April 2, 2009

From the Mailbag!

Due to the overwhelming popularity of the Stamford Pizza Tour, it's par for the course that we field a few e-mails when we're not out stuffing our faces full of food. It occurred to us to answer a few of these letters in a public forum to enlighten both our rabid fanbase and to save ourselves from answering the same question multiple times. With that, we give you the first edition of From the Mailbag!
I LOVE this website. Keep up the great reviews.

I would like to make one small suggestion: can you have one more tab that has your top picks? It would be nice to see it in a chart format. -Grace
Done and done. You'll find just this chart by clicking through the "leaderboard" link on our menu bar. However, it's not so much a "top picks" page as it is an "all picks" page. We've made it pretty easy to navigate and sort by establishment, pizza, Hits the Spot, or price.
Hey guys just checked out your website and I love that you guys have menus posted! Great idea! -Suzanne
All the credit for that move goes to Dan. We just started collecting them as we went from place to place and after we realized that some restaurants don't have online menus, he took the liberty of posting them (and linking to those that exist elsewhere in cyberspace). Like our leaderboard, our menu collection can be found by clicking "menus" in our menu bar (naturally...).
Why aren't you including [insert Stamford pizza restaurant here]? Why did you bother including [insert Stamford pizza restaurant here]? Don't you know [insert Stamford pizza restaurant here] went out of business 40 years ago? -Moe
Okay, so that wasn't a real letter, but rest assured, we're listening to your advice. Since the Pizza Tour has started, we've added SBC, Liz Sue, Villa Italia, and pending its timely opening, Nonna's. We've also had to take some places off the list because they no longer serve pizza (Fio's Matteo's, Rinaldi's) or because they no longer serve anything (Calabria, Acropolis). Our list is pretty easy to get on and it's being updated all the time, so if you know of a pizza restaurant located in Stamford that's not listed on "Pizzas Toured," "Pizzas to be Toured," or "On Deck," let us know.
Also, about Hope Pizza and stupid square slices, this may not be the neatest of solutions, but the corner all-crust pieces must be consumed in conjunction with the non-crust middle pieces. You take the non-crust middle, and wrap it halfway around the all-crust corner - think a variation on the hot dog and the bun. In this case the corner piece is the hot dog with the non-crust being the bun. -Steve
Well, there you go. We'll be sure to try this on the next stupid square sliced pizza we hit on the Tour.
I believe the "Hits the Spot" rating is unfair. It is true that the pizza has to fulfill a certain craving but those cravings differ all the time. On day 1, a greasier pizza may "hit the spot" more accurately but on day 2, the blogger/rater/eater may be seeking something different, perhaps a more savory crust. -Allison
Your concern is the very reason it's called "Hits the Spot" rather than "greasiness" or "savoriness of crust." HtS is a very personal, intangible thing that we wouldn't dare try to standardize. Regardless, we thank you for your concern and assure you that we've been very careful when slinging around HtS.

Now, for some unfortunate unpleasantness:
Why did you delete my comments and why don't my comments show up as soon as I post them anymore? -Anonymous
Well, here's the deal. Until now, we were operating on a pretty open commenting policy. Due to some trite back-and-forth vitriol and personal attacks regarding one of our less savory reviews, we've implemented a regrettably less open policy that you can see embedded above the comment form. We ask only that you own your comments (positive or negative) by posting with a legitimate name or URL and that you avoid off-topic banter. Know that offensive, ad hominem attacks will not be tolerated in the future and have been retroactively removed from the site, never to be seen or heard from again. It sucks that it had to come to this before the site got to more than 20 comments.

On the brighter side, some horn tooting:
Thank you for bringing an intelligent voice to one of the greatest challenges to face the dining public in Stamford. Good luck in your quest, and I look forward to finding out who you crown as the winner. -Brian
So do we! Additionally, we thank everyone for their readership and support during the 2009 Stamford Pizza Tour and can't emphasize enough how we love hearing from you. If you've e-mailed us before, keep them coming; if you haven't, then what are you waiting for? Email us your questions, comments, and suggestions and help us to make the site even more awesome than it already is.