MPV Properties currently leases 4516 Nation’s Crossing Road, and one of the signed tenants, Zepeddie’s, was regarded as having “best pizza in the Queen City” by local journalist and pizza enthusiast, Jamie Graziano. Read all about it in an excerpt from the Charlotte Observer Article below: A Charlotte pizza challenge: One family’s journey to find the best slice in town
Images courtesy of Jamie Graziano and Zeppedie’s
You’ve heard it before: People complain that there isn’t good pizza in Charlotte (and, yeah, you know exactly who I’m talking about). But honestly, I’ve never agreed with that sentiment. Sure, finding top-tier pizza in Charlotte might be a bit trickier than in Brooklyn, but it’s absolutely possible. You just have to do a little research. A while back, I came across a Charlotte Foodies Facebook post setting up a March Madness bracket for the best pizza joints. As a pizza aficionado, I thought, What a brilliant idea! Who doesn’t love eating pizza, especially when it’s competitive? So, my son Tristan and I decided to take on this challenge ourselves, and we had so much fun that my older son, Brady, decided to join us as a guest judge occasionally.
Who am I to judge pizza?
According to family lore, my great-grandfather Sinabaldo Graziano opened the first pizzeria in New Jersey back in the 19-somethings. He came to America from Casa Marciano, a village near Naples, and fell in love with Julia Truncone. Their story is one for another day, but here’s the important part: Julia’s father, Ben Truncone, was a master baker in Little Italy and eventually taught Sinabaldo the art of flour. In turn, Sinabaldo became a master himself. Now, if the name Truncone sounds familiar, it’s because his bakery used to get its flour from Lombardi’s — yep, that Lombardi’s, the one recognized by the U.S. Pizza Hall of Fame as the first pizzeria in America. At some point, the bakery moved to New Jersey, where Sinabaldo began making 18-inch pizzas for a nickel on Friday nights. Eventually, the Graziano men decided the baking business was too much work and switched careers to construction. (I know, right?) But the pizza-making tradition still lives on, passed down through six generations with the same family recipe from 120 years ago. So yes, this may be a little Portnoy-esque — but since he’s not going to be reviewing all these Charlotte pizza joints, I’m stepping up to do the work for you.
The pizza showdown
Tristan and I started by going to 16 local pizzerias. We then scored each spot and set up a playoff bracket for the top pizzas.
Now, we know there are all sorts of amazing pizza varieties out there, but we believe the best way to judge a pizzeria is by its cheese pizza. After all, if a restaurant can’t nail the basics, how can we trust it with anything else? We scored on two main factors: appearance and taste. A great pizza should have some contrast — red sauce, golden-brown crust and maybe a pop of green from basil or oregano. As for taste, the key is balance. The crust, sauce, and cheese all need to be in harmony. A great pizza should be seared at a high temperature, not slowly baked. You need that crispy bottom and slightly charred top with just the right amount of bubbles.Here’s how we ranked the pizzas we tried:
- 10 – Best we’ve ever had.
- 9 – Amazing, I’m in love.
- 8 – Great pizza, worth a 45-minute drive.
- 7 – Good pizza I like a lot — our “daily driver” pizza, a go-to I’d eat any day of the week.
- 6 – I’d eat it again if we were next door, but I wouldn’t go out of my way.
- 5 – Meh, probably won’t go back, but it was still pizza.
- 4 – I wasn’t a fan.
Our Top 4 pizzas after the first round were:
- Bird Pizzeria Pizza
- Baby East
- Zeppedie’s
- Omaggio
For our finals, we went back to try all four places again. To determine the ultimate champion, we held a face-off between the top two restaurants in the same day.
Both Bird and Zepeddie’s served beautiful pizzas that were perfectly cooked and tasted great. Eating the pizzas back to back on the same day allowed us to determine that Zepeddie’s flavor was a little bit better, and the way the staff brushes the crust with olive oil pushed it ahead of Bird. After months of testing pizzas, we are convinced that there are great pizzas in Charlotte and that Zepeddie’s has the best pizza in the Queen City. Here are all 16 pizzas that we tried, starting with our favorites:
Zepeddie’s Pizzeria
Location: 4516 Nations Crossing Rd, Charlotte, NC 28217
Score: 8.7
Zeppedie’s gets pizza. At this NY-style pizza shop, it’s served well done with good char and minimal flop. The flavor balance is spot on — you can taste the sauce and the cheese, and it has the best crust in Charlotte.
We finished the entire 16-inch large pizza in one sitting — which, if we’re being honest, is probably the best benchmark for determining whether we really liked a pizza.
Read the rest at: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/charlottefive/c5-food-drink/article301863094.html
For more information on leasing, contact MPV’s Rebecca Herron.
