Yooper Pizza by Daniel Truckey

A typical "Yooper" pizza from Club 28 in Wakefield.

Like most of America, pizza is everywhere in the Upper Peninsula. But at the same time, it has unique, even iconic styles and pizzerias across the region. These local pizza shoppes are celebrated by more than just Yoopers, but also frequent visitors and foodies from across the Midwest and the United States. In a 2016 poll hosted by the MLive website, the top five pizzerias in "Da Yoop" were as follows:

1. Riverside Pizza - Iron River

2. Congress Pizza - Ishpeming

3. Mustang Pizza - Mackinac Island

4. The Ambassador - Houghton

5. Tino's - Negaunee

Talk to anyone in these communities and there is no doubt that their hometown pizza is the best in the U.P., so this poll gives you an idea of the type of loyalty that pizza lovers have to their local favorites. But all pizzas in the U.P. are not made the same and it really comes down to what type of pizza you grew up with and your taste.

Sometimes you hear a type of pie referred to as "Yooper Pizza." This might sound a bit pretentious as if there is a signature pizza made locally to rival those from New York, New Haven, Chicago and Detroit. But in fact, there is a style that is made by several establishments in the U.P. that has become iconic in the region. 

"Yooper Pizza" specifically is a pizza with a very thin, crispy crust; a fruity, not-spicy tomato sauce; toppings to the edge and lots of mozzarella. Some of these establishments actually have very few choices of toppings other than the traditional pepperoni, sausage, onions, mushrooms, peppers and olives. Typically, the pizza is cut in small squares, rather than in triangles. How this style developed is somewhat of a mystery, though it is not actually unique to the U.P. It is very similar to a style of pizza often referred to as "Tavern Pizza." This style is popular with watering holes around the Midwest, which were not restaurants but added to pizza to their establishments to attract customers. 

In general, though, one characteristic of "Yooper Pizza" is that it is not as spicy as those that you might get in other parts of the country. The reason for this is that though pizza was brought to the U.P. by Italian immigrants, the audience they found was not used to spicy food. The largest populations in most of these mining communities was either Cornish, Irish, Finnish or Scandinavian (Swedish and Norwegian). So to make their pizza and other Italian dishes more popular with more delicate palettes, the sauces and even toppings were toned down. I believe that this is the reason that one can taste more of the fruit of the tomato in the sauces, rather than the more typical Italian spices and peppers. It also might explain the popularity of the Northern Italian sausage known as "Cudighi" which has become synonymous with the pizzas of Marquette County. More on that later. 

Several establishments make a variation on "Yooper Pizza." Maybe the most famous is Congress Pizza in Ishpeming, established in 1934. Though the pizza at Congress is cut in triangles, everything else about it screams "Yooper" with it's almost cracker like crust, fruity sauce and choice toppings. The most signature topping is "Cudighi," a less spicy version of the typical Italian sausage, that came to Marquette County with immigrants from Northern Italy. In recent years the Congress has updated their menu to include not only a pesto and BBQ chicken pizza, but also vegan pepperoni and sausage. 

One more layer being added at Riverside Pizza.

 

Riverside Pizza in Iron River is another example of a "Yooper Pizza" and obviously much loved as it won the best in the U.P. poll. This says a lot because Iron River is a pretty small town and rather isolated compared to more visited communities like Marquette, Houghton, Escanaba and Mackinac. Like Congress, Riverside has a crispy thin-crust and mild sauce but on the whole is a much heartier pie. This because after cooking the pizza with a layer of sliced mozzarella, the folks at Riverside take it out and add another layer of cheese (see photo). As their website says, "since 1946 Riverside Pizzeria has been greeting guests...The same way, at the same location—Now that's TRADITION!"

Speaking of tradition, and Cudighi as well, we can't forget Tino's Pizza in Negaunee. Founded by the Augustino Barbiere, son of the man who popularized cudighi in Ishpeming, Felix Barbiere, Tino's has been serving up the sausage on its thin, crusty pizzas ever since. You can also get a cudighi sandwich, which traditionally is served with onions, peppers and mustard, but now is served also with pizza sauce and mozzarella. 

Pizza is all about memory, however, for we tend to remember best the ones we had when we were young. For me this is the "Yooper Pizza" at the Club 28 in Wakefield. Located literally at the corner of M-28 and US-2, Club 28 has been serving it's special crispy, cheesy pies for several decades. It was the only real hangout for kids in town, so it is where everyone congregated on Friday and Saturday nights, especially after football or basketball games. As far as I know, Club 28 hasn't won any awards for their pizza but it holds a special place in my heart.

This is just scratching the surface of all the great pizza joints across the U.P.  We'd love to hear about your favorites and the types of pizza they make.