The Pie Pizzaria

I am from Chicago. We "Chicagoans" love our pizza and I think its safe to say that we know what good pizza should taste like. Arriving in Utah I wanted to find the best pizza out here if such a thing existed. My friends introduced me to The Pie Pizzaria which boasts "the best pizza in Utah." I was very intrigued by the atmosphere at The Pie when I first went. It was located underground and you order your pizza upon entering and wait to be called on when your "pie" is ready. You are allowed to write on the walls as long as its brick which i found very unique! They are usually open very late so they cater well to the University of Utah students. OK enough with the ambiance and on to the food! The Pie makes what they call "Cheese Pull A Parts'" which is basically bread sticks stuffed with cheese. By far one of the best things Ive ever eaten at a pizza joint. You can ask for ranch or marinara sauce to dip your pull a parts into. I personally am a fanatic for ranch (as you will see later on) so i recommend the ranch dressing but both make the pull a parts very delicious! I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend having their Root Beer! It is the best Root Beer I have ever tasted in my life! It taste like it has a hint of black licorice to it but not enough to make it taste bad. My dad and I used to drink Root Beer a lot and when he visited Utah I took him here to try it and he was also very impressed and agreed that it was one of the best Root Beers hes ever had. Ive eaten here very often so its safe to say Ive had my fair share of the pizza here. I will start of on the very few cons of the pizza. I did not like how greasy the pizza was when i first had it. I had some peperoni and sausage pizza and when lifting up my piece I found the pizza saucer to be a pool of grease. Yes I recognize the fact that Chicago style pizza is very very different but I felt gross seeing the amount of grease. The pizza itself was pretty good. I suffer from heart burns so it was another reason for not liking the greasy pizza. Others may enjoy it but not me. Ive had the Buffalo Chicken Ranch pizza which I thought hey if its ranch, Im all for it! WRONG! I actually had this pizza twice just to make sure it wasn't just me getting sick from it. The spicy buffalo sauce they use totally takes away from how awesome this pizza could actually be. I acutally became annoyed trying to eat it which says a lot because I love food! How can i be annoyed by eating something!? Well this pizza was it. I do not recommend it. On the other hand they have the Chicken Ranch pizza. This I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend! In my personal opinion nothing will ever top Chicago style pizza but this pizza comes very very close! The mixture of bacon and ranch and chicken and the cheese they put on blends perfectly! They also put on onions which i hate on pizza but on this particular pizza I love! They also have desserts to enjoy after stuffing yourself with their pizza. I have tried the "cinn a part" which is the same thing as the cheesy pull a part but cinnamon bread with some frosting on top. I suggest if you dont get cheesy pull a parts before your pizza, save room for the cinn a parts! I also fell in love with their Chocolate Caramel Sundae. This is a good size dessert to split with a date or someone. I had a big smile on my face when they called my name and went to pick this up because it looks so good! The pie in my opinion has it ups and downs but that's only because Im very critical of pizza as I have stated before. Ive mentioned the different types of specialty pizzas but you can also choose your toppings as you wish. They have a large variety of toppings but the price changes as your "pie" is bigger so I suggest getting the specialty pizzas. I recommend The Pie to anyone looking to go out with a large group of friends. I do not recommend this place a a good first date place. The music is somewhat loud and the television is always on ESPN. Ive been to two of their locations one next the the University of Utah and one in South Jordan, Utah. I feel the one in South Jordan is more family friendly than the one near the university. I do recommend this place to people visiting Salt Lake. Its really a unique atmosphere and kind of one of Utah's little secrets as far as pizza since you really don't think Utah equals pizza. They have about five locations in the Salt Lake Valley. You can check out their website at www.thepie.com