Looking to open a pizza place? Go to Hawaii [Video]

Pepperoni is still America’s favorite pizza topping. | Photo: Shutterstock

Have an idea for a pizza concept but no inkling as to where to try it? Head as far west from the sauce and crust meccas of New York and Chicago as you can, suggests new research from the artificial-intelligence software company Otter.

The data show that the least-penetrated pizza market in the U.S. is Hawaii, where the relative scarcity of established purveyors has raised the average pizzeria order to $48.50.

And if that seems like a jump too far, your next best bet would be California, according to the research. As in Hawaii, pizza places make up less than 2% of the Golden State’s restaurant count, even though the pie specialists there enjoy an average tab of $40.10.

Nationwide, Otter found, pizzerias account for roughly one of every 20 restaurants, or 5.8% of all eating places as of last year. …