In the little Mississippi Delta town of Indianola, the summers can be sweltering, and the mosquitoes are big and mean. As youngsters, best friends Brooks Roberts and Preston Lott played in its broad, flat, green spaces, gazed up at the night sky illuminated by sudden, brilliant flashes of heat lightning, … More
Pizzerias & Pizzaioli
Artichoke Basille’s: How Two East Village Pizza Guys Became Food Network Stars
Francis Garcia and Sal Basille—cousins, business partners and owners of Artichoke Basille’s Pizza—are, in many ways, quintessential old-school New Yorkers. They know the score and tell it like it is. They’re not afraid of hard work. They take pride in their pizza craft. But they’re also quite unlike the … More
Featured Video
The Lucky Number: Ali Haider Is Setting the Pizza World on Fire at 786 Degrees.
Ali Haider may be half-Iraqi and half-Indian, but he’s all Italian at heart. As owner of 786° Wood Fired Pizza Company in Sun Valley, California, the dashingly cosmopolitan Haider—he was born in India and raised in Kuwait before immigrating to the United States—terms himself an “ambassador of … More
Pizzerias & Pizzaioli
The Master Plan: How Michael LaMarca Balances Family Life and Pizza Rock Stardom
The owner of Cleveland-based Master Pizza doesn't let running his successful business run his life.
Videos
Rocking the Boat: How Two Landlubbers Built a Floating Food Truck in the Virgin Islands
Living in paradise is harder than you think—if you’re paying for it with pizza. For Tara Bouis, co-owner and head chef of Pizza Pi VI, it means 10-hour workdays, toiling in a cramped, hot little kitchen with the oven running full blast, slipping and sliding over slick, wet floors, … More
Pizzerias & Pizzaioli
The Robots Are Coming: Zume Pizza May Be the Sci-Fi Pizzeria of the Future
If robots ever conquer the world, Julia Collins will be ready. They might even be her robots, in which case there’s no reason to panic: It will be a friendly takeover. Collins and her partner, Alex Garden, have developed a “cobot culture” at their single-unit pizzeria, Zume Pizza, in … More
Pizzerias & Pizzaioli
Katie Collier: The Queen of All Pizza Media in St. Louis.
Katie Collier could be a Food Network celebrity if she wanted to be—she just doesn’t want to be. With her extraordinary kitchen skills, warm personality and marketing smarts, Collier, the co-owner and culinary mastermind behind Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria in St. Louis, knows how to get her name—and … More
Pizzerias & Pizzaioli
Two Boots: Meet the Free Spirits Behind Pizzas Like the Hogwallop, the Dude and the Royal Tenenbaum
Naming a pizza at Two Boots is serious business. You can’t just string together a list of ingredients—say, the Bacon, BBQ Chicken, Scallions and Cheddar—and call it a day. No, you give it some deep thought, you search your soul, you ponder eternal cosmic truths, and then it finally … More
Pizzerias & Pizzaioli
We Stayed Up Past Our Bedtime at Mikey’s Late Night Slice in Columbus, Ohio
You might say Mike Sorboro built Mikey’s Late Night Slice with his own two feet. Sorboro, who co-owns the famously irreverent pizza company in Columbus, Ohio, raised the money to launch the first Mikey’s location with his pedicab business, carting hard-partying tourists and clubbers around the city in the … More
Pizzerias & Pizzaioli
Thea’s Rules: This Food-loving Brit Is Rewriting the Restaurant Rules in Miami
In her teenage days, London-born Thea Goldman, owner of Thea’s in Miami, traveled the world as a fashion model—living in Paris, Tokyo, New York City. But her true passion wasn’t strutting down the runway; it was food. She chased jobs in and out of the kitchen, using modeling as … More
Pizzerias & Pizzaioli
Proud Larry’s Earns Straight As in Pizza, Drinks and Rock-and-Roll
Don’t let the unassuming red-brick facade and humble patio fool you: Proud Larry’s may look like your average small-town pizza joint from the outside, but it’s a venue that has played host to musical legends. Located in Oxford, Mississippi—home of the University of Mississippi and William Faulkner—Proud Larry’s, a … More
Business & Marketing
Pizza by the Sea: Beach-Town Pizza Company Has Picture-Perfect Strategy for Marketing to Families
Jason and Kristi Beer (above) encourage customers to paint original designs on pizza pans, which help create Pizza by the Sea’s distinctive, off-kilter vibe. It’s a good thing Jason and Kristi Beer, owners of the three-unit Pizza by the Sea in the Florida Panhandle, like children—they’ve got a lot … More