Pizza Index

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The Pizza Index refers to the sudden increase of takeout food orders (not necessarily of pizza) made from government offices, particularly the Pentagon and the White House in the United States, before major international events unfold.

Government officials order food from nearby restaurants when they stay late at the office to monitor developing situations such as the possibility of war or coup, thereby signaling that they are expecting something big to happen. This index can be monitored through open resources such as Google Maps, which show when a business location is abnormally busy. Conversely, on-site locations around government buildings (such as bars or night clubs) that show less activity than usual also give an indication of the pizza index, as government employees that would normally go to these locations after work are instead still in the office.

The index can be used by those not employed by these agencies to get an idea of what a government, and particularly its intelligence agencies, is focusing on or expecting to happen in the next few hours or days.

An example of this occurrence happened on the night of August 1 1990 during which the Central Intelligence Agency ordered 21 pizzas in a single night right before the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. This event signaled that the US expected war to break out between the two countries before any public confirmation was made in the media or on TV.