We had a casual party at our house a couple of weeks back, and it meant, as parties often do, leftover beer and pizza. That's one of the benefits of having parties: It can get you pizza for a week.

In this case, there was enough pizza to make up a significant portion of my lunch or dinner for five days. I'm not saying that was a healthy development, but it was a cheesy one.

And when the party pizza was gone, what I really wanted for dinner the next Saturday night was, say it with me, pizza.

Right there, you have a fundamental property of pizza. It has an unending appeal and, for lots of us, it creates a bottomless appetite for the stuff. My wildly unscientific rule is, most people eat 1.5 pieces more than they should at any one sitting. Double that for teenagers. There are few times when it's not an attractive food option. Ahhh, pizza.

That, however, might be as far as we go with a communitywide consensus. That's because, as much as most folks might agree about pizza being great, lots of people are just as passionate about the specifics of what makes great pizza. (I'm going to ask you about that in a moment.)

The divisions go every which way. Thick crust. Thin crust. Buttery crust. Stuffed crust. Crisp crust. Doughy crust. Heavy sauce. Tomato-loaded sauce. White sauce. Garlic Caesar salad sauce. Extreme cheese. No cheese. Mixed toppings. Just pepperoni. All veggie. Loads of meat. And the most emotionally divisive piece of this pie: anchovies.

For the record, I'm avidly pro-anchovy. Funny story. In the days when I worked for The Gap, Sunday night inventories came with Gap- financed pizza. However, they never brought in enough, especially considering the 1.5-pieces-too-many rule. But one co-worker and I often managed to order a pizza with anchovies. So while a dozen colleagues avoided the little fish and fought over two or three pizzas, my friend and I got one large pizza to ourselves. I still feel guilty.

Anyway, the point is, people are serious about their pizza, and this is where you all come in. I'm building a list of the best pizza in the Sacramento region, and I need your help. I want to know where you go for pizza and why it's good.

I don't need the ingredients you prefer – unless that directly contributes to why that pizza place is worthy. Good example: "Their pepperoni is thick and tastes like it came from a deli." Useless: "Dude, I love pepperoni."

To get this started, here are some discussion points.

• Zelda's is a pizza institution in Sacramento. It's also one of the most emotionally divisive, depending on how you react to the thick, rich crust. To fans, it's heaven. To others, it's too much like pie. I like Zelda's a lot, but what draws me is the sauce.

• On a different end of the scale is Papa Murphy's. It's a chain and it's pretty basic. But it's fast, convenient, totally decent, and since you cook it at home, you get to eat it hot. Also, it's very cheap. My brother-in-law says the price is so low that he feels guilty using their coupons.

You can also doctor your Papa Murphy's pizza. At my pro-anchovy house, we dump a can of the little guys on there.

So, should Papa Murphy's be on the list? Too low-end? No big chains allowed? If they are, does Pizza Guys qualify with its quick, reliably solid pizza? Do their free 2-liter sodas help? Discuss.

• Some other questions: When did Steve's Pizza fall off the pizza map? Or did it? Same for Original Pete's. Does it make the list? Does California Pizza Kitchen count?

Most of all, what places should I add to the list I have here? Feel free to second these nominations, but more than anything, I want to know where else to go for great pizza and why? E-mail me or comment online. This is just a starter list – give me more.

Just for starters

Buonarroti Ristorante, Lincoln, 460 G St., Lincoln, (916) 645-7951. Also in Town & Country Village, (916) 265-2110; www. buonarrotilincoln.com. Old- school Italian pizza that gets raves.

Ciros Pizza, 241 Blue Ravine Road, Folsom, (916) 983-5757. Also at 7521 Old Auburn Road, Citrus Heights, (916) 726-5757, and in Fair Oaks (delivery only), (916) 729-5757; www. cirospizza.com. High-end designer pizza with a choice of crusts, and red or white sauces.

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Call The Bee's Rick Kushman, (916) 321-1187.