Regional Pizza Chains That Really Should Go National

Restaurateur Adam Fleischman of the Los Angeles-based Umami Burger chain launched 800 Degrees in 2012 in partnership with chef Anthony Carron. There is one location on the East Coast, in Charlotte, NC, two in Los Angeles, and one in the Midwest, in Cleveland, OH. (The chain also has several outposts in Tokyo and Singapore.) Specialty pizzas include the Tartufo (truffle cheese, mushrooms, roasted garlic, and arugula) and the Angry Bee (a basic Margherita with the addition of soppressata, Calabrian chiles, garlic, and honey). More than 40 toppings are available for custom-made pies.

Artichoke pizza (with a creamy sauce), not surprisingly, is the specialty at this New York-based operation, with nine New York area locations plus two in California and three in New Jersey.  Other offerings on the small menu include an equally unusual crab pizza (crab sauce, mozzarella, and surimi stuffing) and one called the Staten Island (meatballs, tomato sauce, red onions, and ricotta).

Opened in 1959 in the Chicago suburb of Homewood, Aurelio’s expanded into franchising in 1974 — the first Chicago pizzeria to do so — and today has more than 40 locations, mostly around Chicago and the Great Lakes, with outposts in southwestern Florida and Las Vegas. Though the chain serves Chicago-style thick crust pizza, its specialty is the thin-crust style. All the usual toppings are available, but a signature specialty is the Taco Pizza (seasoned ground beef, cheddar, black olives, tomatoes, lettuce, mild Ortega chiles, sour cream, and salsa.)

Detroit-born, with 16 locations around Michigan, Buddy’s focuses on its home city’s unique pizza style — square, with crunchy crust, and classically topped with Sicilian-style pepperoni underneath layers of Wisconsin brick cheese (underneath so that the pepperoni doesn’t burn in the high heat of the pizza oven). Numerous other toppings are available, including such uncommon choices as turkey, beets, carrots, and dill or cilantro.

Founded in 1987 in Hampton Roads, Virginia, Chanello’s now has 30 pizzerias around Virginia and North Carolina. The chain’s new Extreme Pepperoni Pizza is topped with that spicy dried sausage in three forms — diced, sliced, and in small cupping pieces. There’s also a double bacon cheeseburger pizza, and the E.B.A. (“Everything but Anchovies”), which loads on pepperoni, sausage, ground beef, Canadian bacon, bacon, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, black and green olives, tomatoes, and mozzarella. (Even anchovies are available on request.) Pizzas are served with the chain’s own buttermilk ranch dressing for dipping.

With 34 locations around Texas and two next door in Oklahoma, it’s not surprising that a recent pizza of the month at DoubleDave’s was the Chili Pie — topped with chili, corn chips, mozzarella, and cheddar. Dave’s Fave includes mozzarella with a sauce of olive oil, garlic, and oregano and a choice of meatballs and sausage or tomatoes and garlic spinach. The chain has also introduced gluten-free cauliflower-crust pizza, and has won awards for its sustainability and environmental efforts.

The white clam pizza at this small New Haven, Connecticut-based pizza chain, founded in 1925, has been hailed as the best pizza in its state, but also as the best pizza anywhere in America. The New Haven original has expanded to six other Connecticut locations, plus one each in New York State and Rhode Island and three in Massachusetts, so now at least one corner of New England can enjoy Pepe’s acclaimed specialty, along with such other offerings as the Original Tomato Pie, the classic Margherita, and a spinach, mushroom, and Gorgonzola pizza. There are also one location in Maryland and Virginia, and two in Florida.

With about 50 locations around northeastern Ohio, Gionino’s has won fans all over the area for its steak pizza with white sauce, spinach-laden Popeye Pizza, G-Mac-N-Cheese Pizza (white cheddar macaroni and cheese topped with provolone), white pizza with banana peppers and black olives, and more.

This Anchorage-based chain grew out of a group of 10 Little Caesars franchises that pulled out of that chain’s system and rebranded, introducing new recipes and upgrading the ingredients. There are now 11 locations around the state, serving regular, deep-dish, and stuffed-crust pizzas, with standard toppings — plus reindeer sausage — available. The specialty pies include one embellished with grilled garlic chicken, onions, and tomatoes, on a ranch dressing base, topped with a blend of mozzarella and jack cheese.

A longtime Chicago favorite, Home Run describes its crust as “buttery, flaky.” In addition to a build-your-own option, the chain proposes such specialties as the Garlic Fireball (sausage, jalapeños, and giardiniera on a garlic butter crust), the Sweet Caliente (pepperoni, jalapeños, and pineapple), and the Double Pepperoni, with pepperoni both under and on top of the cheese.

Born in Cincinnati in 1954, LaRosa’s now operates about 50 pizzerias in and around that city, with more in neighboring Kentucky and Indiana. An early customer favorite, off the menu for some time but now available again, is the Original Deluxe, topped with LaRosa’s own pizza sauce, provolone, pepperoni, sausage, ground beef, green peppers, and red onions. Focaccia and flatbread variations on pizza themes are also on the menu.

In California’s Sonoma County wine country and vicinity, local residents and visitors alike have been able to enjoy Mary’s pizza since the first Shack opened in 1959. There are now 10 locations around the area, serving pizzas with three kinds of crust — classic, thin, and thick. Serious carnivores love Toto’s Combo, “piled high with everything” — salami, pepperoni, cotto salami, linguica, Italian sausage, mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, black olives, and homemade pizza sauce. Do-it-yourself options include all the usual additions, as well as tri-color jalapeños, pesto, ranch dressing, and whole baby clams.

Pat’s started life as Farmsworth’s Cafe in Orono, Maine, near Bangor, evolving into Pat’s Pizza after owner Pat Farmsworth introduced pizza to his menu and it became a big hit. There are now locations around the Pine Tree State. Signature pizzas include Big Pat’s (Thousand Island dressing, American cheese, “hamburg” [ground beef], onion, lettuce, and pickles) and Pastrami (pastrami and pizza cheese on a mustard base).

Regina, which started in 1926 in Boston’s North End, calls itself “Boston’s Original Pizzeria.” There are now 10 branches around the Boston area, plus one each on Cape Cod and at Connecticut’s Foxwoods Resort Casino.

Originating in Salem, New Hampshire, but inspired by the pizzerias of Boston’s North End, Sal’s opened in 1990. Today, there are 10 locations in New Hampshire and five in Massachusetts, both company-owned and franchised. A choice of 24 toppings is offered, and specialty pies include BBQ pulled pork, BBQ chicken, and chicken bacon ranch. Sal’s pizza is the official pizzeria of the Boston Red Sox.

Bobby Zimmerman would have been in school in Hibbing, Minnesota, when Sam Perrella opened his first pizzeria there in 1954. (Zimmerman left a few years later to become Bob Dylan.) Today, Sammy’s, which grew out of that first effort, boasts 13 Minnesota locations, plus one in Wisconsin and one in North Dakota. Among the specialty pizzas available are the Iron Ranger (pepperoni, kosher salami, and extra cheese), the Chicken Alfredo (grilled chicken, mozzarella, parmesan, and “our cousin Bert Shomento’s famous homemade Alfredo sauce”), and the Magnificent Seven (a choice of any seven toppings).

This small Portland, Oregon-based chain, with eight Oregon locations plus one in Reno, Nevada, offers “East Coast style slices and pies with a healthy blend of West Coast flair.” Though there are plenty of meaty pies (with fanciful names, like 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon, Napalm Breath, and Good Luck in Jail), vegetarian and vegan pizzas are a specialty. These are no less imaginatively named: The vegan New Maps Out of Hell combines creamy basil cashew spread, seasoned soy curls, and a choice of three fresh vegetables. A vegetarian option, Rudimentary Penne, involves vodka cream sauce, roasted garlic, goat cheese, and fresh basil.

The eponymous two “boots” are the boot-shaped peninsula of Italy and the boot-shaped state of Louisiana. The first Two Boots opened in New York City’s East Village in 1987. Today, there are four locations in Manhattan, two in Brooklyn, and one each in Jersey City, New Jersey, and Nashville. Like Sizzle Pie, Two Boots goes in for colorful pizza names. The Bayou Beast pays tribute to Louisiana, with spiced shrimp, crawfish, andouille, jalapeños, and mozzarella. The Bird, named for jazzman Charlie “Bird” Parker, offers hot Buffalo chicken, blue cheese dressing, scallions, and jalapeños.