Beer and Pavement

Pizza Tree is back. For those of you who do not live in Middle Missouri, this means nothing. However, if you do live here or ever plan on visiting, this might be the most important news ever. Well, for pizza enthusiasts.

See, Columbia, Missouri has been dominated by a pizza juggernaut named Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s pizza is fairly conventional, but it’s sold in one of those college hangouts like you see on TV or movies. It’s got character and that goes a long way to cover up so-so pizza. Still, folks here feel nostalgic for their own college days and want to relive those days with a slice or whole pie from Shakespeare’s.

Shakespeare’s isn’t terrible pizza. They just haven’t had to make their pizza better over the years. Since I moved here almost ten years ago, I have wanted fresh garlic on my pizza. That entire time either their website or employees would assure me that they were working on getting garlic. Seems simple, but when no one is pushing you to improve your game, things like adding garlic go by the wayside.

So, there was a hole in the pizza scene here that needed to be filled. There was cheap, industrial pizza and several mediocre local alternatives. Plus, the aforementioned Shakespeare’s and its nostalgia. What we lacked was interesting, sometimes off-beat, but always good pizza. And that’s when Pizza Tree first appeared.

In what used to be a Jamaican jerk kitchen and sometimes the green room at local music venue Mojo’s, John Gilbreth was making pies. He make Detroit style, shipped in special pepperoni, created “pizza art”, and grew the mother of all sourdough mothers. Despite being named Columbia’s best new restaurant, the Tree had to shut its doors. Possibly due to high demand and an inability to meet said demand or maybe due to a lack of visibility… Either way, Pizza Tree was no more.

Then, they Kickstarted a new effort to move to the heart of downtown, into a space more suitable for a fully functional pizza joint. And the opening has been slow and steady with new hours and delivery services added. Now all they have to do is get the word out.

Why Pizza Tree?

John uses the best ingredients. I mentioned the insanely good pepperoni and sourdough crust, but it’s hard to forget Sriracha-glazed pork belly, truffled crimini mushrooms, and house-stretched mozzarella. These are decadent pies that border on gourmet. And now they are functioning like an old-school pizza shop.

Of course, the pizza to end all pizzas is the famous Bánh Mì. Imagine the Sriracha-glazed pork belly I mentioned before with kimchi, chile aioli, and fresh cilantro… It’s as good as it sounds. Hell, this pizza was good two nights later when I finished it. I am not afraid to say that it’s the best pizza I’ve ever had.

One thing a pizza joint needs is an aesthetic, some character. With a focus on 1980’s/90’s iconography, Pizza Tree is the pizza place we all wanted to hang out in when we were kids. The only difference now is that our tastes have matured to accept pizzas like Maple Butternut or Charredachoke. To add to this aspect of the mystique, local artist/musician Justin Nardy has joined the team to add his touch to the place.

Pizza Tree is yet another example in a long line of examples where someone’s ingenuity and craftiness creates something so unique. Corporations with teams of marketers can’t come up with what Pizza Tree does. And if they did, they would ruin it. While I’m sure John would like to make a living, he won’t be so greedy as to ruin his product for an extra buck. Even as much of a hard time as I give Shakespeare’s, at least they have kept it local and authentic.

A theme of this blog for a long time has been to celebrate businesses like Pizza Tree. I can’t imagine anything better than washing down a Pizza Tree Bánh Mì with a Logboat Snapper IPA followed by some Harold’s doughnuts and Fretboard Coffee (review still to be written). It’s a good time to be into all things epicurean and indie. May Pizza Tree and their brethren live forever!