Owner of Rogers Park Pizzeria Helps Set World Record for Largest Pizza Party

Tony Troiano, owner of J.B. Alberto’s Pizza about a mile north of Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus, and his wife helped set the Guinness World Record for Largest Pizza Party, Jan. 21 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

Troiano is a part of World Pizza Champions, a non-profit group made of pizza-making professionals who helped organize the event that catered to 3,357 people.

To qualify for World’s Largest Pizza Party, participants had to eat two slices of pizza and drink an eight ounce bottle of water in a 15-minute time period, according to Troiano. There was a proctor from Guinness there timing it along with 70 judges, one for every 50 people, to confirm each person ate the entire two pieces of pizza in the time frame, according to Troiano.

This new record replaces the previous record of 1,044 people in Rome in 2019.

“Our plan was to double that, and we ended up more than tripling it, which was fantastic,” Troiano said. 

Troiano and other organizers managed breaking the previous record, garnering 3,357 participants at their party at the University of Tulsa before the men’s basketball team defeated Tulane. The event raised over $40,000 through $5 entry fees and sponsorships for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oklahoma, according to Troiano. 

“It was a great time,” Troiano said. “The main thing is that we got to raise $42,000 for a great organization and that really makes me happy.”

“It was amazing!” Troiano said. “It was pizza. It was a college basketball game. It was an electric atmosphere!”

Some participants ended up being disqualified during the event due to not finishing their pizza or starting too early, according to Troiano. 

“One of the most difficult things at the event was getting everyone into the stadium with their two slices of pizza in the container and a bottle of water,” Troiano said. “You can’t touch it until we say go.”

This wasn’t Troiano’s first time setting a world record. In 2017, he helped set the record for World’s Longest Pizza at 1,930.39 meters. However, he said his most recent world record experience was a lot more enjoyable than his first.

“We were in a desert in California and it was grueling,” Troiano said. “In a desert during the day, it’s scorching hot and then at night, believe it or not, it’s cold. So you’re in a t-shirt and it’s like 45 to 50 degrees, a total opposite of during the day, and we’re working around the clock to make this happen.”

Featured image courtesy of Tony Troiano