Considering Johnson City's historic connections with Chicago you might expect it to be known for Chicago-style deep dish or Sicilian-style pizza, but it's not. Johnson City is known for thin crust pizzas and they're thin crust with a difference. Thin crust pizza is a traditional Italian pie that originates from Rome and the surrounding areas. When prepared with the addition of olive in the dough base, it bakes up crispier than say a New York-style pie, which stays soft after it’s cooked. Normally a regular thin crust pizza would have an outer edge bare of ingredients, but not in this Tennessee city. In many of the pizzerias in Johnson City, you'll find the pies are topped right across from border to border so are edgeless or crust-free pizzas. That means you get more topping for your money and no dry crusts left on your plate.

Best delivery pizza in Johnson City, Tennessee

Eggs don't always appetize when you wake up late after a night on the town. If you think it's impossible to get the best delivery pizza in Johnson City for breakfast, then you'd be wrong. Portobello's Italian Bistro is open from ten thirty in the morning five days a week and ready and waiting to deliver you a great pie. Portobello's Italian Bistro is a family-owned business that has their premises on West State of Franklin Road. It's a pretty smart pizzeria decorated in a modern style with wood-paneled walls and super ambient lighting. It's the sort of place you'd be happy to sit in to pass an hour or two with friends eating pizza and sipping beer. To quell a morning–after–the–night–before empty gut feeling, though, you should go for Portobello's Supreme which is loaded with hamburger, sausage, pepperoni, ham, and bacon plus a couple of veggies to help keep it healthy.

Best takeout pizza in Johnson City, Tennessee

If you've just left the Rocky Mount State Historic Site and are heading back into town with your stomach rumbling, swing by North Roan Street. When you see the signs for Boone's Creek Plaza, pull in and you'll be able to get your hands on the best take-out pizza in Johnson City. Right at the front of the parking lot, you'll spot Giovanni's Family Restaurant, It’s and that's precisely where you need to be. Giovanni's is a large establishment decorated in homely style that mimics a traditional trattoria. Find your way through the two dining areas to the counter and you'll be handed a pizza menu with some great topping ingredient combinations. Try the Manhattan Bridge and you'll get something akin to what is commonly known as pizza Hawaii or go spicy with the pimped-up Chicken Alfredo.

Best pizza near Johnson City, Tennessee

Boring

Is there any reason you should head the fifteen miles northwest from Johnson City to Boring other than to say you've been somewhere with the most boring of names ever? Yes, there is. Boring is a rural town in Tennessee that's bordered by the serpentine Boone Lake. The lake is a very popular spot for fishing, boating, and all kinds of water sports. There's also a marina there and a picturesque pier which is quite photo-worthy if you're into photography. Is there anything else to mention about Boring, well, no, other than it's so boring it doesn't have a pizzeria. To get your hands on a slice of pie, head a couple of miles north of Boring to Pizza Plus on the Airport Parkway.

Blountville

Take a drive twenty miles north of Johnson City to Blountville and you'll find lots to keep you occupied. In Blountville, you can go underground to explore the Appalachian Caverns which are a set of caves used by early pioneers to escape the extremes of winter and where the military collected bat dung to use in the production of gunpowder. If that's not as adrenaline–inspiring as you’d like then go to the Muddy Creek Raceway to watch the off-roaders doing their thing. To pick up a great pie on the way back to Johnson City, head to Boonie's Restaurant and Pizzeria on Buffalo Road.

Bluff City

Bluff City is around a thirty-minute trip northeast from Johnson City and a place where there are some diverse activities to get involved in. If you're into spelunking, or even if you're not, the amazing rock formations in Worley's Cave are a must-see. If you're having the day out with kids, after you've come up from the depths of the earth, take them to the Backyard Terrors and Dinosaur Park where they can have fun running wild between the forty-plus life-sized sculptures of dinosaurs and other oddities. When you manage to catch up with them again, take them for a pizza at the Stellar Pizzeria on Bristol Highway.