May 5th, 2022
It’s been a while since we have been back on here, and I think that means that our quest has naturally come to its end. Will we still be eating the best pizza we can find? Of course. But will we be traveling out of our way for it? Not for a while.
The pandemic has certainly taken its toll on traveling for fun, and having two little ones running around has only made this more difficult. We aren’t spending as much time in NYC right now, with our days working from home, although we are still following the new pizza places that are popping up and keep a running list of ones we’d like to get to soon.
![](http://101pizzaplaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-03-at-3.47.04-PM.png)
The last few months we have been eating some pizza, just not a lot of it. We are trying to teach the boys about good pizza and pizza-making at home with our Ooni. Lucas loves to eat dough. James likes the process of making the pizza much more than he likes to eat it.
![](http://101pizzaplaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-03-at-3.47.35-PM.png)
Although, everyone loves a good cheese pull. This was on a trip into the Bronx for Lucas’s first slice!
![](http://101pizzaplaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-03-at-3.47.46-PM.png)
We’ve been bringing the boys to our favorite pizza spots. Pepe’s has still been a staple, although always incredibly out of the way. Arturo’s in Maplewood is our local spot for park picnics. We still haven’t felt like we can bring them in a restaurant, so we’ve had a lot of car picnics during the last two years.
![](http://101pizzaplaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-03-at-3.53.45-PM.png)
I love the way that the boys eat pizza – face first. At least they don’t fold it.
We may pick up our quest again when the boys get bigger. I imagine that it will be a fun way to make our way around the country and visit some new cities as they get older and traveling gets a bit more normal. We have had some amazing experiences running this blog, and have met some amazing people. We’ve eaten so many good pizzas that we vividly remember, and run many miles in preparation for all of our pizza eating. We’re looking forward to still exploring, but at the slower pace we’ve settled into during the last two years of babies and pandemics.
![](http://101pizzaplaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-03-at-3.54.00-PM.png)
The quality of the 101 best pizza list from 2015-2018 was really high, but this has also taken a hit during the pandemic. We appreciate the efforts to add businesses run by minorities and women to the list, because these places deserve to be highlighted, but this has also meant that some of the best pizza in the country has been left off the list in recent years. Overall, we just have less faith in the list itself.
While the blog is finished, our Instagram will still be live. We’re happy to discuss recommendations and hear about your new favorite pizza on that platform. We’ll post when we go somewhere that’s good, but this won’t be as often as pre-pandemic. James and Lucas will probably still make appearances.
Thank you for following our journey. It’s been a lot of fun.
-Barb & Eric