Aaron and Natalie Truong, owners of Hapa Pizza in Beaverton, Oregon, remember when selling 90 pizzas was a busy day.
That was back in 2021, when the couple were still making their pies—which they describe as Asian-inspired Neapolitan style—from a tent at Portland-area farmers markets on Saturdays. Once they opened their little brick-and-mortar store in March 2023, lines were long, and they were up to 200 pies a day. Nowadays, that’s still not enough, thanks to being listed as one of The New York Times’ 22 best pizzerias in the U.S. a few months ago.
Say what you want about the best-pizzeria lists that have emerged in recent years—and there’s a lot of them—the restaurants that get included aren’t complaining.
Related: Small-town independents shine in New York Times’ list of best U.S. pizzerias
As Oregon Public Radio (OPB) reports, Hapa Pizza’s business soared by 200% in just one month (from June to July) after The Times’ list hit in June of this year. It’s a good problem to have, albeit a problem nevertheless. The Truongs said they knew something was coming from The Times—the newspaper had requested photos of their pies in advance—but assumed it was a best-pizza-in-Portland list, not a national guide. They felt honored and proud to be included, but they weren’t quite ready for what was to come.
The Truongs admitted to being nervous in an Instagram post on June 25. “It is such a huge honor to be discussed among legends like the other pizzerias on [The Times] list,” they wrote. They continued: “At the same time, it’s honestly kind of scary to get that praise because we still feel like a little mom-and-pop shop [that has] a lot to learn…All we can do is try our best to keep getting better in order to offer something special to our community here in Beaverton.”
Hapa Pizza is a family-owned, single-unit pizzeria offering specialty pies like the Báhn Mi (lemongrass BBQ pork, mozz, pickled radishes and carrots, cilantro, cucumber sauce and sriracha aioli) and the Pho (slow-cooked stewed brisket, pho sauce, red onion, mozz, Thai basil, cilantro, green onions, bean sprouts, hoisin sauce and sriracha aoli). The Truongs and their team bake their 24-hour-fermented crust in a gas oven to a nice, crispy finish.
“We’re taking elements of both of these cultures that have influenced us and bringing them together to make something new,” Aaron told OPB in March 2022, when he and Natalie were still baking up their pies at the Beaverton Farmers Market. It started as a hobby for Aaron, who admitted, “My wife was pretty mad at me for spending $500 on a [Gozney Roccbox] pizza oven.”
Safe to say Natalie has gotten over it. The Truongs’ food was already earning renown in Portland before The Times article came out. Afterwards, their small pizzeria got so busy, they had to seek advice via Instagram from Ken’s Artisan Pizza and Grana Pizza Napoletana, respectively named the No. 5 and No. 27 best pizza places in the United States by 50 Top Pizza.
Ken’s and Grana had also made The New York Times’ list. Coincidentally or not, The Times and 50 Top Pizza released their lists on the same day, so the owners of both brands could empathize with the Truongs’ dilemma. The 32-seat Grana, which opened in October 2023, had seen its business double, while Ken’s experienced a 40% increase. At Grana, owners Maya Setton and Chris Flanagan had to hire four new team members.
In a classic example of pizzeria owners helping pizzeria owners, the Truongs spent an entire night swapping messages with Grana Pizza Napoletana. With Hapa’s business jumping literally overnight and a small team in place, the couple needed some input. Should they get rid of their lunch service to keep up? Raise their prices? They discussed the benefits of taking reservations or creating a waitlist so they could better manage the huge influx of orders. They also weighed hiring more employees against the possibility that business would later drop and require layoffs.
“We’ve gotten a lot of people—to the point where I’m almost in tears because they’re so encouraging—telling us to stick with it and keep doing what we’re doing,” Natalie said in the recent OPB interview.
The Truongs are still scrambling to meet demand for their pies, but they’re not complaining. “It’s surreal to be named top in the U.S. still,” Natalie told OPB. “I keep thinking, ‘Wow, this article lives on the internet. Anytime somebody looks up Portland pizza, this is going to pop up.’”
