Four rounds, 16 pizzerias.
Crowdsignal, the independent auditing website, tallied nearly 22,000 votes throughout our March Pizza Madness Challenge.
Week by week, most brackets were a slam dunk. Surprisingly, finals voting was no exception.
And now we crown a winner.
Recapping the road to the finals
Reader votes narrowed the final two pizzerias to last year’s champ Death by Pizza vs. tournament newcomer Mamma Mia’s on the Beach.
Funny enough, both finalists are helmed by brother and sister business partners.
Koby and Zoey Wexler own Death by Pizza.
Siblings Anthony and Cat Vultaggio, with Anthony’s wife Lily, own Mamma Mia’s on the Beach.
Death by Pizza’s weekly journey pitted the 2024 champ against New York Style in round one’s Sweet 16. It’s Elite Eight competitor was second seed Tomasso’s in Boca Raton. Next, Leonardi’s, the challenge’s Cinderella, ended its journey with Death by Pizza’s decisive slam dunk. This Delray Beach favorite with two locations amassed a total vote count over four rounds of 6,169.
Mamma Mia’s on the Beach didn’t have enough nominations for a bracket berth in 2024, but turned the game around this year, making it the top seed as voted by readers. Its first competitor was Dominic’s, the toughest competition they’d see throughout the tournament. During the Elite Eight round two, it beat Angelo’s. In the semis, it trounced Ah-Beetz. Overall, this Lake Worth pizzeria nabbed 8,423 votes.
And the winner is…
Polls closed April 2 at noon with 8,865 votes, doubling last week’s total tally and marking nearly a third of all votes cast since the tournament’s tip off.
Leading the board: Mamma Mia’s on the Beach with 5,608 votes representing 63.3% in the final poll.
This is an exciting month for the Vultaggio family. Noting his gratitude to his terrific staff and patrons, in addition to winning, Anthony and his wife Lily shared good news that they are expecting their first child any day now. Her name will be Rosie, the same as the team’s next pizzeria slated for Wellington later this year.
And though Death by Pizza is this year’s runner up, in honor of making it to the finals for two consecutive years, the Wexlers are hosting “Three days of thank you’s!” From Wednesday, April 9 to Friday, April 11, they want to thank their “loyal and passionate fans with some incredible surprises.” You’ll find hints about the goodies on Instagram via @deathbypizzadelray.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: March Madness Pizza Challenge: Palm Beach County’s champ is crowned
Reporting by Diana Biederman, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
