National Pizza Day: Where Is Birmingham's Best Pie?

BIRMINGHAM, AL - Friday is National Pizza Day, and Birmingham is home to several great places to find a good pizza. Pizza is one of the most popular foods in the world, although its origins are the source of some debate. The word "pizza" dates back over a thousand years—it was first mentioned in a Latin text written in southern Italy in 997 CE.

The first pizza place in America was Lombardi's in New York City—originally a grocery store, Lombardi's started selling pizza in 1905.

Though during the first couple decades only poor Italian immigrants mostly ate pizza, it was American GI's coming home from Italy after World War II that brought more widespread attention to pizza. Pizzas were initially sold only by the pie. However in 1933, Patsy Lancieri (of Patsy's Pizzeria in New York City) started selling pizza by the slice — a trend was quickly carried out by other pizzerias.

More than 3 billion pizzas are sold in the USA each year. Add another 1 billion on frozen pizzas, and 17 percent of all U.S. restaurants are pizzerias. Pepperoni is the most popular pizza at 36 percent of all orders, and Americans consume on average 23 pounds of pizza per person each year. There are approximately 70,000 pizzerias across the United States.

Pizza trivia aside, pizza can be found in some form all over the world, and Birmingham is no exception. Patch looked at results from several local polls, including Trip Advisor, Birmingham Magazine, The Birmingham Business Journal, local television and radio station polls and more to determine the ten best places in Birmingham to get a pizza.

1. Bottega Cafe - 2240 Highland Ave, Southside
2. Post Office Pies - 209 41st St, Avondale
3. The Filling Station - 5524 Crestwood Blvd, Crestwood
4. Slice - 725 29th St S, Lakeview
5. Davenport's - 2837 Cahaba Rd, Mountain Brook
6. Vecchia - 610 Preserve Pkwy, Suite 100, Hoover
7. New York Pizza - 1010 Oxmoor Rd, Homewood
8. Vocelli - 5479 Hwy 280, Inverness
9. Bettola - 2901 2nd Ave S, Pepper Place
10. Pies and Pints - 125 20th St S, Downtown

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images