. That's why we've included Best and Worst pizzas in our new book: Eat This, Not That! The Best (& Worst!) Foods in America! The following 7 problematic pies are pulled straight from the book: Avoid them at all costs, and see how, with the help of the Eat This, Not That! series, you can lose 10 pounds or more of belly fat--while still eating all of your favorite foods!
7. WORST SEAFOOD PIZZARed Lobster Lobster Pizza720 calories30 g fat (13 g saturated)1,390 mg sodium69 g carbs
It's a cool concept (certainly more appetizing than your grandfather's old anchovies habit), but it makes for a heavy meal that's stuffed with more sodium than you should eat in one sitting. Fare from the sea is one of the best ways to go, but sprinkled over a bed of starchy dough and fatty cheese and you've got a different story altogether. Billed as a starter, this Lobster Pizza is the only pizza on Red Lobster's menu. Luckily it shares space with one of the world's greatest appetizers--shrimp cocktail--and the chain restaurant is among the healthiest chain restaurants in the land, so you'll have no problem finding better options.
Eat This Instead!Chilled Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail120 calories1 g fat (0 g saturated)590 mg sodium9 g carbs
Note: This one simple Eat This, Not That! swap will save you 600 calories. Try this once a day with your other favorite foods and you'll lose more than a pound a week--without dieting!
6. WORST VEGGIE PIZZAPapa John's Pan Crust Garden Fresh Pizza (2 slices)740 calories38 g fat (12 g saturated)1,320 mg sodium78 g carbs
Just because it's topped with veggies doesn't make it healthy. The real problem here isn't the toppings, though; it's the excessively thick, greasy pan crust that sinks this veggie-strewn ship. Two slices of this garden fresh pie will set you back the caloric equivalent of 7 ½ Rice Krispies Treats, and it'll stuff your belly with as much salt as you'll find in nearly 4 large orders of McDonald's French Fries. Save over 300 calories by switching to a larger pie (14") with a thinner crust. Just another example of why crust is king when trying to find a healthy pie. (See other nutrition landmines masquerading as "healthy" meals on our SLIDESHOW: The 30 Worst Foods in America.)
Eat This Instead!Thin Crust Garden Fresh Pizza (2 slices)420 calories22 g fat (5 g saturated)940 mg sodium46 g carbs
5. WORST STUFFED PIZZASbarro Stuffed Pepperoni Pizza960 calories(Sbarro doesn't offer other nutritional information)
Sbarro's individual pizza slices are oversized to begin with, but throw in the stuffed factor and you're looking at this single worst slice of pizza in America--the equivalent of almost 4 pepperoni slices from Pizza Hut. A rule of thumb for ordering pizza in general (and it's especially applicable at Sbarro) is to always choose the thinnest crust possible, and to always avoid any "stuffed" options, which indicate at least double the toppings. Downsize this massive wedge for a Fresh Tomato Pizza--and be sure to limit yourself to just one.
Eat This Instead!Fresh Tomato Pizza450 calories
4. WORST PIZZA LUNCH COMBORomano's Macaroni Grill Sicilian Mio Pizza and Insalata Blu1,010 calories58 g fat (22 g saturated)2,755 mg sodium71 g carbs
Consuming over half your daily calories at lunch is asking for energy trouble in the afternoon (not to mention difficulties with your belt buckle). Macaroni Grill boasts about their perfect sized lunch combos as if super-sized individual pizzas and high-calorie "side" salads are a good thing. Even more disturbing is the fact that recent research found that people tend to underestimate portion sizes when their meals have more variety in them, so you're bound to eat more when you have more pieces to your meal. All the more reason to skip the Mac Grill combo meals and choose a simpler lunch, instead. (But beware: Healthy doesn't come easy at this restaurant, especially with pasta. Canneloni or Pasta Pomodoro are the only two bowls with less than 1,000 calories.)
(Beware the sodium overload on our list of The 20 Saltiest Foods in America 2009.)
Eat This Instead! Chicken Cannelloni Lunch590 calories29 g fat (17 g saturated)1,710 mg sodium41 g carbs
3. WORST CALZONEPizza Hut Meaty P'Zone Pizza1,480 calories66 g fat (30 g saturated, 2 g trans)3,680 mg sodium152 g carbs
The word "calzone" alone should spell trouble, but this Pizza Hut Meaty P'Zone takes bad pizza pockets to a completely different level. The worst part is that Pizza Hut brags about their massive P'Zone like it's something to be proud of: The website reads "Over 1 LB of pizza goodness." Why is it over a pound? Because it's a regular-sized 12" pizza folded over onto itself and stuffed with meat and cheese. There's nothing impressive about eating an entire pizza by yourself.
Eat This Instead!Meat Lover's 12" Pan Pizza (1 slice)330 calories18 g fat (7 g saturated, 0 g trans)820 mg sodium27 g carbs
2. WORST PIZZA APPETIZERUno Chicago Grill Pizza Skins2,400 calories155 g fat (45 g saturated)3,600 mg sodium195 g carbs
How are pizza skins different from an actual pizza? Well, they're not--they just come topped with crumbly processed bacon bits and a big fat dollop of sour cream. The only reason this monstrous dish didn't make it to our number one worst pizza spot is because it's supposed to be an appetizer, which means that some of the damage is mitigated by the fact that multiple people are digging in (or should be, at least). But even if you're traveling with a party of 5, it makes no sense to order what's essentially a family-sized pizza before your meal. To put it in perspective, a medium 12" pepperoni pizza from Pizza Hut only racks up 1,840 calories. That's nearly 600 fewer calories than you'll find in this one appetizer! Disgusting. (Related: Appetizers and drinks are both easy ways to ruin a meal. Avoid any item on our SLIDESHOW: The 20 Worst Drinks in America.)
Eat This Instead! Crispy Cheese Dippers840 calories48 g fat (18 g saturated)2,490 mg sodium
1. WORST PIZZA IN AMERICAUno Chicago Grill Chicago Classic Deep Dish Individual Pizza2,310 calories165 g fat (54 g saturated)4,920 mg sodium120 g carbs
This individual pizza has been named Worst Pizza in America three years in a row now, but Uno Chicago Grill doesn't seem to care--all they've done to minimize the epic impact of this monstrous meal is to change the nutrition labels on their website to reflect the calories "per serving," instead of the total calories per dish as a whole. What's revealing about that slight of hand is that it shows that Uno knowingly sells an individual pizza that actually has three servings' worth of calories, fat, sodium, and carbs. This one individual pizza has more calories than you should eat in a day and more than two days' worth of sodium. (That's as much salt as you'll find in 27 small bags of Frito Lays Potato Chips!) The only way to go at Uno is to steer away from the infamous deep dish Chicago-style pizzas and opt for a flatbread pie instead.
Eat This Instead!Cheese and Tomato Flatbread Pizza (1/2 pizza)405 calories16.5 g fat (7.5 g saturated)1,065 mg sodium46 g carbs
HALL OF FAMETHE BEST PIZZAS IN AMERICA
Next time you're hankering for a pie, grab a slice from one of these premium pizzas.
BEST VEGGIE PIZZAPizza Hut 12" Fit and Delicious Diced Red Tomato, Mushroom and Jalapeno (2 slices)300 calories16 g fat (7 g saturated)1,220 mg sodium46 g carbs
BEST HAWAIIAN PIZZA Domino's Thin Crust Ham and Pineapple Pizza (2 slices)294 calories14 g fat (5 g saturated)790 mg sodium 30 g carbs
BEST INDIVIDUAL PIZZA Chuck E. Cheese Individual Cheese540 calories19 g fat (8 g saturated)1,255 mg sodium69 g carbs
BEST MEAT-LOVER'S PIZZA Pizza Hut Meat Lover's 12" Pan Pizza (1 slice)330 calories18 g fat (7 g saturated, 0 g trans)820 mg sodium27 g carbs