Competition is heating up for Valley Forge Tourism’s Best Pizza Tournament

WORCESTER » From Neapolitan to deep dish and even coal-fired varieties, Montgomery County is the promised land of pizza.

The county’s abundance of good pizza joints is easy for most of us to take for granted until you get a look at the list compiled by the Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board (VFTCB) for its third annual Montco’s Best Pizza Tournament. Beginning last month, the organization turned to social media to ask folks from one end of the county to the other to vote for their favorite pizzeria, ultimately whittling hundreds of contenders down to 64.

Every corner of Montgomery County was represented — from East Norriton (Via Veneto, Charlie’s) to Worcester (Bravo Pizza); Hatfield (Vinny’s Pizzarama) to Bridgeport (Franzone’s Pizzeria & Restaurant); Eagleville (Tosco Pizza & Italian Restaurant) to Gilbertsville (Nonna’s Pizzeria.)

The 2017 champ, Chiaro’s Pizzeria & Restaurant in Green Lane, has bowed out of the tournament this year after winning the contest two years in a row.

“People are very passionate about their pizza, especially their neighborhood, go-to place,” noted Ed Harris, chief marketing officer for VFTCB. “This competition offers such a great opportunity to mom-and-pop entrepreneurs across Montgomery County. It also involves the community, and gets them interacting with us and their favorite pizza spot. We love engaging with them on social media, and supporting these Montco businesses in really becoming advocates and ambassadors for themselves. And, our staff loves it, too. Who doesn’t love pizza?”

All votes are cast online at valleyforge.org/pizza.

Joining the beloved mom-and-pop entries are a few surprising majorleague chain operations, such as Wegmans and Founding Farmers in King of Prussia and Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza, which opened last summer at Centre Square Commons in Blue Bell.