How To Eat A Pizza!

#1 Even A Bad Pizza Is A GOOD Pizza!

Do you grab your knife and fork and begin to cut the pizza on your plate or do you pick it up, fold it over and bite into it? There are lots of different ways to eat a pizza, but there's only one true correct way. Whether you slice, fold, or pick at your pizza, see if you can identify with any of these 10 ways.

#2 Stacking

My favorite way to eat it.. Put one slice on top of another either facing the same way or facing each other and bite in. We recommend this technique for multi-taskers, over-achievers, and John Travolta fans. (Have you seen how he downs his two slices during the Saturday Night Fever intro?) Pashman simply calls this method "The Travolta."

#3 Backwards

Crust first, then cheese. It's as difficult to hold as it is unconventional, but if the pie has just emerged from the oven and the center is still searing hot, it may be best to start with the crust, especially if it's achieved the perfect balance of a crunchy outside and chewy inside.

#4 Folded In Half

This one is quite a polarizing issue. While some find this approach sacrilegious, New Yorkers and tri-state area fans stay loyal to this technique. And it's not entirely without reason. The triangular slices in New York tend to be bigger, and people are usually buying them on the go for lunch or a late-night snack; a convenient way to chow down on the move is to fold the piece in half straight down the middle. The tradition has so infiltrated New York that a squirrel in Brooklyn was spotted doing it.

#5 Removing Toppings

Stripping a slice from sausage, pepperoni, ham, and even pineapple is not just for picky eaters. Topping enthusiasts might save them for last, or eat them first if they're the best part. However, the only way for this method to work if you actually eat the toppings in some way when they're off the slice. If not, you've just put extra work into ordering it plain.

#6 Inside-Out Fold

Wait, what? This revolutionary or insane, depending on your beliefs trick was introduced last year by Dan Pashman on Sporkful. By folding your slice inside out, the first part to hit your tongue is the flavorful cheese and sauce rather than the plain dough. Disclaimer: this works best when toppings are minimal, as one could imagine the mess created by turning a sausage-pepper-olive-onion-and-extra-cheese pizza inside out.

#7 Leave The Crust

Some people foolishly think they are being "healthier" by leaving behind the perfectly fine crust because it's full of "empty carbs" (Reality: You're eating pizza. And not because it's healthy). And in some unfortunate instances, the doughy end is just not as good as the rest of the slice, and turns out too hard or too rubbery. One way to salvage this is to dip the crust in a sauce like garlic, ranch, or extra marinara. If your crust happens to be stuffed, even better.

#8 Fork & Knife

It might not be instinctive, but using a fork and knife is a totally legitimate way to eat your pizza. If you're having a heavy and saucy Chicago deep-dish pizza, picking it up with your hands (from a searing pan) is not the smartest move. Pizzas in Italy basically require forks and knives since the servings are not pre-cut like they are in the U.S. Often you'll find Italian locals in restaurants or formal settings using utensils, though in causal situations they're all hands on. Even Mayor de Blasio of New York has been seen doing it, turning back on his city's' the handheld tradition.

#9 Pinch Hold

Alas, we might have found a compromise to the folding "controversy," although for some pizza purists, even a half fold is too much. However, this method has a utilitarian advantage: if you fold the top of the pizza while keeping the bottom open and elevate it so the tip is still on the plate, you can drain out excess grease. If you hold it just the right way, (pointer finger in the middle of the crust, all other fingers beneath the slice to support it) you can keep the ends of your slices straight instead of drooping off the edge with sauce and cheese.

#10 Pizza Facial

Just like a good face facial, you strip the surface of your slice of excess oils. With a napkin in hand, you dab away at the tiny pools of grease atop the cheese until they're dry. There's a bigger advantage to this maneuver than protecting your shirt from accidental oil stains: grease-fracking can also potentially remove 36 calories from your slice. But then again, this is pizza we're talking about so who are we kidding here.

#11 Regular

Just pick it up and eat it already!

#13 America's Favorite Meal Or Snack!

Everyone loves Pizza! It hails from Naples, Italy, but pizza has become a quintessential American meal. You order a couple pies for a casual family dinner, or enjoy a personal serving to yourself while eating out. No doubt about it, Pizza is American now! Like they say, "Even bad pizza is still good pizza!"

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