Pizza in the United States
Pizza arrived in the United States in the early 20th century along with waves of Italian immigrants who settled primarily in the large cities of the Northeast. It got a boost both in popularity and regional spread after soldiers stationed in Italy returned from World War II. During the latter half of the 20th century, pizza became an iconic dish of considerable acceptance in the United States. Numerous regional variations have evolved, with many bearing only a casual resemblance to the Italian original. Pizza is a popular fast-food item, and produced by numerous chains . The United States pizza restaurant industry was worth $37 billion in 2015. History. The first pizzeria in the U.S., Lombardi's, opened in New York City's Little Italy in 1905, producing a Neapolitan-style pie. Distinct regional types developed in the 20th century, including Buffalo, California, Chicago, Detroit, Greek, New Haven, New York, and St. Louis styles. These regional variations include deep-dish, stuffed, pockets, turnovers, rolls, and pizza-on-a-stick, each with seemingly limitless combinations of sauce and toppings. Thirteen percent of the United States population consumes pizza on any given day. Tens of thousands of  pizzarias, food stands, chains such as Domino's, Pizza Hut, and Papa John's, pies from take and bake shops, and chilled or frozen pizzas from supermarkets make pizza readily available both to diners and at-home consumers nationwide. Ingredients. Common toppings for pizza in the United States include mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, olives, onions, peppers, sausage, ground beef, bacon, chicken, ham, pineapple, salami, spinach, tomatoes, and anchovies. American pizza (particularly thin-crust) is made with a very high-gluten flour (often 13–14% protein content) of the type also used to make bagels; this allows the dough to be stretched  thinly and thrown vigorously without tearing. Unlike Italian pizza, American pizza often has vegetable oil or shortening mixed into the dough. This can range from a small amount in relatively lean doughs, such as New York style, to a very large amount in some recipes for Chicago-style deep-dish dough. While tomato sauce is virtually ubiquitous, some variations, such as white pizza, omit it, while others replace it with garlic and olive oil or sauces made from other vegetables such as pesto.