According to a Harris Poll, pizza beats out burgers, steak, tacos, and pasta as American’s favorite food. Pizza facts are a great way to teach math, history, and more. Plus, they’re just plain interesting.
Our Favorite Pizza Facts
1. October has been designated National Pizza Month in the U.S. since 1987.
October is National Pizza Month. A month celebrating pizza and candy? Sign me up!
2. About 1 in 5 restaurants in the U.S. is a pizzeria.
Pizzerias make up 17% of all U.S. restaurants. So many pizza places, so little time!
3. The most expensive pizza in the world costs $12,000.
Master pizza chef Renato Viola prepares the $12,000 Louis XIII Pizza at your home, and it serves two.
4. About 36% of all pizzas are topped with pepperoni, making it the most popular topping in the U.S.
Pepperoni is the most popular pizza topping, except in Chicago where it’s sausage.
5. The least popular pizza topping in the U.S. is anchovies.
Anchovies are the most disliked topping, followed by pineapple and jalapeños.
6. Americans are eating 350 slices of pizza per second.
350 pizza slices are sold every second in the U.S. If each pizza has 8 slices, that’s almost 44 pizzas each second.
7. In some countries, mayonnaise is a popular pizza topping.
People in Japan eat mayonnaise, squid ink, and even strawberry jam on pizza. Add this your list of gross food facts!
8. The technical name for the crust of a pizza is the “cornicione.”
We dare you to ask for a “crispy cornicione” the next time you order. Let us know what they say.
9. In 2001, the Russian space agency delivered a pizza to the international space station.
In 2001, a 6-inch salami pizza was delivered by Russian rocket to astronauts in the International Space Station. We’re one step closer to the first intergalactic delivery!
10. The first mention of the word “pizza” was in a Latin text written in southern Italy in A.D. 997.
The first time the word “pizza” was used was in a Latin text from A.D. 997 in Gaeta, Italy. The word likely comes from the Latin word “pinsa,” meaning “to press” or “to pound.”
11. The Hawaiian pizza was invented by a Greek man running a pizzeria in Canada in 1962.
Sam Panopoulos put pineapple on pizza to attract people to his pizzeria. We’ve been loving it (or hating it!) ever since!
12. In mathematics, there is a geometry theorem known as the pizza theorem.
The pizza theorem states the equality of two areas that arise when one partitions a disk in a certain way. If that makes sense to you, you might be a math teacher.
13. Patsy’s Pizzeria in NYC was the first to allow people to order pizza by the slice, in 1933.
Pasquale “Patsy” Lancieri first sold pizza by the slice in East Harlem and we’ve been eating it that way ever since.
14. Saturday night is the most popular night to eat pizza.
Saturday is the most popular day to eat pizza, but is there really a bad night of the week for pizza? We think not.
15. Margherita pizza was named for a queen.
The story behind the Margherita pizza is that it was named for Queen Margherita, wife of Umberto I, who liked the flavor and that its colors matched the Italian flag.
16. The first pizzas didn’t have tomato sauce.
This is one of the most unbelievable pizza facts. Roman pizza did not have tomato sauce since tomatoes didn’t arrive in Rome until the 16th century. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans ate pizza-like flatbread with toppings.
17. Approximately 3 billion pizzas plus 1 billion frozen pizzas are sold each year in the U.S.
Pizza is big business in the United States!
18. 93% of Americans eat pizza every month.
No surprise, most of us eat pizza on the regular.
20. 20% of people eat their pizza starting with the crust.
But remember, there’s no right way to eat a slice of pizza.
21. 61% of pizza eaters prefer regular thin-crust pizza over thicker-crust pizza.
While thin-crust pizza is still tops, a smaller percentage of people (14%) like thick crust or deep dish pizza. Only 11% of people prefer extra-thin crust.
22. Pizza became popular in the United States post–World War II.
Pizza and pizzerias expanded quickly in the United States after World War II when veterans came home craving the pizza they’d had in Italy.
23. Astronauts baked pizza in outer space.
In 2017, astronauts aboard the International Space Station baked a pizza in microgravity.
24. First sold in the mid-20th century, frozen pizza made pizza more accessible for consumers.
In the mid-20th century, Rose Totino of Totino’s pizza was the first person to successfully market frozen pizza. She started a whole new convenient way for consumers to buy pizza.
25. Pizza crusts are stuffed with hot dogs in the United Kingdom.
Cheese isn’t the only stuffed pizza crust. In addition to crust stuffed with cheese, pizza crusts are stuffed with Marmite in New Zealand and hot dogs in the United Kingdom.
26. Pizza started as food for the common man.
In Naples, Italy, pizza was originally considered a dish for the poor.
27. Lombardi’s was the first pizzeria in the United States.
The first U.S. pizzeria was Lombardi’s, opened by Gennaro Lombardi in New York City in 1905. Lombardi was an Italian immigrant and sold Neapolitan-style pizza.
28. You can order 24-karat gold on a pizza.
In South Africa, a pizzeria created a pie with 24-karat gold leaf, caviar, smoked salmon, and king prawns. And we’ll bet it’s really expensive!
29. Modern pizzerias are using 3D printers to print pizzas.
One of the most surprising pizza facts? 3D technology could change how we make pizza. The 3D printers print out layers of dough, sauce, and cheese. NASA even commissioned an Austin-based company to create a 3D printer that prints food, including pizza, with a variety of toppings and cheeses.
30. Pizza-making robots use AI to build and bake pizzas for delivery.
Artificial intelligence may bake your next pizza.
31. Pizza sales rise by 35% before the football game on Super Bowl Sunday.
Pizza sales are especially high on Super Bowl Sunday.
32. You probably eat 46 pizza slices each year.
The average American eats around 46 slices of pizza each year!
33. Even economists track pizza.
The “Pizza Principle” is an informal economic law that states that the price of a slice of New York City pizza is about the same as a subway ride. This statistic has generally been true since the 1960s.
34. The largest pizza ever made measured 1,296.72 m² (13,957.77 ft.²).
Airrack created the largest pizza ever made in Los Angeles on January 19, 2023. He topped the pizza with pepperoni.
35. Pizza chefs in France made the cheesiest pizza ever, with 1,001 cheeses.
In France, pizza chefs made a pizza sprinkled with 940 French cheeses plus 61 cheeses from around the world.
36. The heaviest pizza weighed 26,883 pounds and was 122 feet in diameter.
South Africans baked the heaviest pizza ever in 1990. It weighed 26,883 pounds and was 122 feet in diameter.
37. The world record for eating pizza is about two pies per minute!
Geoffrey Esper has the world record for eating the most 9-inch pizzas. He ate 19.25 pizzas in 10 minutes.
38. Tossing pizza dough helps it stretch into the perfect shape and creates the perfect crust.
Tossing pizza dough isn’t just for show!
39. The highest pizza toss was more than 21 feet.
In 2006, Joe Carlucci threw 20 ounces of pizza dough 21 feet 5 inches in the air and won the world record for the highest pizza toss.
40. Each year in the United States, we eat 3 billion pizzas, or 23 pounds per person.
That’s 100 acres worth of pizza each day!
41. Scots are known to deep-fry their pizza.
In Scotland, you can order deep-fried pizza slices.
42. Each U.S. state has their own favorite pizza topping.
Minnesota is the only state where olive pizza is the most searched-for topping. Arizona’s most sought topping is pesto. Not surprisingly though, pepperoni is the most popular topping in most of the country.
43. February 9 is National Pizza Day.
If you need a special day to order pizza, February 9 is the one.
44. Buying the largest pizza size is more cost effective.
It always makes sense to buy bigger pizzas. They’re cheaper per square inch compared to smaller pizzas.
45. About 20% of kids eat pizza each day.
Pizza is a major source of calories for kids.
46. Famous chefs invented California-style pizza in the 1980s.
In the 1980s, famous chefs including Wolfgang Puck and Alice Waters baked California-style pizza, with healthier ingredients and creative combinations.
47. Chicago-style pizza was invented during World War II.
During World War II, the ingredients used to make pizza dough were not rationed, so two Italian American entrepreneurs invented a thicker crust with more toppings to feed hardworking Chicagoans.
48. Pizza has played a big part in movies, from Mystic Pizza to Toy Story to Nightmare on Elm Street.
Pizza is a movie staple.
49. In Spider-Man 2, Peter Parker works as a pizza delivery man to pay the bills.
Even Spider Man delivers pizza!
50. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are arguably the most pizza-crazy fictional characters.
This team of turtles had the most creative pizza toppings. In their show, they ate pizza with toppings ranging from marshmallow and asparagus to peanut butter and avocado.
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Plus, if you liked these pizza facts, make sure to check out Fascinating and Gross Fun Food Facts.
