From guest blogger and fellow foodie, Peter Couture of *TBT:

In the June issue of GQ, the celebrated food critic Alan Richman writes about his search for the top 25 pizzas in the country. According to Richman, he sampled 386 pizzas at 109 different pizzerias. “I traveled to ten American cities, the ones I knew had a lot of pizzerias or a lot of Italians,” he writes. “They seem to go together, although less so anymore.”

And a newcomer was Richman’s No. 1: Chicago’s Great Lake. Of its Mortadella pie, he writes: “This pie — creative, original, and somewhat local—represents everything irresistible about the new American style of pizza-making.”

On the pizza blog Slice, Adam Kuban says of Richman’s undertaking: “It’s a refreshing list. ... I’m tired of seeing the same old boring Top X-many lists held down by the same old stalwarts in NYC, New Haven, and Chicago. Richman’s list has just enough old-school places on it to lend it credibility and ward off any accusations of blatant pot-stirring.”

To read Richman’s pizza story, go here. By the way, his Top 10 pizza towns in America are: 1. New York; 2. San Francisco; 3. Detroit; 4. Chicago; 5. Providence; 6. Los Angeles; 7. New Haven; 8. Philadelphia; 9. Phoenix; 10. Boston.

Alan Richman’s Top 25
1. Great Lake (Chicago)
2. Lucali (Brooklyn, NYC)
3. Pizzeria Delfina (San Francisco)
4. Pizzeria Bianco (Phoenix)
5. Bob & Timmy’s (Providence, R.I.)
6. Sally’s Apizza (New Haven, Conn.)
7. Tomato Pie (Los Angeles)
8. Co. Company (Manhattan, NYC)
9. Tacconelli’s (Philadelphia)
10. Totonno’s (Brooklyn, NYC)
11. Tarry Lodge (Port Chester, N.Y.)
12. Frank Pepe (New Haven, Conn.)
13. Luigi’s “the Original” (Harrison Township, Mich.)
14. Gialina (San Francisco)
15. Buddy’s (Detroit)
16. Antica Pizzeria (Marina Del Ray, Calif.)
17. A16 (San Francisco)
18. Al Forno (Providence, R.I.)
19. Galleria Umberto (Boston)
20. Famous Joe’s (Manhattan, NYC)
21. Tomatoes Apizza (Farmington Hills, Mich.)
22. Osteria (Philadelphia)
23. Santarpio’s (Boston)
24. Niki’s (Detroit)
25. Una Pizza Napoletana (Manhattan, NYC)