The chef who made thin and crispy pies for generations of customers at Miami’s Best Pizza in Miami has gone his own way with Thad’s Pizza, which recently opened in the space formerly occupied by Mamma Dora’s in the city’s King Creek shopping plaza.
The only problem thus far: Sometimes the pizzeria gets so busy, Thad Winieckie can’t keep up with the DoorDash orders.
Winieckie was a familiar face at Miami’s Best Pizza for more than 35 years. Miami’s Best started out as a Little Caesars franchise serving University of Miami students before owner Al Papich’s family rebranded it in 1989. Winieckie joined the team around that time and “became the face of the place,” the Miami New Times reports.
Miami’s Best is now under new ownership, but, according to Winieckie, “They wanted to be all things to all people. That’s not me. I’m pizza, period.”
Winieckie had been doing pop-ups at Mamma Dora’s, where his son worked, then took over the business after the owners ran into lease problems.
Business was so good for Thad’s Pizza that DoorDash briefly stopped accepting orders for the pizzeria on the night of September 19 due to overly long wait times. Rather than lament the 30-minute suspension, Winieckie celebrated it in a Facebook post the next day. “You know you’re doing something right when DoorDash temporarily suspends your shop because you can’t make unlimited pizzas fast enough,” he stated in the post.
Winieckie, who proofs his dough for a minimum of 50 hours, also got a free PR boost when Miami Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra, a longtime supporter, showed up to congratulate him on the pizzeria’s opening in late September and posed for photos (see below). Additionally, WTVJ-NBC6 held a staff reunion at Thad’s Pizza that same month. That’s the kind of media exposure no money can buy.
Winieckie’s pizzas defy easy labels, the Miami New Times explains. “The pies lean on a 1959 Detroit family recipe that Thad has been refining for years. The result isn’t exactly New York, and it isn’t exactly Detroit. It’s thinner, crispier and lighter, balanced with California tomatoes, a rich cheese blend, and toppings chosen for both texture and taste.”
