Pizza Menu Prices: Sizes, Crusts and What a Pie Costs

Sizes and the math everyone gets wrong

US pizzerias usually sell pies in a range of sizes, commonly something like 10 inches for a personal pie, 12 for a small or medium, 14 for a large and 16 to 18 for an extra large. Sizes are not standardized, so always check the inches, not the name.

Here is the useful part: pizza is a circle, so the amount of pizza grows with the square of the diameter. A 12-inch pie has about 113 square inches. A 16-inch pie has about 201. That is nearly 80% more pizza from a pie only four inches wider. If the 16-inch costs less than 1.8 times the 12-inch, which it almost always does, the bigger pie is the better deal per bite. Two 12-inch pies add up to about 226 square inches, only about 12% more than one 16-inch, and they usually cost close to twice as much.

When you order delivery, size matters even more, because delivery and service fees are charged per order. One big pie spreads them across more slices.

The New York slice shop: Tony's Slice Counter

Tony's Slice Counter is a fictional New York-style counter joint: big, thin, foldable pies with grated parm and chili flakes by the register. Its whole-pie prices are a good baseline for the style: Plain Cheese Pie at $10.99, Classic Pepperoni at $11.99, a Grandma Square at $11.49 and The Works, loaded with pepperoni, sausage, peppers, onions, mushrooms and olives, at $11.99.

Notice how flat that range is. At slice shops, toppings move the price only slightly, so the loaded pie is usually the best value. Sides are where a pizza order grows: garlic knots at $4.99, eight buffalo wings at $8.99, mozzarella sticks at $6.49. The delivery fee is $1.99.

Deep dish and tavern-style: Lakeshore Deep Dish

Lakeshore Deep Dish shows the two faces of Chicago pizza. The deep dish is built upside down in a buttery cornmeal crust, with cheese at the bottom and chunky tomato on top: the Classic Deep Dish with a sausage layer is $17.99, a Deep Dish Cheese $15.99 and the Supreme $18.99. Tavern-style thin pies, cracker-crisp and cut into squares, run cheaper: Tavern Thin Cheese at $11.99, Sausage and Giardiniera at $13.99.

Deep dish costs more because it is a lot more food and takes much longer to bake. Lakeshore's prep time is 45 minutes, versus 20 at Tony's, and that is realistic. If you order deep dish delivery, order early.

The Neapolitan pizzeria: Fiamma Napoletana

Fiamma Napoletana is a fictional wood-fired Neapolitan spot: long-fermented dough, a blistered, puffy crust and about 90 seconds in a very hot oven. Neapolitan pies are typically individual size, around 12 inches, and priced by ingredient quality rather than by size. The Margherita is $18.99, the cheeseless Marinara $18.49, the Bufalina with buffalo mozzarella $22.99, and a mushroom and black truffle pie $24.99.

So a Neapolitan pie for one can cost more than a whole New York pie for three. That is not a rip-off, just a different product: imported tomatoes and cheese, specialized ovens and a pizza meant to be eaten right away. That last point matters for delivery, since a Neapolitan crust softens faster in the box than a sturdy New York or tavern crust.

What a delivered pizza night really costs

Take a pizza night for four from a slice shop: two large pies at $12 each, garlic knots and wings. That is about $38 of food. On a real delivery app, add a delivery fee, a service fee, tax and a tip, and the total can pass $55. Split four ways it is still one of the cheapest delivery meals per person, because the fees are shared. Order a single pie for one and the fees take a much bigger share. Our article on delivery fees and service fees shows the full breakdown.

You can see every pizza across our fictional menus on the pizza dishes page, or browse all the pizza restaurants. They are part of SemFood, a simulated delivery app where nothing is charged and nothing is delivered, so you can order the truffle pie and the deep dish together just to watch them travel. Check what your real pizza habit adds up to in the calculator, and see the plans if you want a bigger daily pretend budget.