By Charlie Pogacar
Few pizzerias have a brand as distinct as Ranger Joe’s Pizza, which opened its first shop in Kalispell, Montana, in 2021. From the cartoonish logo of owner and operator Joe Ledwidge as a park ranger gear to the shop’s tagline—“adventure is not complete without pizza”—the brand is being built for a long-term connection with its customers.
On the latest episode of Peel: A PMQ Pizza Podcast, Ledwidge shared the story behind the brand. Without spoiling too much of it, there was a grueling family hike through Glacier National Park where just about everything went wrong. Ledwidge led family and friends through the experience and, upon returning home, the family playfully dubbed him “Ranger Joe.”
How Ledwidge got into pizza is another story. Born in Michigan, he moved to Florida with his parents, who became Hungry Howie’s franchisees. He grew up in the shop, playing video games and eating copious amounts of pizza. “As I got older, I started doing more of the operations stuff,” Ledwidge recalled. “Making dough, prepping stuff—just trying to help my parents in any way [I] could.”
But as he became a young adult, Ledwidge wasn’t yet ready to go into the family pizza business. Instead, he moved to Southern California to pursue a career in acting. He was moderately successful, too, landing small roles in films like Passenger 57, Lethal Weapon and China Moon. Ledwidge, seeking more stability, ended up becoming a police officer and spent nearly two decades in the field.
“That provided a great living for me and my family,” Ledwidge said of his time spent in law enforcement. “But always, through the years, I felt like I’d kind of missed my calling. Every few years, I’d say to my wife, ‘Honey, maybe we should do a pizza shop?’ But then it would kind of fade away.”
In 2019, Ledwidge began experimenting with a family recipe, and one thing led to another. When the pandemic hit, the family, which had spent many a vacation in Western Montana, decided to move there full time, where Ledwidge would open a pizza shop. It was Ledwidge’s wife who had already come up with the brand, hatched in her head after the infamous hike through Glacier National Park.
“As I started [experimenting with pizza] at home in 2019, my wife goes, ‘Why don’t you name your little pizza shop in the house ‘Ranger Joe’s?’” Ledwidge said.
This is where Ledwidge’s two previous careers—acting and law enforcement—have conspired to create a potent brand. Ledwidge is frequently in character on the shop’s social media channels, taking customers behind the scenes to forge a connection that goes beyond pizza.
“It’s kind of in my blood,” Ledwidge said. “Because of the acting background, I don’t mind being on camera. My guys who videotape me call me a one-take wonder.”
To listen to the full podcast episode, check out the following links:
