Vote now for best pizza restaurant Elite 8 winners in Sarasota, Bradenton

All the feedback we received from our list of best restaurants for pizza in Sarasota and Manatee counties published in February resulted in our current March Madness-style Best Pizza Challenge.

Based on our own list of favorites, your emails and comments, and customer Google reviews, the top 16 pizzerias in Sarasota and Manatee counties were seeded and placed in a bracket for round-by-round, head-to-head matchups that started March 4 and were scheduled to end at 2 p.m. March 7.

However, one of the competitions ended in a tie, with Origin and Joey D's receiving 398 votes each. We reopened their poll only, for a tiebreaker period that ended 9 a.m. Friday, March 8. The list of all eight winners can be seen below in the updated bracket.

Now, it’s time for you to continue to decide which pizzeria is No. 1.

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Elite 8 voting guide

Voting begins today and ends at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 14. Final Four voting will begin on Monday, March 18, featuring winners from the previous round.

Voting on the Elite 8 matchups begins today, with the polls closing at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 14. The voting will restart weekly each Monday through Thursday concluding with the finals taking place March 25-28. The champion will be announced Monday, April 1, and we promise, no foolin’!

Best Pizza championships dates

• Elite 8: March 11-14

• Final Four: March 18-21

• The Finals: March 25-28

• Winner announced Monday, April 1

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Il Panificio vs. Capo Pazzo

Recently placed in the national spotlight with an appearance on Dave Portnoy's hit internet show "One Bite Pizza Reviews," Il Panificio serves thin crust pizza that's somehow at once crisp and chewy. Il Panificio's downtown Sarasota location, which Portnoy gave a very respectable 7.4 out of 10 rating, dates back to 1991, and they also operate a pizzeria in Siesta Key Village. A cozy spot opened last year in a Sarasota strip mall, Capo Pazzo has built an ardent following (and accrued a 4.9 out of 5 star Google rating) with its New York-style pizzas featuring high-quality ingredients and a crispy crust with a slight char.

Osteria 500 vs. Bavaro’s

Osteria 500 opened last year in the Waterside Place neighborhood of Lakewood Ranch and serves Neapolitan-style pizza from a wood-burning oven built atop a Fiat 500. Bavaro's serves equally authentic Neapolitan-style pizza from a wood-fired brick oven located inside a renovated, nearly-century-old building just east of 301 in downtown Sarasota.

Oak & Stone vs. Joey D's

Oak & Stone is the hugely successful regional chain that started in Sarasota and offers a self-serve craft beer wall to go with its thin-crust artisan pizzas. Fresh off a dramatic overtime win against Origin, Joey D's was founded in Bradenton in 1994 and now has four popular locations in the area. They all serve Chicago deep dish pies, as well as the kind of tavern-style, thin-crust pizza that is also adored by Windy City residents.

Fav's Italian Cucina vs. The Loaded Barrel Tavern

Here's a downtown Bradenton battle featuring two beloved, locally owned places located basically right across Old Main Street from each other. Fav's Italian Cucina is where siblings Michael Favasuli and Maria Favasuli-Wagner have been making fresh dough daily with a secret family recipe and serving hand-tossed pizzas such as their famed "Favarita" (an inspired take on the margherita) in downtown Bradenton for the past 24 years. Downtown Bradenton bartender-turned-business-owner Paul Kotlarczyk's Loaded Barrel Tavern serves wild specialty pizzas, such as one that mimics a Big Mac, which are revealed every Monday afternoon on social media. They also offer pizza by the slice late into the evening to accompany their craft brews and cocktails.

Wade Tatangelo is Ticket Editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and Florida Regional Dining and Entertainment Editor for the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. He can be reached by email at wade.tatangelo@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Vote for best pizza restaurant Elite 8 winners in Sarasota, Manatee