We have progressed significantly with how easily we can access our favorite hometown pizza delivery service. Before smartphones and food delivery services, you had to wait in line for the one pizza delivery man to make his rounds within your neighborhood.
Friday nights were the busiest! That meant timing out your order over the phone hours in advance. Not to mention giving directions to the pizza delivery person struggling to locate your house.
Now we can pull up a map on our phones and simply search “pizza delivery near me.” Then 40- 50 minutes later a pizza arrives at your doorstep, like magic.
The journey to find today’s best pizza delivery service is a fascinating one. It gives us real sympathy for people who delivered pizzas before digital maps.
Let’s go back in time and appreciate how pizza has become, not only one of our tastiest takeout options, but also one of the easiest to procure.
When was the First Pizza Delivery?
According to Food & Wine, the first pizza delivery took place in 1889, when King Umberto I and Queen Margherita arrived in Naples, Italy as part of their campaign to oversee the uniting of Italy’s previously separated regions and minimize unrest. The Queen had tired of French-inspired meals and requested a meal of more local origin.
What Pizzeria Did the First Pizza Delivery?
They commissioned Brandi Raffaele Esposito, who owned Pizzeria di Pietro to fulfill the request. He developed three different pizzas, including one with mozzarella, basil, and tomatoes, the colors of which were an homage to the Italian flag.
Of course, the King and Queen would not visit his pizzeria, so Chef Esposito performed the first pizza delivery.
Queen Margherita loved the flag-colored pizza so much, and Esposito was so flattered that he named the pizza after her. Two inventions emerged from the situation: the Margherita pizza and pizza delivery.
What are the Beginnings of Pizza Delivery in the United States?
To understand how pizza delivery began in the US, we go back to when pizza became a takeout option.
Soldiers during World War II in the 1940s had developed a love for pizza while fighting for their country. Upon returning home, they flocked to Italian restaurants, seeking pizza or versions as close to it as they could find.
By 1944, New York City restaurants were serving pizzas in a way no one had ever done, piping hot in boxes to take home.
It was these boxes that made pizza portable, which made the future of pizza delivery possible.
H2: Why Pizza Delivery Became so Popular?
The origins of pizza delivery go back to the 1950s, two things changed the landscape of the American restaurant: the second family car and the television.
Because families could afford two cars, people moved farther away from city centers to live in the suburbs, where larger homes and quieter neighborhoods abounded. Commuting to work became more commonplace, and eating out was less frequent.
Families also enjoyed spending more leisure time watching television. Because people were no longer close to restaurants and developed other interests, restaurant sales began to decline.
To combat their falling profits, restaurants developed “television menus,” from which families could order and take home food to eat while watching TV. Sales began to rise again, some by as much as 50%.
In the 1960s, Dominos innovated the era of speedy pizza delivery, with the promise of “30 minutes or less” for deliveries. The ad campaign lasted into the early 1990s until it became too big of a liability for the company with accusations they promoted aggressive driving.
Modern-Day Pizza Delivery
Pizza delivery went on this way for a couple of decades, with the pizza industry growing into an 18 billion-dollar juggernaut by 1994, the year the stuffed crust pizza debuted.
While pizza chains duked it out over who could come up with the next big pizza craze, two innovations changed the quality of pizza delivery for the better: the thermal bag and the pizza saver.
The thermal bag ensures pizza reaches its destination as hot as when it came from the oven, and pizza lovers everywhere rejoiced. No more cold pizza! (Unless it’s on purpose.)
What’s the pizza saver? It’s the little plastic tripod that sits in the middle of the pizza to keep the box from collapsing into the top of the pie. While its inventor intended it to save cakes and regular pies, its most prolific use is for pizzas, and we’re so grateful for it.
The Ease of Searching Pizza Delivery Near Me
Perhaps the most disruptive pizza delivery invention is the internet.
The internet changed everything, from the way we order our pizza to the way we pay for it and how it’s delivered, and notably, how we find it, with “pizza delivery near me” searches.
When was the first online pizza order?
In fact, the first thing ever sold online was pizza. PizzaHut developed pizza.net, an online ordering form where internet users as early as 1994 could place an order for their favorite pie and have it delivered without leaving the comfort of their homes.
Our internet search engines can take our “pizza places that deliver near me” searches and bring up the closest online pizza delivery places. No matter where we are, if we type in, “Online pizza order near me,” we get a list of available restaurants ready to take our order and bring us pizza.
Not only that, but we can order pizza from our smartphones now. We can pay using cash at delivery or a card through websites or apps.
Even unmanned delivery is possible today, taking pizza delivery to a whole new level with the first pizza delivery by drone. Perhaps pinpoint delivery, which is having pizza delivered anywhere, including the park or the beach will be more prevalent.
Technology has made pizza delivery easier over the years, no matter where people are on the map. One thing’s for certain—Americans love our pizza delivery, and we can’t get enough.
Hungry for Pizza Now?
If you’re looking for pizza delivery in Ohio, and more specifically pizza delivery in Newark, or pizza delivery in Heath, Plaza Pizza® can deliver you a hot, fresh pizza right to your door! Call us or order online!