Who Makes the Best Pizza in Farmington According to UMF Students?
Mary Jane’s Slice of Heaven, located at 103 Narrow Gauge Square by Prescott Field (Bross).
April 30, 2024
Caeden R. Bross, Journalism Club Member
College students love pizza! From late February to late March, a survey was shared to UMF students that let them become the connoisseurs of locally-based pizza places.
The survey results are split into three sections: one that will discuss pizza that can be eaten downtown at shops, within reasonable walking distance of campus; one that will discuss pizza that can be delivered to UMF’s campus from a great distance and one that will discuss pizza from places within reasonable driving distance of UMF.
The way the survey’s evaluation form works is through a scoring system. Students were asked to rank their favorite pizzas on various scales. For downtown businesses, the scale went from three to one; for both delivery businesses and places far from campus, two points were given. Pizza places found within those areas were listed in a multiple-choice format for students to select from, and students were given the option to rank a pizza place not listed as an option on the form for all three sections of the survey. Optionally, students could list their favorite pizza toppings and side dishes, which would be assessed before the outcome of the scoring system is explained.
Twenty-seven students responded to the survey. Downtown pizza places included the Farmington House of Pizza, Mary Jane’s Slice of Heaven and Main Street Cafe. The South Dining Hall at UMF was also included, since it technically meets the criterion of pizza within reasonable walking distance of the campus. Regarding downtown pizza places, Mary Jane’s Slice of Heaven near Prescott Field was ranked as the most popular, appearing in 88.88% of responses. Fourteen students ranked it as their first option, six ranked it second, and four ranked it third. The Farmington House of Pizza on Broadway Street by the music store was the second-most popular pizza place downtown, appearing in 70.37% of responses. Eleven students put Farmington House of Pizza in the middle of their favorite pizza place options. Seven put it at number one, and one put it at number three. Generally, students regarded a pizza place not identified in the survey as their third-most favorite pizza place in downtown Farmington with three, five and six students following this trend for first, second and third, respectively. This pattern appeared in 51.84% of responses.
For students who like to have pizza delivered to campus, they were given the options of Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Basil’s Pizza. The Pizza Hut is available on DoorDash, and Domino's is about two-and-a-half miles away from campus. Domino’s was ranked as having the best pizza that can be delivered to campus. A clear winner, appearing in 96.3% of all responses. Twenty-one students agreed with this sentiment, and five more said it would be their second option if given the choice. Pizza Hut ranked behind Domino’s, appearing in 55.55% of responses. Three students chose Pizza Hut as their first option, and twelve placed it as their second.
Finally, the pizza place students believe is most worth a short drive appears to be Arkay Pizza, appearing in 51.85% of student responses. Ten students chose it as their second-most favorite pizza within driving distance and four saying it would be their absolute favorite. In second - and rather amazingly - a tie occurred between two off-campus pizza places. Seven students each voted Calzolaio Pasta Co. in nearby Wilton and the Farmhouse Beer Garden on Farmington Falls Road as their favorite pizzas, and one more each put them in second.
Another pattern that can be deduced from these results is that students would generally rather get pizza downtown or have it delivered to their residence. This can be determined by more blank answers being provided when asked to assess pizza places students would drive off of campus to eat at than both the downtown and delivery questions. For the third question, 55.56% of students chose not to answer, the highest percentage of “Not Applicable” responses in the survey.
So, according to the results of this survey and its 27 respondents, the most popular downtown destination is Mary Jane’s Slice of Heaven, the most popular delivery destination is Domino’s, and the most popular driving destination is a mix between Calzolaio Pasta Co. and the Farmhouse Beer Garden. But which of these places is regarded as the absolute best pizza in all of Farmington? At the end of the survey, there was one more question with the goal of determining this. After filling out the questionnaire, students were asked to rank which of their three number one locations made the best pizza.
Of the 27 students surveyed, 14.8% ranked their driving option as their absolute favorite and 25.9% ranked their delivery option as the best pizza in their opinion. But more than half of the students, 59.3%, ranked their downtown option as being the bestest of the best.
It would appear that Mary Jane’s Slice of Heaven makes the best pizza in all of Farmington!
Pizza at Mary Jane’s Slice of Heaven (Bross).
