We make regional styles of American pizza from Detroit, New York and Chicago and are on a mission to introduce UK consumers to these exciting, delicious and currently hard to get pizzas.
American Pizza - A History
American pizza is born out of longing for home and the comfort of the familiar.
When Italian immigrants first arrived in America they missed the food from home. Italian food has always been installed as a symbol of comfort—it’s what you eat when things go right, it’s what you bring with your family and friends.
Recreating the food from Italy was not so easy in the New World. With no refrigeration, many ingredients were simply not available at that point in history.
Wood-fired ovens that ran at high temperatures were not available, so different cooking methods were used: instead of wood-fired fresh garlic and herbs were swapped for dried.
American wheat was much harder with higher protein levels and required a different technique from cheese makers who began to perfect the likes of Pecorino and Parmesan, and this evolved into Romano cheese.
Missing the cured meats from home attempts were made to recreate them and this eventually led to the invention of Pepperoni.
Over time regional styles emerged. New York style evolved from the thin pizzas of Rome and Naples. Detroit was born out of Sicilian pan-style pizzas. And Chicago created a pizza influenced by regional Italian pies such as Easter pie.
These wildly different takes on pizza had the common theme of trying to create something evocative of home-cooking and the flavours of Italy.
American pizza when done right has the heart note of the best Italian pizza but with different texture proportions. It’s both familiar and new. Unique enough to be exciting, but it doesn’t require the customer to push any significant boundaries.
A Plant First Approach
At Pizza is Lovely, we’ve always taken pride in leading with a vegetarian and vegan-only menu. Our plant-based pizzas are a cornerstone of what we do, and we truly believe they’re among the best you’ll find anywhere. That commitment isn’t going anywhere.
However, as a small, independent business, we’re constantly evolving—listening to our customers, responding to changing habits, and navigating significant rises in supply chain costs. These shifts, along with our desire to welcome as wide a range of people as possible, have led us to introduce a small, carefully curated selection of high-quality meats at our new Stokes Croft pop-up.
This is a site-specific change. Our pizza menus at Renatos and LHG Brewpub remain 100% vegetarian and vegan.
At Stokes Croft, our plant-based offering is just as bold, creative and delicious as always—but now sits alongside a select few meat options. As ever, we approach every pizza with the same passion and commitment to quality. Veg and vegan first, but some meat when it makes sense.
