Packing for Adventure

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After years of joking about our weekly pizza tradition and Chris’s strict pizza rules, people often ask, “Didn’t you get sick of pizza on your trip?”

The answer is no! Most of the pizza we ate was incredible!

You can only eat so much of the same factory-cranked pizza every week before you get sick of it. But with NYC and New Haven pizza in particular, it’s been fine-tuned to delicious perfection over the decades. Plus there’s a different pizza place on every corner.

There’s as many pizza places in Manhattan as there are Maverik’s in Utah!

Over our now 11.5 years of marriage, we’ve eaten pizza at minimum 598 times (52 Fridays per year x 11.5).

That’s a LOT of pizza. With that much pizza, quality stands out. I keep waiting for our favorites to show up in a “Best Pizza in Utah” list of some sort. Since it hasn’t happened yet, I’m making my own list.

Maybe you’ll notice the usual Utah pizza list toppers missing. They weren’t forgotten; they are overhyped and haven’t passed the test of time.

Wicked Peel

They were established in 2017, shortly after we had moved to the area. We were among their first “regulars.” And for good reason. They use high quality ingredients and their pizza is consistently delicious. It’s a wonderful family of 4 that own and operate the establishment. They feature New York style pizzas which are top notch, and their cheese bread is to die for. Later on they introduced Detroit style pizza, and it quickly stole my heart. Having been to Detroit itself, I can say that Wicked Peel has perfected it.

We moved in 2020 – far enough that our favorite Friday night pizza spot was no longer in the rotation. After a couple years without it, we started making road trips every 6–8 weeks to get our fix. Since we also hadn’t found a groomer we loved in our new area, we turned it into a tradition: drop the dogs off for grooming, grab some pizza, and make a day of it.

They recently opened a second location in Midvale, which is a little bit closer to us, so it’ll be added into the rotation once again!

Here’s our favorite pizzas, but don’t ever forget the cheese bread!

Chris	Rosie
1. The Brooklyn (without sausage)	1. Detroit Style Pepperoni (normal pepperoni instead of spicy cupped)
2. Buffalo Chicken (without bruschetta)	2. Wicked Vodka (without mushrooms)
3. The Patriot (without sausage)	3. Buffalo Chicken (without cilantro)
4. Detroit Style with Pepperoni, Ham, Green Olives, Mushrooms	4. The Smokey (without onion and cilantro)

Two locations:

• 3956 Innovation Dr, Riverton, UT 84065
• 7101 Bingham Jct Blvd #102, Midvale, UT 84047

Slice House by Tony Gemignani

We recently stumbled upon this gem located in Sugar House. I found out about it by sheer luck. It’s in an area that we are never close to. I saw a Facebook ad for a specialty restaurant, and when I looked up the specialty restaurant to see how far it was, I saw Slice House by Tony Gemignani in its vicinity.

Who is Tony Gemignani you ask? Why he is the author of the Pizza Bible of course! It’s a book I got Chris for his birthday maybe nine years ago. Then we went to a Tony Gemignani pizza restaurant in Las Vegas while celebrating our 5-yr anniversary and loved it.

So when I saw there was a Tony Gemignani restaurant in Utah of all places, we made a special trip to Sugar House to give it a try. They feature New York, Detroit, Sicilian, and Grandma styles. We haven’t had a chance to try the Sicilian or Grandma style yet as we haven’t been able to bring ourselves to stray from the New York slices!

They have also nailed the Detroit style- it tastes just like the pizza from Buddy’s, down to the Parmesan taste in the crust. Right now we keep going back for the plain NY-style cheese. We’ll branch out eventually, but it’s tough when the classic is just that good.

Multiple locations, but only one in Utah:

• 1332 S. Foothill Dr, Salt Lake City, UT 84108

Pizza Man

This is the only spot on my list without a dine-in option. It’s takeout or delivery only. When we lived closer to Wicked Peel in Riverton, we’d occasionally road trip up to North Ogden just for this pizza. Pizza Man is hard to classify—it’s round like a traditional pie but has cheesy edges that stretch all the way to the crust, though not quite caramelized like true Detroit-style. Whatever its classification, it’s definitely worth the drive! And don’t skip the amazing bread twists!

Chris	Rosie
Italian + Green Olives with Garlic Bread Twists	Pepperoni with Mozzarella Bread Twists

One location:

• 1958 N 400 E St, Ogden, UT 84414

Z Brothers Pizza

Their first location is in Centerville, and it’s a bit of a dive, but a great dining experience. You can get dine-in, take-out, or delivery. If you want to dine in, you place your order and seat yourself. The walls are covered in vinyl records of movie soundtracks. It’s a fun vibe. Their pizza is delicious, but when I suggest coming here, it’s because I want a break from traditional pizza. Don’t get me wrong, their traditional pizza is delicious, but I really love their Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich. Their cheese breadsticks are also a must, though I do wish they’d find a way to avoid the cheese sticking to the aluminum foil it is cooked on.

Chris tries to tell me that if I don’t order pizza, it doesn’t count, but his pizza tyranny can only go so far! Chris himself doesn’t always order pizza when we go here; he often opts for the calzone.

Here’s our favorites from Z Brothers:

Chris	Rosie
Pizza or Calzone (pepperoni, black and green olive, mushroom) + Cheese Breadsticks	Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich or Calzone (without onions) + Cheese Breadsticks

Three locations:

•  1097 S Main St, Centerville, UT 84014
• 460 N Redwood Rd, North Salt Lake, UT 84054
• 260 S Fort Ln Suite 103, Layton, UT 84041

We’ve tried many other pizza places in Utah. Chances are if you name it, we’ve tried it. These 4 are the most consistently delicious and we find ourselves returning over and over.

But the BEST pizza, can’t be found in a restaurant. Check out my next post for the golden standard – Chris’s homemade pizza!

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