Hungry for New York Pizza? Check Your Mailbox

Take a New Yorker out of New York and what do you get? A person who complains constantly about the local pizza.

For them -- and for anyone else who appreciates what is undeniably fine pizza -- there is I Want New York Pizza, a two-year-old Big Apple small business that ships New York pizza all over the United States

Just go to the site, IWantNYPizza.com, choose a pie (there are usually seven to eight available), click your choice, and your order will be routed to a member of the I Want New York Pizza network, composed of pizzerias that meet strict standards of taste and quality, topped with the approval of the New York State Board of Health.

Your pizza is prepared, sealed, boxed with iced gel packs, and sent overnight or second-day delivery. Just pop it in the oven at 375 degrees for 5 to 7 minutes.

Founder Ed Powers got the idea after years of hearing ex-pat friends and family long for a slice of honest-to-goodness NY pizza. With ready access to supply -- his wife’s family owns pizzerias and restaurants in the city--and a New Yorker’s go-for-it attitude, Powers launched his new enterprise.

“It actually started as a goof to see what would happen,” he says. “Then as the first orders started to roll in I said, ‘Looks like we have a real business here!’”

With no knowledge about the food-shipping industry, Powers says he worked overtime to brush up. “In the beginning sleep was nonexistent. I lived on caffeine.”

Another problem was convincing pizzerias to take part. “Getting the brick-and-mortar pizza suppliers to embrace the Internet was a challenge,” Powers says. “I had to break -- I mean twist a few arms.”

Now that’s authentic.