It’s a Friday at 1 a.m., and you have been out with your friends since 10 p.m. You are tired and hungry and just want something good to eat. Before last February, you would have chosen Ian’s Pizza in an instant. But a new late-night pizza place opened February 2022, and now you have a choice. 

Eat The Best Pizza is a New York-style pizza place open every night until 3 a.m., and owner Al Madaj said students already love it. 

Ian’s is a classic, by-the-slice pizzeria that has been around Madison for years. It is the quintessential food source for a student org meeting or a quick lunch. 

Neither pizza place sees the other in a malicious manner, but students have started to take sides in the debate over which pizza stop is better. Included in these students with strong opinions are roommates Jane Houseal and Mac Gale. 

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Student opinions

Houseal is obsessed with Eat The Best Pizza and even nicknamed it “Eatza.” She started going to Eat this past summer after nights out because it’s one of the few places open till 3 a.m. 

“I love Eatza. It’s miles better than Ian’s,” Houseal said. 

Houseal said the pizza at Eat feels more New York-style and not like something made in Wisconsin. 

She also feels the staff at Eat recognizes her. The owner is always there, and when she sees him on the street, he will often wave at her. 

“I just love having that familiarity,” Houseal said. “When I was a regular at Ian’s, no one even knew who I was.” 

Madaj makes her feel like “part of a family” at Eat. Houseal said one time he invited her to go to New York with his family — she knew he was joking, but she still felt known and appreciated. 

Houseal has not returned to Ian’s since trying Eat, except for one time when Eat was closed, and she just really needed pizza. She does admit that Ian’s does mac n’ cheese pizza better, but she still gets into fierce debates with her roommates who prefer Ian’s. 

One of her roommates is Mac Gale, who just loves Ian’s. 

“When you see someone walking around with an Ian’s box, you know they’re having a good meal,” Gale said. 

Gale loves that Ian’s uses local, sustainable ingredients but still manages to stay affordable for students. Ian’s also has several flavor options. Gale says the mac n’ cheese pizza is “so bomb” and simply cannot be redone. 

Her go-to order is a slice of mac n’ cheese, a slice of feta and three breadsticks. The breadsticks, she says, are a huge plus to Ian’s. 

“Like a good outfit, accessories are everything, so a good side dish is important,” Gale said. “And they have nailed the side dishes.” 

Gale admits that she has not really tried Eat, but she has had a few bites of her roommates’, and she says it just seems like basic New York-style pizza. She likes how Ian’s is more signature. 

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Ian’s Pizza

Nick Martin is the manager of the Ian’s locations in Madison. All their locations are independently owned by their employees and are often passed between family and friends. He started at the State St. location but now oversees all the Madison locations. Martin said a big focus of their marketing is on college students. 

“We pride ourselves on being an affordable lunch stop but still really good,” Martin said. 

All of their ingredients are made in a scratch kitchen in Madison, so it is all very fresh but still manage to keep prices at only $5.50 a slice. He said finding the balance between being locally based but still inexpensive is their biggest challenge. 

Ian’s does a lot of outreach to college students because that is their main customer base. They partner with apps like Plyo, so students can get free pizza for working out, and with SOAR so that freshmen can try Ian’s pizza right away. 

Martin said they try to contribute to the community by giving away free pizza to student organizations and offering various deals for students. 

Martin said they do not consider other pizza places competition but instead see them as good places to eat. 

“We go out for pizza all the time,” Martin said. “And I haven’t been able to try Eat yet, but I look forward to getting down there and checking it out.” 

Eat The Best Pizza

Al Madaj started Eat The Best Pizza, or Eat, on Feb. 22, 2022, and he said students have been his main publicity. He feels like Eat is already part of the community even though it’s only been around for a year. 

Students started coming on accident because they thought it was a Subway. But they enjoyed it and started bringing their friends and then posting about it, so he doesn’t even need a website to advertise. 

“All the students love it,” Madaj said. “Everybody is happy because we treat ’em good — we treat ’em like family.” 

Eat has had no customer complaints or issues since it started. Madaj emphasized that he doesn’t buy customers’ respect — he earns it by consistently being open and providing friendly service. 

Madaj learned how to make pizzas from his family business in New York. He grew up in the Bronx, so he is very familiar with New York-style pizza. 

Madaj12 said he really loves his customers, and he is pleased with how it’s been going. Students are always posting about Eat and saying hello to him on the street, so he’s excited to keep up the business. 

“We’re not going nowhere,” Madaj said.