Tournament of Pizza 2012 field voting
5th and 50's tournament-winning chicken parm pizza from last year.
Voting's closed! Brackets will be announced toward the end of September!
The 2012 Tournament of Pizza will soon be here. The selection committee is currently assembling this year's field. And we need your help.
This year's brackets will include:
+ The four finalists from last year -- 5th and 50 (Schenectady bracket), Marisa's Place (Albany bracket), DeFazio's (Troy bracket), and Mama Mia's (Saratoga bracket).
+ Four mystery selections that will be revealed to no one except the Editors -- not even the judges.
+ Four "tough luck" pizza shops -- pizzerias that have turned out pizzas with very good scores but for whatever reason didn't win their bracket (and weren't selected by crowd voting).
That leaves four spots to be filled by crowd voting. The pizzerias with the most votes in each bracket will earn a spot in the 2012 TOP.
The ballot for this year's field is after the jump. Voting closes at noon on Friday.
A few quick notes:
The Tournament of Pizza field is composed of pizza shops that prominently offer delivery and/or takeout, with a wide variety of traditional American pizza toppings. They're call-up-and-order-a-pepperoni-with-onions kind of places. As a result, some places that make very good pizza don't end up qualifying for the tournament -- they're just a different genre of pizza.
Brackets are for general regions. So a place that's not in Schenectady itself may end up in the Schenectady region. Or a place that's in Cohoes may end up in the Troy bracket.
If your favorite pizza shop doesn't appear on the lists below, please enter it in the write-in field with the town where it's located.
Only one ballot is allowed per computer.
The final field is at the discretion of the Editors.
If you don't see the ballot above -- and it's before noon on September 7, 2012 -- please vote directly at the SurveyMonkey site.
Results from the 2012 TOP will start in October.
The 2012 Tournament of Pizza is once again sponsored by Sunmark Federal Credit Union. We very much appreciate its continued support of the TOP.
Say Something!
We'd really like you to take part in the conversation here at All Over Albany. But we do have a few rules here. Don't worry, they're easy. The first: be kind. The second: treat everyone else with the same respect you'd like to see in return. Cool? Great, post away. Comments are moderated so it might take a little while for your comment to show up. Thanks for being patient.
Comments
I would like to vote in the Tournament of Pizza... could you tell me if "Madison's Pizza is the same as the New Madison Grille at 331 Madison Ave. In Albany?
... said Jonathan on Sep 4, 2012 at 6:02 PM | link
@Jonathan: Those are different places -- Madison's Pizza is at 846 Madison.
... said Greg on Sep 5, 2012 at 8:28 AM | link
I second Jonathan's motion. Madison Grille is a must.
Thank you for not considering that cheese and spaghetti sauce on a tortilla that they give out at City Beer Hall a pizza.
... said Tim on Sep 5, 2012 at 9:52 AM | link
I believe that Pizzalo in the DelSo has changed hands and is now Gourmella's. We got a couple of pies there last night and they were pretty good.
... said Silvia Lilly on Sep 5, 2012 at 12:32 PM | link
I don't know many places in the area yet, but my "neighborhood" spot, Roman Pizza in Latham, gets my write-in.
Real parmigiano reggiano broken up in the shakers? Oh, yes.
... said Masticating Monkey on Sep 5, 2012 at 12:47 PM | link
As long as the judges are comparing each slice to their "perfect slice" (paper thin, crispy crust, etc), this contest is completely pointless. The same places will be the finalists year after year.
Just look at Giuseppes for example, Year after year, they lose because their crust is "too chewey". Well, judges, maybe some people actually like a pizza that is unique and not to your standard of perfection.
Please, please, throw out these judges and bring in some non-pizza snobs who can judge this food on whether or not it is good, and not whether or not it meets their personal standard of perfection.
... said non-snop on Sep 6, 2012 at 9:57 PM | link
What about Capriccio Saratoga? They have incredible pizza! Hope they make the list :)
... said Jennifer Savino on Sep 17, 2012 at 9:07 PM | link