By Brian Hernandez
How good is the pizza at Slice on Broadway in Pittsburgh? So good that May 6, 2025, was declared Slice on Broadway Day by the Pittsburgh City Council.
Councilman Anthony Coghill called for the honor to be bestowed on the six-store brand after Slice on Broadway’s Chris Ostapenko brought home top honors for his cheese slice at the International Pizza Challenge in Las Vegas earlier this year. That win crowned Chris’ creation as the best in the world—for 2025, anyway.
The man behind the Slice on Broadway brand? Rico Lunardi, a proud member of PMQ’s U.S. Pizza Team and a longtime champion himself. He’s also the son of the legendary restaurateur Timothy Lunardi, known to Pittsburgh locals as the “godfather of Beechview.”
It should be noted that Coghill, addressing the Pittsburgh City Council meeting, toasted the Lunardi family legacy with a good-natured jab, saying he still liked Timothy Lunardi’s pizza best. Fair enough—smart politicians always make it a point to pay homage to the godfather.
Will Slice on Broadway Day be celebrated by the city every year from now on? No, Rico Lunardi told PMQ Pizza, but that’s OK. “The proclamation from the city was officially just for May 6th, 2025,” he said. “I think it should be celebrated worldwide, but we will be humble and just celebrate in our shops with our customers each year on the day.”
“After winning, we received so much love from everyone locally and even from across the state,” Lunardi added. “When our councilman approached us, letting us know Slice on Broadway was going to be honored for this achievement, we were beyond excited.”
The International Pizza Challenge in Las Vegas is no casual bake-off. It’s one of the most prestigious—and competitive—pizza-making events in the world, drawing elite pizzaioli from across the globe. To win in any category is a feat. To win Best Cheese Slice, arguably the most foundational and unforgiving test of pizza skill? That’s another level entirely.
Ostapenko is a longtime member of the Slice on Broadway team. And while he might not wear a U.S. Pizza Team patch on his sleeve—yet—his technique, execution and calm under pressure are textbook material. Even so, when his name was called out as the winner of the Best Cheese Slice competition, he said, “It was like everything paused for a second. I didn’t even hear my name at first—I just saw the team jumping up, and then it hit me. It was surreal. Still is, honestly.”
The rules for the contest were simple, he noted: make the best cheese pizza you can. “On a Friday night I make about 100 cheese pizzas, and I made the pizza (at the competition) as I do every day in the pizza shop, and the results paid off,” Ostapenko recalled. “It was our regular 48-hour cold fermented dough, our house-made sauce and our regular cheese blend. I think this pizza stood out because of the balance of flavors that we try to accomplish between the dough, sauce and cheese. I also nailed the baking this year in the oven. Even though I do this every day, we are still cooking outside our elements when competing.”
“For the most part, everything went as planned,” he said. “This was my second year competing, and I had a little better understanding of how the competition worked. It allowed me to plan a little better, and I was definitely less nervous.
Could Ostapenko be the next member of the U.S. Pizza Team? “I’m definitely open to it, if they’ll have me. I’d be honored to rep Pittsburgh and Slice on a bigger stage. But either way, I’m just grateful for the opportunity.”
Since the event, he added, “I’ve had people stop me mid-shift to say congrats or ask what the secret was. I’m just doing what I’ve always done, but it’s cool to have a few fans now.”
Lunardi’s late father once operated an Italian restaurant in the same neighborhood where the first Slice on Broadway location opened in July 2010, Lunardi pointed out. So it came as no surprise that Councilman Coghill was a big fan of the godfather’s food. “His restaurant was a staple in the community, and people loved the food but loved my dad’s company even more,” Lunardi said. “Councilman Coghill was one of the regulars, and it was humbling and an honor for him to mention my father. And if I am going to be second to anyone, it would be him.”
So which lessons from his father’s shop still guide Lunardi today?
“My dad treated everyone with respect and gave them an experience when they walked through our family restaurant,” Lunardi said. “I preach that every day to my crew at Slice on Broadway. Our pizza is the world’s best, but people remember more how they were treated and how you made them feel, and we continue that tradition.”
Brian Hernandez is PMQ’s associate editor and director of the U.S. Pizza Team.
