Vote for Rockaway Pizzeria in the Pittsburgh Pizza Bracket Finals
Help to usher in a new era of artisan delicious pizza into the city.
Pardon the emergency pizza transmission, but we are on the cusp of pizza history and could use all the support we can muster to get Rockaway Pizzeria a victory in Pittsburgh Today Live’s (PTL) pizza bracket. You can vote for Rockaway by commenting on this Instagram post (voting ends tonight at 11:59 PM).
I don’t know much about PTL except they talk about pizza consistently and my dad takes photos of the TV and sends them to me. He’s been keeping me looped into the tournament as pizza shop by pizza shop has fallen by the wayside.
But now it’s down to two: Rockaway Pizzeria and Police Station Pizza
When I started my pizza journey with Pizza Walk With Me it was a response to the nostalgia-addict lens that we view pizza in the city. Ten years ago all anyone would walk about was Mineo’s and Aiello’s, even when newer, better shops sprouted along the landscape. Propelled by a new, curious, type of Pittsburgher who ventured out of the cities borders and asked - what if pizza was better?
I wanted to capture that spirit and show that Pittsburgh pizza is more than our legacy. We have a healthy future of pizza and none showcases that better than Rockaway.
When I visited Rockaway Pizzeria my mind was blown. Here was Josh, who spent most of his adult life as a musician, rocking the most delicious, thoughtful and flavorful pizza I’ve ever had. Everything about the pizza was what it should be. Each item carefully considered and placed onto the pizza with purpose.
The pizza Josh made me was so beautiful I knew it had to be a cover of a book. Which is part of the reason why I wrote my Pizza Guidebook chronicling the past 10 years of Pittsburgh Pizza.
Anyways, I’ve been messaging with Josh who typically doesn’t care about these types of accolades. Especially since he was up against Mineo’s in the first round, his hopes of winning seemed distant. But he won the first round…and the second…and he kept winning. And maybe this is evidence of a sea change in the city. A new era of pizza getting its due.
Josh summed this up nicely in his Instagram post.
Greetings. Rockaway has made it into the finals of @pittsburghtodaylive “Best pizza in Pittsburgh” competition. At first, I didn’t think much of it, and thought I’d get my ass kicked by Mineo’s in the first round. But then I won that round. And then the next. And the next. Now I’m actually excited. Not for myself, but for pizza. There is an entire generation of new pizza makers that deserve your support - @driftwoodoven@badamospizza @pizzeriadavide@a_slice_of_new_york_pizza@eddiespizza412 @pizzalupopgh@gusfrancospizza @sliceonbroadwayand now my motivation to win is to help push the artisanal pizza scene in this city forward.
Yinzers often are stuck in nostalgia when it comes to food, and *especially* pizza. There is amazing pizza here that doesn’t get the wide spread support it should imo. Maybe Rockaway winning can be a watershed moment for all of us who really love the craft and science of pizza.. I don’t know. Either way, if you feel inclined to help the craft pizza movement locally, throw us a vote on @pittsburghtodaylive Facebook and Instagram. Thank you all for the support the last few weeks. LFG!!!
Dang, I’ve never been more proud of the pizza scene in this city.
Vote for Rockaway (or I guess Police Station?) here. Voting ends Sunday at 11:59 PM.
Thanks for reading and thanks for voting!
Pizza ya later!
-Dan Tallarico, Pizza Journalist