The best pizza in Hamilton is Richard’s Pizza and Chester’s Pizza. Period.
Of course there can really only be one ‘best’ and who you think is best in a Richard’s vs. Chester’s Smack-Down probably has a lot to do with what side of town you’re on, the toppings you prefer, and your mood. Here are my thoughts on why I select these two Hamilton pizzerias as the best. Richard’s needs extra mention too for their glorious Richard’s Steak Sandwich.
It comes down to three things; Flavor, Following and Tradition.
Flavor – Richard’s Pizza, It’s In The Crust.
Understanding what makes Richard’s Pizza so great starts and ends with its crust. The crust is neither thin nor thick and it is pan leavened (proofed) in the same pan it will be baked in. Unlike most thin crust and hand-tossed pizzas where the dough first proofs in a dough-ball until it is ready to be baked, Richard’s pizza takes a different approach. They pan leaven there dough where the dough is rolled through a dough roller and then placed in the pan to raise. You can see stacks upon stacks of pizza pans in the Richard’s pizzeria all with their dough proofing within. They have made I’m sure an incredible investment in the hundreds of different pizza pans needed to make their pizzas and keep in mind too each pizza pan needs to be washed and stored at the end of the night. So this method of dough preparation requires a great deal of effort.
The effort is well worth it. When dough is allowed to proof in the same pan it will bake in, some wonderful things happen. Richard’s pan proofing is not about thickness. It’s not a thick and spongy dough like Sicilian, the pizza thickness is normal neither being particularly thick nor thin. What’s special about the crust is the flavor it takes on when the yeast in the dough is allowed to take it’s final warm-up proofing in the pan. Pan proofing creates some unique yeasty/fermentation/almost wine-like flavors that are just out of this world.
I’m unsure what to call this style of pizza. Searching around I found some interesting posts here and here describing the “Ohio Valley Pizza style”, which is a style I’m familiar with (Little Ceasar’s and Cassano’s of Fairfield) but it’s not Richard’s. Therefore, for lack of a better term, I declare midwest Pizza from Ohio which is round, pan leavened in order to produce a yeasty crust and with toppings beneath the cheese to be Miami Valley Pizza Style.
Additional points about Richard’s pizza include that its sauce is slightly sweet and the toppings are placed beneath the cheese. Normally, I prefer all toppings above the cheese so that there is great charring and crispiness, but for Richard’s pizza, the below the cheese toppings works best because it really helps bring out the flavors in the crust.
Flavor – Chester’s Pizza, It’s In The Toppings
I talked a lot about Richard’s crust because it’s memorable. To be perfectly honest I can’t provide much detail about Chester’s Pizza crust. I believe it’s pan-leavened as well but I can’t be certain. Why can’t I recall? Because the toppings are insanely good. I would describe Chester’s as a big-flavor toppings pizza. Their Italian sausage topping is a must to try. There’s a joke in Hamilton that if you’re pregnant and your due-date is soon, eat a Chester’s Pizza. I guess all the spicy toppings is suppose to help the situation.
Pregnant or not, Chester’s Pizza really puts a lot of love and attention in their pizza and specifically their toppings. The toppings at Chester’s are, unlike Richard’s, on top of the cheese which goes a long way in adding big flavor in the way of charring of the onions, green peppers, peperoni and sausage. This combines to make an incredible pizza full of flavor that is unforgettable. Above all, Chester’s is not a cheese-only pizza.
Tradition
Tradition is history and emotion. Both Richard’s and Chester’s are Hamilton pizza pioneers. Richard’s is the first pizzeria in Hamilton, established in 1955. I write this article from Cleveland, Ohio, so I can’t conveniently drive by Chester’s to look at the date but I thought it was established in 1956. I could be wrong. Knowing my memory, I’m way wrong. It’s not important either way. What’s important is to know that in Hamilton, Ohio in the late 1950’s if you wanted pizza – you had only two choices and both are going strong today and both Richard’s and Chester’s are the pizzerias of our parents and now grandparents. Tradition is important in choosing the best pizza because like all great food, it should invoke emotions including nostalgia. Nostalgia is really a foolish emotion because we so easily omit the details of past hardships. But for food, I fully indulge in nostalgia and see no folly in doing so. For me, I can think of countless great times with friends and family, specific pizzas, specific toppings, all with great clarity. Only great pizza can do this and forgettable pizza is just that.
Following
Following is action and devotion. My family ordered Chester’s Pizza (we were west-siders) for special occasions that merit the long drive or when we had east-siders over for company and we wanted to keep things civil. Speaking of East Side/West Side. Richard’s is on both sides of town while Chester’s is on Dixie Highway on the East Side only. My east-side friends and family-friends from neighborhoods such as Lindenwald, the north-end and five-points all seemed to prefer Chester’s a great deal. You could say that Chester’s is best because Richards and Chesters are both on the east-side and east-siders, from my experience, like Chesters. You could say Richard’s is the best because it has since 1956 a west-side location and Chester’s isn’t in the west-side market. This debate will continue I’m sure.
I mention ‘keeping it civil’ only as a joke but it’s worth pointing out that Chester’s Pizza fans seem to be particularly vocal in their preference. Maybe it’s just their love of sausage and peperoni. Richard’s patrons are no less loyal. Both pizzerias are family owned businesses which have generations of customers. Many of whom, like myself, live nowhere near Hamilton. So we must wait until a home-coming of some sort and when we are back, we order their pizza so that we can have what’s been lost and with so many changes in Hamilton over the years, it’s nice to see, taste and smell things that are familiar from our child-hood. They are both great pizzerias because of their followings inside and outside of Hamilton. My only criticism on ‘following’ for Chester’s is that I don’t understand why their website is branded so heavily with the term Cincinnati. Chester’s is in Hamilton, what am I missing? If I want Cincy pizza I’ll eat La Rosa’s not Chester’s.
So with flavor, tradition and following, I declare Richard’s and Chester’s to be the very best pizza in Hamilton, Ohio. I rest my case and hope I have made an intelligent argument. Taking a firm side on the matter, my favorite of the two is a Richard’s pizza with onions and green peppers served hot and enjoyed with my brothers Greg and Scott and cousin Rick. If there’s some cold beer around and Led Zeppelin or AC-DC playing, it just might be Hamilton perfection. See what I mean about nostalgia?
I’m sure you have your favorite as well. Chester or Richards, I would love to hear your positive comments and memories on the two. No bashing please.
