The streets will run red with blood and sauce - two Pittsburgh pizza upstarts ignite pizza rivalry

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For a long time Pittsburgh has suffered from stale pizza competition. Well, lack of competition, really. There’s the “Mineo’s vs Aiello’s” battle, which has become too convenient for the common Pittsburgher. If there was actually competition between the two we would see pizza innovation! New recipes, new technology. Instead, it’s the equivalent of two old folks sitting on opposite porches groaning at each other. 

But lately, there’s been a slight shift in the pizza scene. If the wind is blowing from the Strip District in just the right way, you can smell the innovation of Pizza Boat. To quote myself, “I predict big things coming from [Pizza Boat] in the future.”

For the past few weeks they’ve killed it next to Bar Marco. Cranking out some of the best pizza Pittsburgh has ever seen. Fresh, smart, and just perfect. It introduced a level of pizza that blows the standards out of the water.

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But there’s a  competitor in town that is willing to answer the call for pizza competitors: Bread + Salt.

I don’t know too much about Bread + Salt. I know they competed in the first pizza dojo. And I know they love trash talking. Exhibit A, B, and C:

The Return to Pizza Dojo will open old wounds, stuff them with fresh basil, and cauterize the wound shut with some hot mozzarella. In the wake of the Pizza Dojo  will be sauce, dough, cheese, and a few bruised pizzaiolos.  And you need to be there to witness it on Friday, July 25th, at Bar Marco.

But this is the price of progress. This is what it takes to spur the Pittsburgh pizza landscape that’s willing to crown a pizza place other than Mineo’s as “the best pizza.” This is the beginning of a long pizza journey, young grasshopper.