Best of Spokane 2012: Best Pizza, and Best Mac & Cheese in 'The $100 Mac & Cheese Challenge'

#SpoCOOLSpokane

Pizza and mac & cheese -- they just seemed to go together! Let's kick it off with best pizza:

1 - Veraci
2 - South Perry Pizza
3 - Flying Goat
4 - Bennidito's Pizza
5 - Ferrante's
6 - Cafe Italiano

Really, the only surprise here is that the results are identical to last year. Veraci sits at number one, head and shoulder above the rest, with South Perry just edging out Flying Goat for the number two spot.

Bennidito's hangs still at number four, with Ferrante's and Cafe Italiano rounding out the list.

Quite odd that we saw no movement from last year, yet at the same time it's hard to argue with the results. Veraci has dominated the list for three years, and we would be very surprised if that will change anytime soon. It will be interesting to see if the soon to open Spokane location of Fire will have any impact on the overall standings though.

1 · Saranac
2 · Casper Fry
3 · Manito Tap House: Green Chili Mac & Cheese
4 · Manito Tap House: Blackened Mac & Cheese
5 · Latah Bistro
6 · Churchill's Steakhouse

Patrick kicked off the $100 Mac & Cheese Challenge with a simple claim, one we probably ended up taking a bit too literal: "I challenge anyone to find a better Mac & Cheese than what is offered at Saranac Public House. $100 cash money for the winner."

Now this race was extremely close from top to bottom, but in the end it looks like Patrick can keep his money. Saranac just barely edged out Casper Fry and two Manito Tap House takes on the dish. Latah Bistro wasn't far behind either, and even Churchill's could have won this had the tide turned just a bit.

Next up: Best market and best product.