National Pizza Month

The month began with a magazine and a marketing instinct. In October 1984, pizzeria operator Gerry Durnell published the first issue of Pizza Today magazine and declared October as National Pizza Month, choosing the month of his magazine’s debut. What started as one publisher’s bright idea caught on with an industry that needed no convincing, and three years later the U.S. Congress officially designated October as National Pizza Month, giving the observance formal federal recognition. Not every food gets that honor. Pizza earned it.

Americans take the assignment seriously. There are now more than 75,700 pizzerias across the United States, according to IBISWorld’s 2025 figures, pulling in nearly $50 billion a year in sales. Chicago is home to a museum devoted entirely to pizza. A pizza coalition advocates for the industry in Washington, and Pizza Today still covers the business year-round. Pizza even gets a second holiday all to itself: National Pizza Day arrives every February 9, a mid-winter reminder that the craving never really leaves.

The story of the pie stretches back much further than 1984. The word “pizza” first appears in a Latin text from 997 AD, written in what is now central Italy, and humans have been topping baked bread since long before that; the ancient Greeks baked bread, dunked it in oil, and topped it with herbs and cheese. The most famous origin story belongs to Naples in 1889, when pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito was asked to prepare local specialties for King Umberto I and Queen Margherita of Savoy. Esposito reportedly baked three pizzas, including one topped with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil arranged in the colors of the Italian flag. The queen’s approval, expressed in a letter still displayed at the restaurant today, elevated the dish from working-class street food to a symbol of Italian pride, and Esposito named it Pizza Margherita in her honor. Food historians have since questioned parts of the legend, but the pizza and its royal namesake remain firmly planted in culinary lore.

Pizza crossed the Atlantic with Italian immigrants in the early 1900s. In 1905, Gennaro Lombardi’s grocery store on Spring Street in New York City received the first business license to operate a pizzeria in the United States, and Lombardi’s is still recognized by the Pizza Hall of Fame as America’s first pizzeria. The dish’s American popularity exploded after World War II, when returning soldiers who had tasted pizza abroad came home craving it. The 1950s brought frozen pizza to grocery freezers, and the decades after brought the rise of national chains like Pizza Hut and Domino’s. Along the way, America invented its own canon: New York’s thin foldable slice, New Haven’s coal-fired apizza, Chicago’s deep dish born in the early 1940s, and the Neapolitan tradition carried over from Naples.

October is when the industry shows off. Pizzerias across the country roll out deals, limited-time menu items, giveaways, and community initiatives all month long, making it the easiest excuse all year to try a new style or order in more than usual. In 2026, Wiseguy Pizza offered 25 percent off any whole 18-inch pizza from October 1 through 30 with a promo code, while UNA Pizza + Wine took an engagement-first approach with reheating tips on takeout bags and a browser-based pizza game called Slice Invaders, where a pizza-slice hero battles angry onions and three-eyed tomatoes. From coast to coast, October menus get bolder, stranger, and more generous.

The month is also a fine time to appreciate pizza’s range. Purists can chase the perfect Neapolitan with its leopard-spotted crust. Adventurers can hunt down the oddballs some shops roll out just for October, the kind of spin-off pies that would never survive a year-round menu. Families can stage a build-your-own-pizza night and settle the household’s great topping debates once and for all. There is no wrong way to observe National Pizza Month, provided cheese is involved and the crust has opinions.

For pizzeria operators, the month doubles as a business lesson Durnell would recognize. Pizza Today has long urged owners to use October to tell their story: the signature pie, the awards, the team, the loyal customers, the place in the community. Customers want to know what makes a pizzeria unique, and National Pizza Month is the industry’s annual permission slip to brag a little. Toot the horn, share the story, and let the regulars bring their friends.

And the deals are only half the fun. October is also prime time for pizza education: reheating tips that rescue leftover slices, recycling guides for the mountain of boxes, and shop stories that turn a neighborhood pizzeria from a vendor into a landmark. The month invites eaters to learn the craft behind the craving, from dough fermentation to the perfect char, and to appreciate the people who have spent decades perfecting a circle of joy.

So here is the October plan: eat more pizza than usual, try a style you have never tried, support the local shop that knows your order by heart, and tip like the month demands. Thirty-one days, one mission. The calendar only asks this much of you once a year, and honestly, it is the easiest assignment on the calendar.

There is a reason pizza, of all foods, earned a federally recognized month. It is the rare dish that belongs to everyone: the weeknight rescue, the birthday party centerpiece, the game-day spread, the 2 a.m. slice that has solved more problems than it has caused. It feeds toddlers and grandparents at the same table, crosses every cuisine boundary, and somehow tastes like celebration no matter the occasion. October simply makes official what America decided long ago: pizza is not just dinner. It is a love language with extra cheese.

THE STORY BEHIND NATIONAL PIZZA MONTH

📰 A Magazine Launches a Month
In October 1984, pizzeria operator Gerry Durnell published the first issue of Pizza Today magazine and declared October as National Pizza Month, picking the month of his magazine’s debut to celebrate the whole industry.

🏛️ Congress Makes It Official
In 1987, the U.S. Congress officially designated October as National Pizza Month, giving pizza formal federal recognition. Few foods on Earth can claim their own act of Congress.

👑 The Margherita Legend
In 1889 Naples, pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito baked a tomato, mozzarella, and basil pizza in the colors of the Italian flag for Queen Margherita of Savoy, naming it in her honor. Historians debate the details, but the legend endures.

🗺 America’s First Pizzeria
In 1905, Gennaro Lombardi’s Spring Street shop in New York City received the first U.S. business license for a pizzeria. After World War II, returning soldiers supercharged pizza’s popularity, and the 1950s brought frozen pizza and the great chains.

💲 The Big Business of Pie
America now counts more than 75,700 pizzerias doing nearly $50 billion in annual sales, plus a Chicago pizza museum, an industry coalition, and a second holiday, National Pizza Day, every February 9.

WAYS TO CELEBRATE

🍕 Try a New Style
Work through the canon this October: New York thin, Chicago deep dish, New Haven apizza, and true Neapolitan. Keep a ranked list and defend it fiercely.

🏠 Stage a Homemade Pizza Night
Roll out dough, set out toppings, and let everyone build their own pie. Settle the household’s topping debates the delicious way, with a taste test.

🎣 Hunt the October Deals
Pizzerias roll out specials all month long, so follow your favorite shops and pounce on the limited-time pies. Share your finds with #NationalPizzaMonth.

Celebrate National Pizza Month

All October long, eat like every day is pizza day. Because this month, it is.