With reports of imminent strikes against him multiplying – at the same rate as pizza orders are increasing -, the informal indicator that the American leadership is preparing for an operation, known in the international media and social networks as the “Pentagon theory”, is coming back to the fore, not by chance.
And it’s coming back precisely because according to the related account now on X under the title Pentagon Pizza Report, it’s seeing a sharp increase in traffic since yesterday at restaurants near the Pentagon.
Various pizzerias nearby the Pentagon, including both of the closest Papa Johns, are reporting above average traffic.
Freddies Beach Bar has above average traffic.
As of 8:30pm ET
— Pentagon Pizza Report (@PenPizzaReport)
Unofficial index
It may not have been officially proven that this indicator is a guarantee, but in several cases the rapid rise (usually) late at night (out of hours) of the quantities of fast food orders from pizzerias or other restaurants around the Pentagon or other decision centers in the USA, has preceded American businesses or before making decisions to settle some international crisis. This observation is not new, but it has been held as a theory since the Cold War era, that is, it is considered tested.
Domino’s Founder’s Index
More specifically, it was the owner of the Domino’s chain of stores in Washington, Frank Meeks, who first noticed that the nightly orders for his pizzas at the White House, Pentagon and CIA headquarters were increasing before important events. Meeks had noticed the phenomenon as early as 1983 and then again in 1989 on the nights before the Grenada and Panama invasions, but what convinced him it wasn’t a complete coincidence was when on August 1, 1990, the CIA ordered a record number of 21 pizzas in one night. The next day, the invasion of Kuwait began and subsequently the Gulf War.
Then the references are enough. According to Meeks – now deceased – pizza orders in the Washington area increased, before the start of Operation Desert Storm in 1991, in January 1998, immediately after the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, the White House placed $2,600 worth of pizza orders in three days. Similarly, in December 1998, during Bill Clinton’s impeachment hearings and the start of Operation Desert Fox in Iraq, the White House ordered 32% more pizzas with extra cheese, while orders in the Capitol area totaled $11,600.
Works like clockwork on newer examples as well
In more recent times, on April 13, 2024, unusually high activity was observed at a Papa John’s in Washington, D.C., which coincided with Iran launching drones into Israeli territory. On June 12, 2025, at 7:00 PM EST, the Pentagon Pizza Report recorded a real-time spike in traffic at a District Pizza Palace location just a short distance from the Pentagon. An hour later, Israel launched an air strike against Iran. On June 22, 2025, at 10:38 p.m., high activity was reported at a Papa John’s, also near the Pentagon, one hour before Donald Trump announced US strikes on Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities.
Between January 2 and January 3, 2026, unusually high activity was again observed at a Papa John’s near the Pentagon. This coincided with the preparation of US attacks on Venezuela. After the attacks, President Trump announced the arrest of Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores, who were being flown out of the country to face narco-terrorism charges. The spike in pizza orders preceded official confirmation of the operation by several hours, while Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez reported the couple as missing.
