About the Grading Scale

One of the stated goals of the Chicago Pizza Club is to rank the pizzas we consume. We have used a basic scale of 1-10, which works fine. The only problem has been that we have not used a guide for what different numbers mean. As a result, we noticed that many of our numerical rankings did not accurately reflect our feelings about the rankings of the pizzas.

So, when looking at numbers assigned before April 23, 2008, know that the guide was not in place.

To make it crystal clear, while we comment on anything and everything that goes into our experience, our numerical score only represents the quality of the food and nothing else.

For pizzerias we visit after April 23, 2008, here is a guide to the numbers:

• 10 - A perfect pizza, one that cannot be bettered in any way
• 8 - An excellent mix of quality ingredients and flavors; I would gladly eat this pizza regularly
• 6 - A good pizza, perhaps very good in some respects, but only average in others (often found in pies with good toppings, but flavorless crusts)
• 4 - Tolerable if no other options are around and I am really hungry
• 2 - Pizza by definition only (has all the "right" ingredients and is cooked in an oven, but has no redeeming features)
• 0 - Cannot finish a slice