From New York to Chicago, all the way to the self-proclaimed pizza capital of the world, New Haven, Connecticut, pizza is everywhere. It’s served at parties, graduations, in schools, break rooms, and delivered late at night to soothe cravings. On National Pizza Day, the presence of pizza is impossible to ignore.
Each year, February 9 is recognized as National Pizza Day, a day to celebrate one of America’s most beloved foods. While most people might not even know about the day, or just celebrate it with a slice of pizza, for Kenny Wildes, pizza isn’t a once-a-year celebration; it’s a daily routine he’s kept going for more than eight years.
What began as a simple bet quickly became something much bigger.
“It was a bet I couldn’t eat pizza every day for a week straight,” Wildes said. “Then it turned into ‘I bet you couldn’t eat pizza every day for a month straight.’”
He then learned about someone from New York who had eaten pizza daily for a year.
“I said, ‘I can beat that’,” he replied.
Looking back, Wildes admits he never saw this coming. What began as a joke and a simple bet has grown into something bigger than he could ever have imagined. Wildes, now better known as ‘CTPizzaMan,’ has built a following of more than 65,000 on Instagram, all while doing something he never saw going past a few weeks.
“I definitely wasn’t thinking years, people following along, or it turning into anything bigger,” Wildes said. “That part still blows my mind.”
After eight years, Wildes still manages to keep the experience fresh by traveling to new pizza spots, trying different styles, and even making pizza at home. After over 3,000 days of pizza every day, Wildes says that New Haven style is unmatched, with his favorite spots being Sally’s Apizza, Frank Pepes, and Fuoco.
“You can’t beat a crispy, chewy coal oven pie,” he says.
National Pizza Day doesn’t change much for someone like Wildes. “It’s too cool that pizza has its own day, as it is loved by many, many people,” Wildes explains. “But for me, I eat pizza on the loud days and the quiet ones. On holidays, snow days, bad days, great days. I’m just doing what I’ve done for the last eight plus years.”
Pizza is now a part of Wilde’s life and his identity as ‘CTPizzaMan.’ The bet made more than eight years ago has turned into an end goal of making it into the Guinness World Record Book for the most consecutive days of eating pizza.
As Wilde’s social media grew, so did his goals. Wildes has started to use his social media following to shine a spotlight on local mom-and-pop pizza places.
“If I can get one person from a post to go try a small mom and pop shop, it helps everyone,” he said.
Recently Wildes platform has extended past his daily pizza journey; it has become a way to give back. To mark his 3,000-day straight of eating pizza, Wildes partnered with the Feeding Families Foundation, an organization working to solve problems most people don’t even realize exist inside children’s hospitals.
“Feeding Families Foundation’s mission is to eliminate hospital food insecurity for parents and caregivers of critically ill children in the hospital by providing free meals and having those meals delivered to the room,” said Jeff Dorman, co-founder and chair of the foundation.
While hospitalized children receive meals as part of their care, parents do not. Many parents spend weeks or months at their child’s bedside, forced to choose between leaving the room to find food or staying with their child.
“This gap places an additional burden on families already facing the immense stress of caring for a critically ill child,” Dorman explained.
Since launching in 2023, the Feeding Families Foundation has expanded into six hospitals across five states, including Yale Children’s Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital. In 2025, the foundation donated more than 8,000 hospital meals and an additional 10,000 meals from local New Haven restaurants.
The connection between Wildes and the foundation came naturally through New Haven’s close-knit pizza community.
“We were introduced to Kenny through Michael Pollack of the New Haven Pizza Club and Joe Massaro of the New Haven Pizza Crew, who recognized how naturally his passion for pizza aligned with our mission,” Dorman said.
Now, Wildes often spends his Friday nights delivering pizza directly to families staying at Yale Children’s Hospital.
“Kenny’s goal of eating pizza every day has turned a simple slice into a real impact. Each post brings awareness to the families we serve,” Dorman remarked.
What started as a bet between Wildes and his friends has grown into something that feeds more than just himself. Through his journey to break the Guinness World Record, Wildes will continue to do the things he loves, eat pizza every day, and support the community around him. Anyone interested in supporting Feeding Families can go to www.feedingfamiliesfoundation.org.
