Proletariat slices and bourgeois pies round out A2 pizza fare

The reason pizza is such a quintessential college food, I am thoroughly convinced, lies in its structure rather than its taste. The circular slab of dough, divided by four-plus radii, is perfectly constructed to be shared with an indefinite number of people. The surface will incorporate almost anything, so long as it's covered with cheese - and it's flexible even on that.

So it should come as no surprise that even double-cappucino-minded town such as ours seems to have a 2 to 1 ratio of pizza delivery vehicles to the rest of the traffic. And while they are circling the impossible entanglement of diagonal one-ways that makes up Ann Arbor, we can take a virtual excursion instead: The Great Ann Arbor Pizza Tour.

Backroom Pizza

The Backroom
1204 South University Ave. 741-8296 Monday-Sunday, 11-2 a.m.

Right across the street from Pizza House is a place where its surly doppelganger, The Backroom, has set up shop. The Backroom seemingly prides itself on being the town's grimiest joint of the kind: With its attitude and clientele, it is the CBGB of pizza places.

First of all, it is too cool to have a menu. If you need a menu, you take a walk across the street. The object on sale here is identified simply as "pizza," and, upon closer inspection, turns out to be just that. It is delivered or peddled on the spot in long, sloppy slices. The selection of drinks is increasingly random, from the somewhat puzzling "Afri-Cola" to spring water to more traditional Lipton teas. To get to the counter, you will have to push your way past a throng of extraterrestrial skateboard kids and into something resembling a phone booth, but the end result is worth it: cheap, hot pizza with zero waiting period.

Bell's Pizza

Bell's Pizza
700 Packard Ave. 995-0232 Monday-Sunday, 11-4 a.m.

Cheap and unsophisticated, Bell's is a 4 a.m. dorm room entree of choice; a16-inch monster will set you back less than eight bucks, and with some creative maneuvering of numerous coupons, you can get away with shelling out something in the vicinity of $6. Of course, the product leaves a lot to be desired; crusts are strangely wet, and the cheese cap has a tendency to slide off in its entirety on the first bite.

Famed for its phone operators who barely speak English and delivery drivers who, well, take their time, Bell's is not without its share of subtle charms: The orders come in boxes with the apocryphal world history of pizza inscribed on them, so the customers get something to focus their eyes on while eating.

Cottage Inn

Cottage Inn
512 E. William St. (Dine in) 663-3379 Monday-Thursday, 11-12 a.m.; Friday-Saturday,11-1 a.m.; Sunday, 12 p.m.-12 a.m.

With four locations in Ann Arbor alone and 12 more in the Detroit area, Cottage Inn is an emerging big-leaguer, the Miramax of local pizza. Frequently tagged as the best in the Big Ten and armed with a moderately weird slogan ("Taste You Can See, Tradition You Can Taste"), the Inn is an undisputed A2 staple.

The original Cottage Inn location on William Street, much like Uno, is more than a pizza place: two floors of seating room (the second one has even become a favorite study spot) and an extensive salad and pasta menu. Pizzas as such range from well-done traditional fare like the Zesty Italian to excursions into exoticism, such as the Spicy Polynesian. Variety is the word here; even the crusts come in four varieties - Sicilian style deep dish, traditional round, European gourmet thin and Cottage Inn lite.

The William Street restaurant is usually packed. The menu choices are slightly reduced in the satellite locations, and so are the crowds.

Domino's

Domino's
1200 Packard Ave. 332-1111 Sunday-Thursday, 11-12 a.m.; Friday-Saturday, 11-2 a.m.

Although the number of Domino's Pizza locations in Ann Arbor is approximately the same as everywhere else, we actually house the cradle of this sprawling franchise - Domino's Farms, the company's headquarters. The honor, for some potential customers, is more than dubious: Domino's may boast fast delivery and great sauce with strong garlicky overtones, but that tends to get ignored by many a socially active student disagreeing with the corporation's politics, which have been associated with pro-life activism.

Every December, the Farms also become the site of a Christmas lights festival - a bacchanal of electricity that brings joy to innumerable people, especially those at Detroit Edison.

New York Pizza Depot

NYPD
605 E. William St. 669-6973 Monday-Wednesday, 10:30-2 a.m.; Thursday-Saturday, 10:30-4 a.m.; Sunday 10:30-12 a.m.

Located less than a block down E. William St. from Cottage Inn, NYPD Pizza is a new kid in town; having arrived in the place of the lowly Omega Pizza, NYPD behaves as a brash newcomer should, shocking the pizza addicts into submission with an array of culinary oddities like salad, pizza and pasta pizza.

NYPD's fare, displayed in a glass case by the counter, comes from the recipes of two Italian-born brothers, Marco and Dominic, but reflect a scrappy New York sensibility more than anything else. NYPD already has its fans: "The best pizza in town, bar none," said LSA senior Ariel Gandsman.

The pasta pizza, it should be noted, is something of a college-food ideal: Imagine a hybrid of pizza and macaroni & cheese. Now, if they could only work in Ramen noodles and a bottle of Jolt ... .

Pizza House

Pizza House
624 Church St. 995-5095 Monday-Sunday 10:30-4 a.m.

Pizza House is, in fact, a house, with lots of pizza in it. In its bizarre appearance of a residential building whose inhabitants suddenly decided to set up a permanent bakesale, Pizza House is somehow very appealing; even apart from that, its pizza - from Pepperoni to Spinach Alfredo - is great. Beware of the fact that its large pizzas are not awfully large; look at the menu closely, though, and you'll find several double deals instead.

The real fame Pizza House has achieved, ironically, comes not from pizza but from a pita-bread contraption called the Chipati. Stuffed with lettuce, peppers, cheese and an "Ann Arbor Original" Chipati sauce, it sets you back about $6. The price skyrockets if you want meat or feta cheese; but even in its most basic state, the chipati is a good lunch for a hungry person.

Pizzeria Uno

Pizzeria Uno
1321 South University Ave. 769-1744 Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-11:30 p.m.; Sunday, 12-10 p.m.

Uno, a chain hailing from the Windy City, is a full-fledged restaurant that also happens to serve great pizza. All related items on the menu fall into "Deep Dish" or "Thin Crust" category; In fact, Uno claims to be the birthplace of the former. The prices are a tad on the deep side as well, with most large pizzas heading way into the double digits. It is, however, a reasonable damage for inspired creations like "Sea Delico" (shrimp combination with garlic and mozzarella), "Spinoccoli" and the adventurously named "Shroom."

The menu, featuring the Chicago Sampler, Chicago Classic and Windy City Chili, exhibits a slight obsession with its heritage. Uno doesn't deliver, but compensates by offering several take-out deals.

JONATHAN SUMMER/Daily
NYPD manager Domenico Telemaco boxes oven-fresh pizza.

JONATHAN SUMMER/Daily
School of Music sophomore Jordan Shapiro enjoys a slice of pizza from The Backroom.

04-03-97