A cheese or margarita pizza is a great litmus test for a pizzeria. Anyone can pile toppings on sauced bread, but it takes skill, a well honed recipe and practice to make a simple pie sing.
this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2026
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Same here.
Trying out a new place? Always one margarita, maybe something else too.
Its simultaneously harder to fuck up at the same time.
If your cheese pizza sucks, all of your pizza is gonna suck.
You said it better than I was going to. I love toppings, but when I ate cheese there was something always great about a plain cheese pizza from a good pizza place.
The best pizza I ever had was a margherita at a random, small neighborhood shop in Rome.
The quality of the ingredients matter so much for a simple recipe at that point as well. Damn I want a margherita now.
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I can't afford toppings
You gotta wonder at the headspace of someone downvoting such a comment.
I came here to say the same thing. Cheese is the cheapest pizza. A lot of places have a one-topping deal now too.
In my limited experience, cheese pizza is for families with picky children.
Exactly this, Iβd prefer getting some opinionated toppings on the occasions I get pizza. But unless Iβm somewhere selling by the slice that just guarantees my kids wonβt touch it.
βThat looks disgusting!β βHow do you know if you havenβt tried it?β βJust trust me, I donβt like it!β
It's also great for parties. It's inoffensive, anyone who's good for pizza can default to it. It's often the only meatless option ordered (though I prefer something with as many veggies as I can get)
Appreciation of cheese pizza comes with age.
Don't get me wrong, it's only a sometimes thing, I still love my monstrosity kitchen sink pizzas, but there's something nice about the simplicity of a good cheese pizza. Seriously order one from your favorite pizza place and get a nice sour ale (preferably not a fruity one, one of the Flanders red or oud bruin styles if you can). No four+ cheese, that's cheating! The greasy cheese cuts the sourness of the ale while the sourness helps cut the greasiness of the pizza, it balances amazingly well.
Uncluttered pizza, uncluttered mind.
I'm not knocking it til I try it but something about the combination of sour and cheese makes me wary
Edit: ya nevermind, I like pineapple on pizza and that does have a tartness to it too
Reporter: [REDACTED]
Reason: Bunch of pedophiles talking about CSAM
The things we mods are subjected toβ¦
Pizzagate? LOL
I assume they assumed that everyone here is a pedo using Cheese Pizza as code for Child Porn.
My question is, what does that say about the reporter?
Sometimes (nearly always), a cheese pizza is just a cheese pizza.
I was also surprised that some people don't even know what a cheese pizza is
Tbf I also just know the euphemic term and quick Google search gives me "cheesy pizza" or quattro formaggi and images that appear to be mozzarella
Is it a regional thing? Some kind of translation mishap? I don't think anyone in Canada who has been inside a pizza shop wouldn't know what a cheese pizza is. Quattro formaggi literally translates to 4 cheese so I don't think that would be misunderstood.
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what does that say about the reporter?
Certainly that they don't enjoy CP (cheese pizza). π
I found myself wondering just how common this could be, then realized my favorite pizza is a cheese pizza, if not the version you'd think of first.
A super-thin spread of basil pesto topped with a smattering of feta and finished off with red pepper flakes is divine. On a thin crust it's my absolute favorite. Simple, and the flavors shine.
You're a vegetarian and at an event where pizza is ordered. If two pizzas show up: one is pepperoni or possibly "the works", the other is cheese. The decision is already made for you.
If I'm ordering more than five pizzas then one of them is a blanco vegetarian. Still somewhat generic but at least it's not just cheese every time i guess?
It was kind of the default in my family growing up. And the pizza there was new York style, thin crust.
Since then I've gotten more in the habit of toppings and only occasionally get a simple cheese. A really well made cheese pizza is thing of beauty, there is a certain quality you get from it that is lost when you as toppings. The thing is, though, it has to be just right, and lots of places that make a good pizza with toppings don't know how to make a really good cheese pizza, so to be worth ordering one, it has to be from the right place, made on a good night. IMO its got to be a thin ny style crust with a really good sauce.
Hand tossed, Light cheese. As a tomato sauce fanatic, nothing beats that thin cheese barrier. This only works with places that have outstanding gravy, though. And I typically pile the toppings on wood fired.
Often, too, I find too much cheese is rubbery and unenjoyable.
I've always liked cheese pizza. It's just that I was never able to order it before. My family would always get meat lovers or veggie pizza and I always had to pick everything off. Now that I'm all growed up I can order my own cheese pizza! I wish that was worth the tradeoff of being an adult but eh you've got to take what small victories life gives you.
As opposed to what? Plain bread with some tomato sauce and no cheese?
Well ya obviously, there's only two pizzas in the world. Cheese or tomato bread. Everyone knows that.
Cheesitza and Tomatizza π€
Back home in my area all the pizzerias sold pizza bread, which was basically just the dough with herbs and salt.
For years I was over toppings and just wanted cheese. I got bored of cheese only and then switch back. Now it's an on again off again cycle.
It's just easiest. I don't like pepperoni, or bacon, or sausage. Don't like olives or banana peppers or jalapeΓ±os. Mushrooms are disgusting. Cheese is just easiest to order from most pizza places.
There are things I like on pizza. If we go to a place like MOD, I'll get chicken, spinach, roasted garlic, corn, broccoli, red onion, balsamic glaze, ricotta.. my pizzas get pretty heavy there.
But at most pizza places, especially with other people, it's just easy to get cheese.
Speaking on behalf of a friend, as I prefer toppings: they discovered that a variety of things give them body problems, and it's easier to just do a plain cheese pie than to try to guess if peppers are going to upset their body today.
I'll branch out every now and then, especially if I'm sharing the pie, but I've always preferred a cheese pizza.
On a side note, as a small kid, Home Alone normalized and made me not feel ashamed for being so "basic" in my plain-cheese tastes.
Also, vanilla icecream is the best.
I don't only order cheese, but sometimes the mood is right. Always been that way, but that's because all the the variations are pizza's true strength.
I'll also get pineapple (with pepperoni and jalapeno), sue me.
What the hell is a cheese pizza? I feel this post is heavily US-centered, and not marked as such
Huh, where are you? I'd expect it to be one of the offerings most places.
So what is it?
Similar to quattro formaggi, but with only one cheese. Like, the same standard blend whatever international chain puts on every other pizza, and the same sauce and crust, but nothing else.
The concept is American, but American-style pizza is everywhere now. Italy of course doesn't do it like Americans, and I guess only serving the better version of "cheese" would be in character for France, as well.
Thank you very much for your reply!
I think that would be close to a Margherita, but i just saw I didn't describe what it is. That's the name we have in Europe, from Italy. Basically just tomato sauce, mozzarella (which can be in pieces or spread on top of all the pizza, even though Italians may not like this version), and basil (often forgotten)
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Typically the only time i order cheese pizza is if i am ordering for a large group, or if there are kids under 15 or so around.
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