Actor Steve Carell is a Lou Malnati’s fan. But it’s not necessarily his favorite pizza joint.
According to Tina Fey, speaking to The New York Times recently for its recurring “Pizza Interview” series, Carell—Fey’s co-star in the Netflix show The Four Seasons and in the film Date Night—sends frozen pizzas from the famed Chicago pizza brand as gifts to his friends.
The Times interview features Fey and The Four Seasons co-stars Will Forte and Kerri Kenney-Silver talking about their pizza experiences and other food-related topics.
Forte told The Times that he’s a fan of Chicago-style deep-dish pizza and added, “I can’t even remember the name of it, but we used to get these pizzas from Chicago.”
“Oh, yeah,” Fey replied, “Steve Carell sends those as gifts to people sometimes,” adding that the pizzas—presumably frozen—came from Lou Malnati’s.
But Carell went public with another one of his favorite pizzerias in April: Barone’s Famous Italian Restaurant in Valley Glen, California. Carell is reportedly a regular there and appeared in a short video recently posted on Barone’s social media platforms. “I have been coming here for 20 years,” Carell said. “Best pizza ever! You should try it.”
@baronesla Steve Carell has been coming here for 20 years. We finally let him in a reel 😂 #losangeles#baronesfamousitalianrestaurant #theoffice #stevecarell #neopolitanpizza ♬ original sound – Barones Restaurant
According to Barone’s website, the restaurant was founded in 1945 by four families—the Barones, the Monteleones, the Izzos and the Arpaias—and “introduced Los Angeles to its very first taste of pizza and helped shape the city’s Italian-American food scene.” Tom Monteleone, son of the late co-founder Frank Monteleone, now owns the restaurant.
Films and TV shows have been filmed at Barone’s, including a scene in Fast Times at Ridgemont High and the season 7 episode of The Office, in which Michael hosted his last Dundies Awards ceremony.
In the Times interview, Fey singled out Manco & Manco Pizza in Ocean City, New Jersey, as her favorite pizza shop.
The trio of The Four Seasons actors couldn’t reach a consensus on one important topic: pineapple as a pizza topping. Fey said she doesn’t like it, and Kenney-Silver stated firmly, “In the same way that I don’t think cottage cheese should even exist, I do not think pineapple belongs on pizza.”
But Forte said he’s “fine with pineapple on pizza. In the same way that anything can be art, I think anything can be pizza.”
Carell, of course, is also famous for The Office and an episode in which his character, the socially inept boss of Dunder-Mifflin, orders pizza from the wrong Scranton, Pennsylvania restaurant, much to his employees’ chagrin. Jim, Pam, Dwight and the gang were craving Alfredo’s Pizza Café, but Michael ordered from Pizza by Alfredo. Michael then tried to save money on his order with the coupon; when the delivery boy wouldn’t accept it, an angry Michael essentially held him hostage.
