You’ve probably wondered about the origins of pizza at least once while ordering this well-loved dish from your favorite bakery. It’s hard to imagine anyone not liking this popular food, especially because you can request almost any ingredient to go on top. Pizza has a long and rich history that spans centuries and nations—here’s a slice of its story.

What Early Pizza Was Like

Since ancient times, people have been consuming pizza in different forms. The earliest known variation of this pie was a humble flatbread with different toppings, enjoyed by civilizations like the Greeks, Egyptians, and Romans. What fueled the demand for this dish was its convenience and affordability. The families of workers were particularly fond of these flatbreads because they only needed to bake it in a mud oven with simple ingredients like oil and herbs.

By the late 1800s, pizza came to Naples when the poor working population needed cheap food that they could eat on the go. Street vendors back then sold pizzas that could be cut up according to a customer’s appetite or budget. During that time, toppings were not much different from today’s ingredients of cheese, garlic, anchovies, oil, and tomatoes.

How Pizza Came to America

By the 19th and 20th centuries, immigrants from Naples started looking for factory jobs in the United States, bringing their beloved pizza recipes with them. Although there are conflicting accounts as to who opened the first pizzeria in America, most sources credit Gennaro Lombardi, who started selling pizza on Spring Street in Manhattan in 1905. It was around 1950 when other pizzerias started popping up in New York City, prompting pizza to begin dominating the country’s fast-food industry.

Why Pizza Is Still Popular Today

Through the years, pizza has remained versatile, affordable, and flavorful. There’s hardly any town today that doesn’t have a restaurant or grocery store selling pizzas with every topping imaginable. You can make it at home, order it in a restaurant, have it delivered to your place, or even buy it frozen. You can enjoy it alone or with family and friends. For these reasons, pizza will likely remain a dish that dominates every corner of the world for centuries to come.

Whenever you’re in the mood for scrumptious, made-to-order or premade pizza, visit your local bakery and deli at Pritzl's Trading Post in Rome, WI. This family-owned one-stop shop offers everything you might need for your groceries, fishing and hunting trip, and home and garden. Call (715) 325-2281 to inquire about their items and services, or visit their website to learn more about their daily bakery and deli specials.