Three easy pieces -- my nominations for best pizza

It costs $482.79 to get a decent pizza in San Francisco — $17 for the pie, $85 for cab fare, and $378.80 for the flight to New York. Throw in $1.99 for tinfoil.

That's the opening of Joe Brown's take on East Coast vs. West Coast pizza at Wired.com.  And while he's got one of those insufferable New York attitudes, the piece does make a couple of interesting points about the importance of local water and the flavor contributions of ovens that have been cranking out pizzas for decades.

With a bit of the industry (and the East Coast) in my veins, I've got my own biases about these things.  When I arrived in Sacramento 30 years ago, I believed you couldn't find a good pizza here.  For sure, I didn't find it.  But I think the situation is much better now. 

Here are my choices for good pizzas hereabouts.  Agree, disagree or add your nominations.  But don't ignore the issue -- this is too important a topic to be ignored.

Disclaimer: I've tasted the Stonehouse fancy-pants pizzas, which are fine but not the kind of basic, blue-collar pizza I'm referring to.  I have not tried the new Stonehouse pizza, which has prompted some disagreement in the forums here. 

I just haven't been motivated to try other pizzas in the Greater Murieta Region.  Am I missing anything special?

Here are three good pies, my favorites, in no particular order...

Roma II, 8491 Folsom Blvd., 383-9264

It's been there forever, but I found it just two years ago.  The atmosphere is like a mom-and-pop Italian restaurant back East, which had me favorably inclined before my pie even came out of the oven.  There's just one crust here -- middle-thick and nicely chewy.  After you've eaten enough pizzas, try the pasta.  Either is a great take-out option if you're heading back from downtown and have to bring home dinner.

Favorite pizza: The Margherita -- chopped fresh tomatoes, basil and garlic on a bed of mozzarella.   It's light and full of flavor.  But I haven't had a bad pizza here, and you'll like the owner, Maria, who's always working the register.

The typical turn time for a pizza is 20-25 minutes.  Same for pasta.

Chicago Fire Pizza, 2416 J St., 443-0440 (web site)

I don't know what I was thinking, but my first order here, soon after the place opened last year, was for a deep-dish, stuffed pizza -- basically, a Chicago pizza squared -- and I hate Chicago deep-dish, with its pounds of slithering cheese.  No surprise, but that first self-inflicted pizza was just too Chicago for me.  Dialing back on the cheese will leave you with a very nice pie.  A great sauce, good thin crust, and a pleasantly hip and busy restaurant for a sit-down meal if you're downtown. (The original Chicago Fire opened in Folsom five years ago.)

After that initial mistake, I've found happiness here in a thin crust and common toppings.  Here's the menu.

Turn time on a pie: 25-30 minutes.

Zelda's, 1415 21st St., 447-1400 (web site)

I've been going into Zelda's for almost 20 years -- it was the first good pizza I found in Sacramento -- and no smart-assing, please, about Zelda's being a Chicago pizza.  It's deep-dish, yes, but it has a manageable amount of cheese and toppings.  Beyond that is a crust that's more cake than bread.  The pie totality is wonderful, with a sauce and toppings that blend remarkably with that distinctive crust.  It wins Best Of Sacramento honors regularly.

Favorites: Spinach and garlic, pepperoni (especially good with that sauce), onion and mushroom.  Not for everyone, but an interesting mix of flavors, is the spinoccoli, with spinach, broccoli and garlic.  Here's the menu.

Zelda died a couple of years ago, but the place continues on with a few new faces but much the same old-midtown vibe and celebrated pizza.

Turn time on a pie: At least 30 minutes (approaching an hour at busy times), so know that and order ahead. 

In case you don't get out much, here's a map of my pizza places.

If you learned anything from this, would you pay it back by clicking "Add new comment" below and sharing your own pizza recommendation?