Dunedin restaurant challenges guests to eat a nearly 3-foot pizza
DUNEDIN, Fla. - Madison Avenue Pizza in Dunedin poses a delicious dare to anyone brave enough to try to eat a 32-inch pizza. Owner and chef Sean Ferraro came up with the pizza challenge when he was at Florida State University.
"You know it just started as just some chatter in the kitchen," recalled Ferraro. "We talk a lot when we're cooking... I used to eat at a place Momo's all the time and they made a 30-inch pizza."
But Ferraro wanted to go bigger than Momo's, and he did, just barely.
"I had to fit within the constraints of my front door, so we settled on 32 inches," He laughed. "It's the biggest that can fit out of the front door without having to tilt it."
The pizza is 32 inches in diameter, which is four inches shy of three feet. It's almost a circular yard of dough, pizza sauce, cheese and toppings.
"You could easily feed 10 to 20 people," said Ferraro.
"It's a four-pound ball of dough," he shared. "It's a big-time upper body workout when you're stretching it out."
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Creating the monster pizza is no small task. Besides the dough, there's the sauce covering and then the cheese and placing the toppings.
"It takes a good 20 minutes just to make it and then about 10 to 15 minutes in the oven depending on the toppings on it," he said.
Ferraro says the pizza fits in the oven.
"To make the pizza takes up a whole deck in our oven."
The real problem is the customer who orders one "to go" and then underestimates the size and fitting it into their car.
"We recommend that people bring an SUV or a van," Ferraro said.
He uses a Dodge Caravan for deliveries of the 32-inch pizza just for that reason.
Madison Avenue Pizza also hosts an eating challenge that allows for two people to share the 32-inch pizza with one topping. If they finish the beast in one hour, they get the meal for free, a commemorative shirt and their photo on the memorial wall.
So far, there are only five winners represented on the wall.
"It is the largest pizza in Tampa Bay!" Ferraro claimed.
Madison Avenue Pizza is located at 2660 Bayshore Boulevard.
LINK: Learn more about Madison Avenue Pizza at https://www.madisonavepizza.com/.
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