And they won with no toppings!

When you think of great pizza, New York City and Chicago typically come to mind. Well, it's time to blow your mind because the best pizza in the world is actually from right here in Washington, D.C. 

Last week, the International Pizza Expo & Conference was held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pizza makers and pizza lovers from all over the globe came together to learn about the art of pizza making and compete in the world's largest pizza competition, the International Pizza Challenge. This year, DMV native Andy's Pizza impressed the judges and took home the grand prize in the traditional pizza division.

Not only did Andy's Pizza represent DC, but it did so without any toppings. The shop competed against about 90 competitors and won with its classic New York-style cheese pizza. 

"It didn't feel right to compete with something we don't sell or pride ourselves on," said owner Andy Brown. "We won with the exact same cheese pizza that's available by the slice at all of our pizzerias."

Andy's Pizza first started out in Tysons Galleria but now has locations all over Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia. To make his award-winning pizza, Brown uses dough that is cold fermented for at least 72 hours and then cooked in a New York oven to ensure the pizza has a crisp crust but is still soft on the inside. Brown also encourages his customers to eat the pizza in-store.

"If you must choose delivery, we're sealing every box with our reheat sticker for the best at-home experience," the owner stated.

The International Pizza Challenge started in 2007 and has become one of the most well-known and prestigious pizza competitions in the world. The competition this year included three divisions: Traditional, Non-traditional, and Pan. Each pizza chef baked their best pizza during the expo and presented it to a world-renowned panel of judges to score. First-place winners were awarded a glorious trophy and $7,500. The winners of each division then faced off in a mystery ingredient cook-off to crown the 2021 Pizza Maker of the Year.

So, what do you think of the competition? Have you tried Andy's Pizza? Let us know what you think in the comments!