National Pizza Day is observed annually on February 9th. Whether it is thin crust, Chicago-style, deep dish or anything in between, pizza is an American favorite.
Here are some interesting facts about pizza:
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- Over 3 billion pizzas are sold in the USA each year. Add another 1 billion on frozen pizzas
- Pepperoni is the most popular pizza at 36% of all pies ordered.
- We consume around 251,770,000 pounds of pepperonis every year
- 17% of all US Restaurants are pizzerias.
- 94 percent of Americans eat pizza regularly
- Pizza accounts for more than 10 percent of all food service sales
- Antica Pizzeria, the first Pizzeria, opened in Naples, Italy, in 1738.
- Gennaro Lombardi, the first Pizzeria in the United States, opened in 1895 in New York City.
- Americans consume on average 23 pounds of pizza per person each year.
- Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza a day or about 350 slices per second.
- There are approximately 61,269 pizzerias in the United States.
- The highest-grossing single-unit independent pizzeria in the nation, Moose’s Tooth Pub and Pizzeria, is in Anchorage , Alaska. Its annual sales are approximately $6 million.
- The top 5 pizza sales days are; Super Bowl Sunday, New Year’s Eve, Halloween, The night before Thanksgiving, & New Year’s Day
- Pizza comes from the Latin root word Picea which means the blackening of crust by fire.
- The word “pizza” dates back over 1000 years. The first known documentation of the word is in a Latin text from 997 C.
- Pizza Deliverers claim women are better tippers
- During TV news, pizza is most often ordered during the weather
- Mozzarella cheese accounts for nearly 80 percent of Italian cheese production in the United States.
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