National Pizza Week Is Here: Tasty Deals In RI

CRANSTON, R.I. — National Pizza Week might be a made-up observance, but it doesn’t make the deals restaurants are offering this week in the Ocean State any less tempting.

No matter how you like your slice — from classic cheese or pepperoni toppings to the more adventurous pineapple or prosciutto creations — you shouldn't miss the opportunity to celebrate one of the world's favorite dishes.

Listed below are the larger national chains offering special deals for the week. You can also reach out to local pizzerias or Google them to find deals closer to home.

The origin story of pizza stretches throughout the world, as flatbreads with toppings were consumed by ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks, according to History.com. But the concept and construction of modern pizza is generally traced to Naples, in Italy’s Campania region.

Legend has it that when King Umberto I and Queen Margherita visited the city in 1889, they quickly bored with an unrelenting diet of French cuisine and asked for an assortment of pizzas from the city’s Pizzeria Brandi, according to History.com.

Queen Margherita’s favorite? A pie topped with soft white cheese, red tomatoes and green basil.

In the United States, Lombardi’s on Spring Street in Manhattan is generally named as one of the first licensed restaurants to sell pizza in America, beginning in 1905.

If you know of a pizzeria offering discounted prices but is not on the list, please add it in the comments below.

• Bertucci’s: Get a free meal for kids when you purchase an adult meal for $8.99 or more on Wednesday only. And on Tuesday, get a free large cheese pizza when you buy any large pizza.
• BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse: For a Monday special, get half off any large deep dish or tavern cut pizza.
• Blaze Pizza: Don’t miss out on Blaze’s Take Two deal and get a half pizza plus your choice of one side salad or four Dough Knots for $9.95.
• Domino’s: You can get two of the following menu items for $5.99 each: medium two-topping pizza, bread twists, salad, marbled cookie brownie, specialty chicken, oven-baked sandwich, stuffed cheesy bread, eight-piece boneless chicken or pasta in a dish.
• Fresh Brothers: Fresh Brothers is offering a variety of discounts on orders throughout the week. Get $5 off an online order over $20 when you use the code PICKUP5, $10 off an online order over $35 when you use the code PICKUP10, and $15 off an online order over $50 when you use the code PICKUP15.
• Little Caesars: You can get the restaurant’s Hot-N-Ready ExtraMostBestest Thin Crust Pepperoni Pizza for $6.49.
• Papa Gino’s: Get two large pizzas each for $10.99.
• Papa John’s: Taste Papa John’s new extra cheesy Alfredo garlic parmesan crust pizza priced at $10.
• Pizza Hut: Get 50 percent off menu-priced pizzas when you use the code FIFTYOFFNY, and also try out their large Meat Lover’s Pizza for $10.