First Apartment Checklist Plus the Best Pizza to Christen It

The First Night Is Always Pizza Night

There’s an unwritten rule about first apartments: the first meal is pizza. It doesn’t matter if you’re 18 and moving out of your parents’ house, 22 and starting your first job after college, or a Military family arriving at a new duty station. The first night in a new place, nobody cooks. Everyone orders pizza.

• No kitchen setup: Your pots are in a box labeled “kitchen” that’s buried under three other boxes — you couldn’t cook even if you wanted to, and you don’t want to
• No dishes unpacked: Plates, bowls, and utensils are somewhere in the stack — pizza doesn’t need any of them, which is the whole point
• No grocery run done: The fridge has been off for a week during the move — even if you bought groceries, where would you put them until you clean the shelves?
• Emotional value: That first pizza in your first apartment is a marker — it’s the meal that says “I live here now” and every slice tastes better because of it
• Leftovers = breakfast: Order enough for leftovers — cold pizza for breakfast in your new apartment the next morning is a rite of passage that shouldn’t be skipped

Your First Apartment Checklist — Day One

Before you unpack everything, make sure you’ve got the basics covered. This isn’t the Instagram version with matching towels and a fully stocked spice rack. This is the stuff you’ll actually need in the first 48 hours to survive comfortably.

Kitchen Setup — When You Get to It

The kitchen can wait until day 2 or 3. When you do set it up, here’s the realistic starter kit — not the Williams-Sonoma fantasy, the actual minimum you need to feed yourself between pizza orders.

• One pot, one pan, one spatula: That covers pasta, eggs, rice, and basic stir-fry — the entire first-apartment cooking rotation that’ll carry you for months
• A can opener: This sounds obvious until you’re standing in your kitchen at 11 PM with a can of soup and no way to open it — buy a manual one for $3 and keep it in the drawer
• 4 plates, 4 bowls, 4 cups: Enough for you plus a guest or two — don’t buy a 16-piece set until you know if you’re actually going to host dinners (you probably won’t for the first 6 months)
• A cutting board and one good knife: A chef’s knife and a plastic cutting board handle everything from vegetables to opening packages — total cost: under $15
• Paper towels and dish soap: The paper towels are your plates, napkins, and cleaning cloths for the first week — the dish soap is for the one pot and pan you’re actually going to use
• A baking sheet: For frozen pizza, roasted vegetables, sheet-pan dinners, and reheating leftover Godfather’s — the most versatile kitchen tool under $10

What to Order Your First Night

Your first-apartment pizza order should be simple, satisfying, and enough for leftovers — because tomorrow morning you’re going to want cold pizza for breakfast and that’s completely acceptable behavior.

If you’ve never tried us, start with the Classic Combo or the Taco Pie. Both are worth the first order and both reheat well the next day. Check the full menu to pick your combo.

First Apartment on a Budget

Money is tight in a first apartment. Between the deposit, first month’s rent, basic furniture, and utilities setup, your budget is stretched thinner than you’ve ever experienced. The good news: pizza is one of the most affordable ways to eat well when cooking isn’t an option yet.

• Best budget order: A large one-topping pizza starts under $15 and feeds you for dinner plus breakfast — that’s under $8 per meal, cheaper than most fast food when you factor in the leftovers
• Deals and specials: Our deals page always has specials running — check before you order every time and you’ll save $3–$8 per order consistently
• Skip the delivery apps: Ordering directly from us (online or by phone) avoids the $5–$10 in fees and markups that DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub add to every order — that’s significant when your budget is tight
• Pizza Pack math for roommates: Four large one-topping pizzas for $75 split between 4 roommates is $18.75 each — that’s 8 slices per person, covering dinner and at least one more meal each
• Near UTSA? If you’re a student in your first apartment near campus, we’re a regular go-to for the UTSA area — affordable, filling, and you don’t have to leave your apartment to get it

Beyond the First Night

Once you get past the pizza-and-takeout phase — give it a week, no judgment — here’s the realistic cooking rotation that every first-apartment resident discovers independently:

• Pasta: Boil water, cook noodles, add jar sauce — total cost per meal: under $3. Total effort: 15 minutes. This is the backbone of first-apartment cooking.
• Eggs: Scrambled, fried, or in a quesadilla — eggs are $4/dozen and each one is a serving. Learn to make a basic omelet and you’ve got breakfast and dinner covered.
• Rice + protein: A rice cooker ($15 at Target) and chicken thighs ($2.50/lb at H-E-B) = meal prep for 4 days at under $2 per serving
• Sandwiches: Bread, deli meat, cheese — zero cooking required and the ingredients last a week in the fridge
• And then, when it all gets boring: Pizza. Save our number: (210) 750-2222. Save the online ordering link. You’re going to use both more than you think.

Frequently Asked Questions