National Cheese Pizza Day done right at The Pan

On Sept. 5, National Cheese Pizza Day was celebrated. Many pizza chains were offering promotions. Unfortunately, there is more than meets the eye when it comes to many chain restaurants’ pizzas.

Instead of using all natural ingredients, these pizzas are often jam-packed with modified food starches, flavors, hydrolyzed corn gluten. Hydrolyzed corn gluten is another name for monosodium glutamate (MSG), which can cause headaches, heart palpitations, and nausea.

However, Jasmine Lymon and Mercedes Raffulls of The Pan gave their patrons a real cheese pizza to celebrate. They bring the highest quality deep dish cheese pizza to Southern California.

The duo opened their first location in Gardena in 2012, following a second Gardena location in 2014 and their Long Beach location in 2016. Lymon, a culinary school grad, and Raffulls, who previously worked in distribution management, developed The Pan’s pizza recipe together.

In the kitchen, The Pan only uses the finest ingredients to bring customers the highest quality pizza possible. For instance, The Pan makes the pizza dough in-house at least once a day, but often more.

After baking for roughly 10 minutes, the deep dish cheese pizza comes out, piping hot and golden brown. In fact, the pizza is so hot that it is ideal to use a fork and knife to eat it until one reaches to the crust.

Upon first bite, it is evident that this is the best cheese pizza in Southern California. I should know as a typical teenager who has eaten many cheese pizzas, from big chains to small neighborhood joints. Each element from cheese to sauce to crust works cohesively together to produce a pizza that covers every range of textures from chewy to smooth to tender.

Whereas a typical cheese pizza encompasses a chewy crust and melt in your mouth cheese, The Pan’s deep dish cheese pizza is the opposite, and rightfully so.

As you carefully slice off the first piece, the cheese resists and slowly stretches until it gives way off the rest of the pie. As the first bite is taken, the cheese is nicely melted, yet chewy, while the house made tomato sauce is mild and allows the cheese to shine; acidic tomatoes and heavy spices are not present in the sauce.

Lastly the crust, although deep dish, is tender and light.

All in all, the three elements work together to present a luxurious deep dish cheese pizza.

Whether it be in Gardena or Long Beach, National Cheese Pizza Day or not, The Pan’s deep dish cheese pizza is unparalleled and a must try. Next time you are craving a great cheese pizza, put the phone down. Don’t order in, instead, stop by The Pan– “where hunger meets comfort.”