The 2025 Pittsburgh Pizza Outlook - Newcomers on the Rise
I reached out to new and start up pizza makers in the city to hear how their year went and what they have cooking for 2025.
Hi there!
Hope you had a great couple of holiday weeks and a grand finale to 2024. To ring in the new year you know I couldn’t help but hit up Mad Mex at 5:30pm to enjoy their two for $60 deal with Christa, crush some big azz margaritas and go to sleep with a tummy ache at 10:30pm.
2024 was a phenomenal year for Pittsburgh pizza. Every year brings us a new batch of pizza darlings that are eager to innovate Pittsburgh pizza and bring their own perspective and style to the craft of pizza. These new pizza makers stand on the shoulder of pizza giants. They spent their whole life digesting and trying all sorts of pizzas and now get to cultivate their own style. That’s how we get outstanding places like the Etna Slice House that combine traits from the top shops in the region, ‘77 Club who fuses pizza flavors with all sorts of cuisine and has introduced the Panzuonno into the region, and places like La Grassa pizza that sprung up to satisfy the ravenous corner slice lovers in the city.
Each shop is unique in how they approach pizza and if you haven’t gotten a chance to try any of them don’t fret, in 2024 they were just getting started.
I reached out to a few shops to learn more about how their first year went and what they are planning to accomplish in 2025.
‘77 Club Hopes to Improve Enrollment in 2025
Groucho Marx once famously said that he would refuse to join any club that would have him as a member. But I suspect he never considered a club that made incredible pizzas bursting with flavor. If Groucho could, I know he would gladly enjoy the ‘77 Club.
And who wouldn’t? After trying anything from the ‘77 Club you become a convert. Back in May I was lucky enough to grab a pizza from them in Beechview. It was a journey worth taking as it ended with some of the most flavorful pizza I've had the privilege to eat. We are talking fusion pizzas with spinach chutney, carrot and potato pushing the boundaries of what pizza can be and overwhelming the tongue with flavor.
Their simple pizzas, like the Plantasia, are oceandeep pizzas masquerading as puddles. It lulls you into a sense of complacency, you think it will taste like a normal basic pizza. But then you get some of that tomato sauce. It’s so simple, so pure, so potent you can’t help but take bite after bite. The flavors must hack the dopamine centers in your brain, there’s no other explanation.
Dustin and Britani operate ‘77 Club, a club that has sky rocketed with the amount of members week after week. They started with a few pop-ups a month, hungry for anyone who would host them. I sought them out throughout 2024 and was never disappointed. Whether it was at a vintage store or a pumpkin festival, I was always happy to eat one of their Panuozzos. A Panuozzos is something I never heard of, but it’s basically a pizza sandwich. See photo below for the delicious creation.
In 2024 they got more consistent gigs, grew a following and brought the panuozzos to the masses. But they are just getting started. In 2025 they are making some big upgrades, including a new Gozney dome oven which will see its maiden voyage in action on January 8th at Eleventh Hour brewing.
Then later in the year they are working to have a full-size wood fire trailer operating where they can sling pizzas on the go. Funnily enough, Dustin told me that this is a very similar oven that Driftwood Oven started with. Great pizza minds…
The Panuozzo is not going anywhere. “Our focus will still be Panuozzo as it's absolutely part of our brand identity but we are excited to be offering pizzas in the spring,” the ‘77 Club told me. “In addition to pizza we are expanding our menu to include a number of mostly wood fired apps and salads as well as wood fire Italian pastry. We have many residencies around town for the whole season. Currently with 4 points, Allegheny City brewing, lolev and eleventh hour. A few more are being added in the next week just hashing out some dates and times.”
Keep up with the ‘77 Club on their Instagram.
Etna Slice House Looks to Expand
Last newsletter I wrote about the power of the pizza oven in the shop. It’s the keystone of the shop as every product passes through the oven. No pizza can escape the cleansing fires of the pizza oven. Go in as hundreds disparate units and emerge as a perfectly formed single entity. Which makes you wonder - does a pizza remember what it was before it was cooked? What does happen during that metamorphosis…
And this year the Etna Slice House plans to continue morphing and evolving. I have no doubt that Massimo will remember his origin, but by the end of the year your Etna Slice House experience will be much expanded.
Asked about what he’s looking forward to in 2025, Massimo said, “We started renovations and round the end of March and we’re going to have some seating, gonna have a gelato counter, and we’re gonna get an espresso machine.” While you may have never taken the time to stroll down Etna’s Butler St, maybe you should pencil in a trip this Spring or Summer.
Etna has been due for a glow up for the past few decades and the community is rallying to put the town on the map. Heck, I’m spending a rare kid-free Saturday night in Etna this very weekend! I can’t stay away from the place. Later on in the year you’ll begin to see more wonderfully baked products from the Etna Slice House team. Things like homemade chocolate chip cookies, more slice variations, new toppings, and a robust space to hang out.
“We're just looking forward to making the space better for people to hang out, come, you know, eat a slice or two, head out the door, having a espresso in the morning with some friends,” Massimo says describing a dreamy Etna morning.
Check out the Etna Slice House for more info and updates!
La Grassa Continues to Collaborate with Corner Slice Enthusiasts
Last year La Grassa snuck onto the pizza scene with one mission: get the people a corner slice of pizza! They started with a few pop-up events at Station in Troy Hill then they partnered with Joey Hilty of The Vandal to get the word out. This became a regular haunt for the La Grassa crew as they spent December serving late night pizza to anyone lucky enough to stop by for a sturdy, delicious crust that can prevent any hangover.
I reached out to La Grassa via Instagram to see what they had in store for 2025 and they said, “2024 was a great year for us and we were so blessed to be able to work with some really great folks. We’re working on a pretty cool collaboration that you should hear more about in the next few weeks, and always have our eyes on something a bit more permanent.”
It’s a stellar pizza and if you should add grabbing one of their corner slices to your 2025 resolutions. The pizza is as good and decadent as it looks so let’s hope they find even more traction in the coming year.
Keep up to date on pop-up and news on the La Grassa Instagram.
Now that’s a fun update on three fledgling pizza operations. All approaching the world of pizza from very different angles. Just goes to show that pizza is an empty canvas waiting for you to fill it with something great. There’s no right or wrong here. It’s simply delicious.
There were more new comers to the pizza scene in 2024, namely Mun’s Pizza, which I plan to tackle in a future update. Thanks for reading and hope you’re ready for a wonderful pizza year.
If you have a pizza tip or idea feel free to send me a message!
Pizza ya later!
-Dan Tallarico, Pizza Journalist
I am so ready for the Etna glowup