It is often the case that a host/hostess of a pizza gathering will order lots of "interesting", attractive pizzas, with lots of wacky vegetables, etc. I call these "art pizzas", nice to look at, but about as tasteful as eating a Monet. Notice that at any gathering, the pepperoni pizzas are always the first to be eaten!
One of my crazy business ideas is to secure the four corner business locations at one of the main intersections of a large town (50k people), and then to open "competing" pizza joints on each of the four corners-- one Italian, one Greek, one New York, etc. Hire staff to be loud and fun, each restaurant should challenge the other, etc. Attract visitors from many towns to come sample a slice at each place.
The best way to evaluate a new pizza restaurant is to try a slice of their plain cheese pizza. (Similar: best way to evaluate a new ice cream place is to compare their vanilla ice cream.)