Portland’s Best Pizzerias, Ranked | Portland Monthly

BJG: Okay, over the finish line. Lovely’s or Scottie’s? I think it’s Lovely’s.

AF: I think it’s Lovely’s.

MT: It has to be Lovely’s.

AF: Lovely’s is kind of the best pizza in Portland.

MT: Give me a half-and-half.

BJG: Yeah! I love them both so dearly. I think if someone asked me, “Which one do I want?” I would ask you, “What are you looking for? Are you looking for red sauce, pepperoni?” Because if so, you will not find a better one in this town than Scottie’s.

AF: You know what? I’m gonna change my mind. I’m gonna say Scottie’s, because of that very reason, because the things we talked about a lot. That Lovely’s isn’t always a pizza. It is sometimes a recipe that’s on a really excellent dough. Scottie’s is sort of like the epitome of what you think of when you think of pizza. Like you mentioned, that’s where you go when you want to eat Chuck E Cheese. If we’re really objectively ranking pizza, I almost feel like Scottie’s has the edge.

MT: You know what you’re doing though? You’re catering to the picky eaters. 

AF: Isn’t that the point of pizza, though? That it’s supposed to be, ultimately, crowd pleasing. Isn’t that the fundamental aspect of pizza, that it is the most crowd-pleasing food there is, and isn’t Lovely’s maybe just a little bit too nichey Portland for that to be the number one?

MT: No, I think Portland is nichey Portland.

AF: Also a fair argument. We’re talking Portland pizza.

BJG: What you said is true in the United States. I don’t think it’s true in other parts of the world, especially Italy. I think that Portland is sometimes not the United States.

MT: That’s the real truth.

AF: That’s absolutely true.

MT: To speak to your point, if Lovely’s didn’t have a cheese pizza and it was only, like, “Pecan-broccoli pesto is the most basic we get,” then it would be, like, you have to only take certain people here. But you can get a cheese pizza.

BJG: Oh yeah, they have a mozzarella basil. It’s so funny, because I would never think to do that. I would never go to Lovely’s and go, “I’m gonna get a cheese pizza!” I understand both, and I could go either way for that reason. I do think that if you’re thinking pizza and you’re thinking a slice of pepperoni, I think Scottie’s wins. I think when we’re trying to think about the best pizza, I do think my brain also goes to the most Portland pizza. I think it’s Lovely’s, but I do think that it depends on what you’re looking for.

WINNER: Lovely’s