"If you hit up your favorite pizza spot during the dinner or lunch rush, there's a good chance you're getting a fresh pie, and you won't have much to worry about. But if it's later in the day, maybe just before dinner or well past it, there's a chance that pizza was fired a couple of hours ago. You're going to need to take a close look for signs of freshness."
"If the glass of the display case has visible condensation around the pizza, that's a good sign it's fresh from the oven and worth your money. Even if that's not the case, you can look for a glossy sheen of fresh oil on top, which indicates it was recently cooked. The longer a pizza stays out, the more the cheese and fats will congeal and develop a flat appearance."
Whole pizzas left in display cases later in the day may have been sitting for hours and can signal reduced quality or potential food-safety risks. Freshness signs include visible condensation on the display-case glass and a glossy sheen of fresh oil on top of the pie. As pizza sits, cheese and fats congeal and develop a flat appearance. Lack of customer purchases can indicate poor quality. Prepared pizza should not remain at room temperature more than two hours; it needs refrigeration or disposal after that time. Between 40°F and 140°F, bacteria can double in about 20 minutes. Display cases must hold pizza at 140°F or higher to maintain safety.
Read at Tasting Table
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