New York Pizza How to Find the Best

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New York Pizza How to Find the Best
Jared P. Lander Columbia University December 3,
2008
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What is New York Style?
Thin Slices
Just the right bend for folding
Charring and air bubbles around the crust
3
Family Tree
Lombardis (1905)
Patsys (1933)
Totonnos (1924)
Johns of Bleecker (1929)
Grimaldis (1990)
4
The Data

• MenuPages.com has menus, ratings, locations and
  price information for nearly 700 restaurants
  tagged as pizza in Manhattan and parts of
  Brooklyn
• Slice, a pizza blog, has a definitive listing
  (and maps) of coal pizzerias
• An exhaustive Google search provided wood
  classifications

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The Data
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Rating Histogram
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Ratings Breakdown
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Model for Rating

• logit(Rating/5.5) 0.77571 0.1782AreaMidtown
• Coefficients
• Estimate SE
  t-value Pr(gtt)
• (Intercept) 0.60326 0.20090 3.003
  0.00278
• AreaMidtown -0.17801 0.06628 -2.686 0.00743
  
• AreaDowntown-0.05766 0.05527 -1.043 0.29724
• AreaUptown -0.04838 0.06016 -0.804
  0.42154
• FuelGas 0.13354 0.11575 1.154
  0.24905
• FuelWood 0.07606 0.12980 0.586
  0.55810
• PriceExpensive-0.02827 0.04009 -0.705 0.48097
• ReviewsLow 0.03452 0.17958 0.192
  0.84762
• ReviewsMedium0.02728 0.19083 0.143 0.88638
• PizzaName 0.02684 0.06227 0.431
  0.66661

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Model for Rating

• logit(Rating/5.5) 0.77571 0.1782AreaMidtown
• Wald test
• Model 1 logit(Rating/5.5) Area
• Model 2 logit(Rating/5.5) 1
• Res.Df Df F Pr(gtF)
• 1 640
• 2 643 -3 2.8195 0.03826
• Perhaps is more appropriate due to its
  simplicity and the minimal impact of the lone
  coefficient in the model
• Maybe all pizza is for the most part pretty good

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Ratings Breakdown
One Sided P-Value
.020 .005 .006
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Review Count
Use the number of reviews as a proxy for
popularity Why do people frequent these
pizzerias in the first place?
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Number of Reviews by Area
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Number of Reviews by Fuel
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Number of Reviews by Price
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Reviews Histogram
Approximately Poisson
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Model for Review Count

• Number.Reviews 3.826 0.157AreaUptown
  1.641FuelGas 0.734FuelWood -
  0.545PriceExpensive 0.119FuelGasPriceExpensiv
  e 0.670FuelWoodPriceExpensive
• (Poisson Regression)
• Coefficients
• Estimate SE z-value
  Pr(gtz)
• (Intercept) 3.82693
  0.05899 64.876 lt 2e-16
• AreaUptown 0.15733
  0.02156 7.297 2.94e-13
• FuelGas -1.64163
  0.06019 -27.273 lt 2e-16
• FuelWood -0.73476 0.08884 -8.271 lt
  2e-16
• PriceExpensive -0.54561 0.07919
  -6.890 5.60e-12
• FuelGasPriceExpensive 1.11908 0.08289
  13.501 lt 2e-16
• FuelWoodPriceExpensive 0.67017 0.10819
  6.195 5.85e-10

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Model for Review Count

• Number.Reviews 3.826 0.157AreaUptown
  1.641FuelGas 0.734FuelWood -
  0.545PriceExpensive 0.119FuelGasPriceExpensiv
  e 0.670FuelWoodPriceExpensive
• (Poisson Regression)
• Wald test
• Model 1 Number.Reviews Area Fuel Price
  Price Fuel
• Model 2 Number.Reviews 1
• Res.Df Df F Pr(gtF)
• 1 637
• 2 643 -6 309.94 lt 2.2e-16

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Fitted Values
Coal and then wood dominates! All pizzerias on
this list are categorized as expensive Both
Uptown and Downtown
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Most Popular
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Top Pizzerias

• Lombardis
• Di Fara
• Joes
• Johns of Bleecker
• Totonnos (Coney Island)
• Vinny Vincenz
• Pizza 33
• No. 28

• Patsys (East Harlem)
• Artichoke
• Maffeis
• New York Pizza Suprema
• Una Pizza Napoletana
• Frannys

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Conclusions

• Coal ovens attract large crowds and the higher
  prices are worth paying
• The old adage about pizza is true Even when
  its bad, its still good.

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Jareds Picks
Pie Margherita Neapolitan Upscale Largest
Johns of Bleecker Pizza 33 Joes (Carmine
St.) Una Pizza Napoletana Koronet
Artichoke Vinny Vincenz Maffeis New York Pizza
Suprema Crocodile Lounge
Specialty Sicilian Grandma Upside
Down Cheapest
Free with purchase of beer