The Menu Red Flag You Should Never Ignore At A Pizza Shop

There's something to be said for an old fashioned, unpretentious pizzeria, whether it's New York City's best pizza in the world, or some inferior pizza backwater. (Just kidding! Please don't hurt us.) With just dough, cheese, tomato sauce, and a smattering of toppings, these shops cultivate a following that lasts for decades — or, if nothing else, they attract enough business from tired moms, hungry stoners, and Little League baseball teams to stay afloat for a good long while. Instead of trying to be all things for all people, these places know what they're about: You get pizza, maybe with a side of garlic knots and zeppole for dessert, and, by Jove, you're going to like it.

Even for smaller mom-and-pops, the strategy works. As it turns out, one of the signs of a shady pizza shop is a menu that's way too big. This is a red flag for most restaurants, really (It's something you'll hear Gordon Ramsay bring up a lot on "Kitchen Nightmares"), but it's especially true for a place that's supposed to be specialized in one thing: pizza. 

For The Takeout's list of pizza shop red flags, we asked several experts to weigh in. Michele Pascarella, owner of Napoli on the Road and Pizza Maker of the Year in 2023, warned against shops with a list of offerings the size of David Foster Wallace's 1,079-page novel, "Infinite Jest".

"If you see a long list of pizzas, it may suggest a lack of focus or attention to quality," Pascarella explained. "A limited, curated selection typically indicates more research and care put into each pizza, which often reflects a higher standard of craftsmanship." It's the age-old story of a jack-of-all-trades being a master of none: If a pizzeria can make thirty different kinds of pies, with varying thicknesses and toppings, how many are they really doing well? Nobody wants to eat at a shop where the pizzaiolo talent is spread too thin.

So what's the ideal menu size? Entrepreneur and international pizza mentor, Andrea Danelli, suggested a maximum of 10 to 15 varieties of pizza. Any more, and you're encroaching on Cheesecake Factory territory. Unless you can comfortably navigate the endless Cheesecake Factory menu (regardless of whatever that chain did to make it actually work), stick to a pizza shop that's nailing a curated lineup of tried-and-true favorites.