Thursday at the The Venue in downtown Johnson City, Pie Wars returned for the first time in three years.
Hosted by Young Professionals of the Tri-Cities, the event allowed attendees to sample the offerings of eight different restaurants and vote in four different categories: Best Overall, Best Cheese Pizza, Best Pepperoni Pizza and Best Crust.
The pizzerias in attendance included both chain restaurants, local favorites and some new faces: Mellow Mushroom, Rocks Wood-Fired Pizza, Scratch, Luke’s Pizza, Pizza N Gyro, Fox’s Pizza Den and Main Street Pizza Company.
So where should you go for your next pie?
Main Street Pizza Company in downtown Johnson City won the Best Overall, Best Pepperoni and Best Crust categories. They also placed third in the Best Cheese Pizza category. For fans of Pie Wars, this shouldn’t be a surprise; Main Street has taken home the trophy before.
At the event, Main Street was serving up cheese pizza and their gourmet Thai Pie, which is topped with coconut sriracha sauce, mozzarella, chicken, jalapenos, red onions, red pepper flakes, arugula and green apple chutney.
But if you’re not close to downtown, then the voters say you should try Pizza N Gyro in Boones Creek. They took home second in both Best Overall and Best Cheese Pizza categories.
Pizza N Gyro boasts its authentic Italian and Greek cuisine, and it shows in their dough and their sauce.
If you’re looking for the best cheese pizza, you’ll want to head straight to Scratch on Unaka Avenue in downtown Johnson City. They placed first in Best Cheese Pizza and third in Best Overall.
Scratch is perhaps best known for its Trust Pizza. You tell them what crust you want and the chef picks the perfect combination of toppings for you.
Other winners included Fox’s Pizza Den, a chain with a location on University Parkway in Johnson City, and Luke’s Pizza, a local pizzeria on West Market Street. Fox’s took second in Best Pepperoni while Luke’s went home with third in the same category.
What these results really show, however, is that ETSU is surrounded by good pizzerias. Not only did these restaurants serve up savory creations at Pie Wars, but they also served up their hearts. All proceeds from the event benefited the Boys and Girls Club of Johnson City/Washington County.
While the competition was fierce and the pizzas were hot, the real winner at the event was the community.
