From Capitol Square to Camp Randall, there are more than 20 pizza places. A plethora of fliers displaying daily deals and hours tailored around a student's appetite demonstrate the competition among pizzerias in areas heavily populated by students.
""Our income would not be what it is without staying open late for the bar time crowd,"" said Clayton Scherer, general manager at Ian's Pizza, 319 N. Frances St.
Papa John's, 515 University Ave., and Domino's, 409 W. Gorham St., have different hours Sunday to Wednesday than they do from Thursday to Saturday.
Jeff Gresley, Domino's store manager, said his store stays open until 3 a.m. during bar nights and gears all its deals to the student population.
Holly H., store manager of Papa John's, said the restaurant receives a lot of business during the bar rush, and business is otherwise always steady.
On any given school night, students crave cheap meals close to campus and are frequently drawn to publicized specials.
""All we do is get pizza that's cheap."" UW-Madison Sophomore Tony Bierke said. ""We order whichever pizza is cheaper or has the better deal that night.""
Dominos employees wave large signs Monday afternoons promoting their $4.99 deal to busy rush-hour traffic down West Gorham Street and to students heading to the nearby high-rise apartment buildings.
Neighboring Papa John's has tried to be accessible to students looking for pizza when late-night hunger strikes.
""What we did was give students a free large pizza if they would come in here and show us that they programmed our number in their cell phone,"" she said.
Despite large advertising campaigns by pizza chains, students living in university housing also have the option of ordering food from campus eateries. With the swipe of a WisCard, they can have pizza delivered directly to their dorm rooms.
""If it's raining or snowing ... I'd rather have a pizza delivered than go out and get one,"" UW-Madison freshman Courtney Stacy said of the dorm pizza options.
