The 1980s Are Alive at Cavanaugh Pizza in Fort Smith.

Feeding a family cheap is a hard task today - but one Fort Smith classic manages to offer some pretty fantastic pizza for not much. Let's head back to the 1980s for a look inside the timeless Cavanaugh Pizza.

Quick Bite: Fratelli's Pizzeria in Siloam Springs

This quaint little pizza joint in the somewhat undiscovered downtown of one of Arkansas's more mysterious towns puts out one size of pizza in so many varieties. Here's a look inside Fratelli's.

Next Time, We'll Try The Pizza at Fox's Pizza Den.

We weren't out for pizza on a Sunday night in Lake Village, Arkansas, but with all other operations closed we ended up at the joint along US 65 in the southeast Arkansas town. And we have plenty of reasons to go back.

Number 17, or Welcome to Hideaway Pizza in North Little Rock.

The famed Oklahoma pizzeria chain opens its first out-of-state location in North Little Rock with color, pizzaz and lovely eats.

A Tommy's Pizza Is Worth A Significant Detour.

When I was young and inexperienced, I could not imagine a single food item worthy of a major detour.  After all, it was enough just to get out and try a place from time to time.  If I wasn't on the way to some place, I seriously had to consider whether it was worth it to drive X number of miles for a meal.

But then I tried Tommy's Famous... A Pizzeria, and that went out the window.

The Second Largest Pizza In Arkansas Can Be Found at Magic Springs.

Do you know where the largest pizza in Arkansas can be found? Some believe it’s at Rod’s Pizza Cellar in Hot Springs, where the Godfather spans 17 inches. Damgoode Pie’s largest pizza is 18 inches. For most other Arkansas pizzerias, the top pie is 16 inches across (that includes Large Mouth Pizza in Greer’s Ferry, Iriana’s and Vino’s Brewpub in Little Rock and Tommy’s Famous A Pizzeria in Mountain View).

But there’s one pizza out there that’s a whopping 29 inches across.

Say, Have You Tried The Uncle Roman at Steffey's Pizza?

Not to retread followed paths again, but I have to come back to my favorite pizza in Arkansas. More beloved to me than ZaZa's Forager, Damgoode's Artie or even Rod's Lil Heifer, comes the Uncle Roman at Steffey's Pizza, a double-crusted stuffed pie baked in a 12” cast iron skillet. And though I've written about it before, by gum I'm going to write about it again, because it's been nearly four years, and because you should know the history of the place.

Yes, I already shared that history in my second book, Classic Eateries of the Ozarks and Arkansas River Valley. In case you missed it there, here 'tis again.

Back in the 1950s, Glen Steffey was stationed at Fort Chaffee, where he was assigned the position of baker. Between Fort Smith and Delmont, PA he developed his very own crust and sauce recipes, and he opened the first Steffey’s with his wife Ruth there in 1963. After a few years she decided to be a stay-at-home mom and he decided to pursue a career as a truck driver, so they shut the place down. But Glen really enjoyed making pizza, and within a few years they were making and selling pizza out of their basement a couple of nights a week.

The trucking business started slowing down in the area in 1980, and Glen went to Stiegler, OK to work. He went one day over to Lavaca to visit his friend Don Ray, and something about the area convinced him he was meant to be there. So he moved the whole family down – and in 1981 opened Steffey’s Pizza. Glen eventually taught his daughter LeAnn the recipes he’d developed, and today she operates the place with her husband Shayne and daughter Briar.

Steffey’s Pizza started out in a location west of the current store before being moved downtown where it thrived for a couple of decades. The new store opened in 2008. It’s clean and homey with four big pizza ovens exposed in the kitchen that’s right in front of you when you walk in the door. There’s a game room with a pool table, an old fashion Horwitzer jukebox (that plays for free) and arcade to the left, and a dining room featuring tables lit with lights ensconced in cheese graters to the right.

There are many pizzas available at Steffey’s with all sorts of toppings. There are sandwiches, big sub sandwiches baked in the ovens. There are nachos and breadsticks and salads. But all these pale compared to that one specially featured pie in the middle of the menu.

The Uncle Roman hasn't always been on the menu — it was something that was put out on the buffet early in the week on Monday through Wednesday that caught on. Because it takes an extra 15 minutes to cook, the folks who run the restaurant were afraid it wouldn't catch on. But people are understanding when they see that direction on the menu to expect a longer cook time. There’s just one size for the Uncle Roman, and you choose the toppings. It’s cooked in a cast iron skillet between two parmesan-dusted crusts, sauce and cheese gluing the whole mess together.

Since my first visit there four years ago, we've dropped in -- Grav more often than I, since his family's in the Fort Smith area and it's close by. Has it changed? Well, today Steffey's sells some really cool tie dye shirts advertising the place, but it's still pretty much the same -- an arcade room to

the left when you walk in, a giant dining room to the right.

This time around, we decided to change up our Uncle Roman order, going for a filling of beef, mushrooms and green olives. It was a hit. It was such a hit that neither of us could eat more than a slice and a half. But that works -- because a visit to Steffey's always means breakfast is taken care of for the next morning. Sometimes lunch, too.

One thing I don't think I mentioned before is that ranch dressing accompanies the Uncle Roman. This is a little unusual, but with that cornmeal-

dusted crust, it totally works.

Lavaca may not be on your direct line to get from anywhere to anywhere else, but it is a great place to visit and this is a pizza you really have to try. The recipe may be in the book, but the real experience is in downtown Lavaca, and you owe yourself a trip.

Steffey's Pizza
627 West Main
Lavaca, AR 72941
(479) 674-2300
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Website

Championship Pies at Nima's Pizza in Gassville.

On the other side of the famed Cotter Bridge, past the Cotter community, you’ll find Gassville and a little pizzeria that’s claiming big honors.

Nima’s Pizza opened in the 1990s and served its community well. In 2003, it was purchased from its original owners by a Las Vegas couple, and within a few years, it gained international notoriety. Rick and Jane Mines loved visiting the Mountain Home area and decided to retire there, as well as purchase Nima’s with no restaurant experience. They learned, though, and utilized a collection of premium aged cheeses, oils from the Devo Olive Oil Company in Branson and recipes that required a wait—doughs that take more than a day, well-developed sauces and four-hour roasted peppers.

Let me reiterate-- Jane and Rick never made pizzas before.  I'm not joking.  They were coming to Arkansas to retire.  In fact, they had a farm with horses -- and they day Rick heard about the chance to purchase Nima's -- an already established pizzaria -- he called her and told her to clean up from being out with those horses and come into town.  Once they bought the place, the seeds were sown for what was to come.

The 2008 winner: a blend of four cheeses, fresh
tomatoes and Italian herbs.

They started winning at the International Pizza Challenge in Las Vegas in 2008 with a blend of four cheese under fat slices of tomato with Italian herbs -- good enough for a runner-up prize.

The next year they did the same with a sausage and marinated tomato ring pie.

All their hard work paid off in a big way in 2010, when Jane and Rick took their pizzas back to Las Vegas for the International Pizza Challenge. They came home with the title of #2 Best World Traditional Pizza, right behind a chef out of Italy.

They’ve proved it’s no fluke, with good showings over the past few years and another #2 in 2013. The winning pie for this past contest was a simple one baked on a day-rise crust, with a layer of thin sliced black pepper–laced Italian ham covered by a light sauce and then a lattice of roasted red peppers filled in with a five aged-cheeses blend. Simple, yet popular.

Take for instance the taco pizza. It’s spiced ground beef and tomatoes, onions and jalapeños with cheddar and Colby cheeses on top of even more cheese, and it’s a sight better than most any other taco pizza I've ever had.

But there are others.  On my most recent visit, I captured the following:

I heard several names for this pizza, a pie with red and green bell peppers cut
into hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades.  Technically, this is a two-topping
pie -- the second being meatballs ground up and layered under the cheese.  It
was the 2011 Mid-America winner for best traditional pizza.  You can't just
order this one -- you have to let them know at least a day in advance.

The 2012 non-traditional entry before going in the oven.

After baking -- one of my favorites.  This is the 2012 non-traditional entry,
It starts with a base of roasted garlic white sauce and spinach leaves, then
ground meatballs and Italian cheeses, atop which sit flowers made from
roasted red bell peppers and petals of mushrooms -- all with a roasted walnut
olive oil sauce.  Amazing.

This latticework pie was the 2010 Best in the USA Traditional winner -- a lattice
of red bell pepper slices between sliced meatballs topped with a special
five Italian cheese blend.

This is a grape pie the Mines' made during this last visit -- puffy yet thick
Italian dough dotted with sweet bursting red grapes.  Simple and delicious.

Rick shows off the 2013 award winner before the
pies go into the oven.

And this is the result -- the 2013 #2 in the world pizza.  It's
called the Flowering Pepperoni.  First the pepperonis and the
mushrooms are sauteed in butter flavored olive oil; then they're
crushed and sprinkled over the restaurant's signature sauce.
Oversized pepperoni are then shaped into tulips and stuffed
into mushroom caps with a ball of the famed Nima's five
cheese blend.  Oh, did I mention those mushroom caps are
dusted with hickory smoked sea salt?

Oh golly, cannoli.

The Mines do believe in the concept of families enjoying pizza together, and they make a special “family sheet” pizza. It’s a seventeen- by twenty five-inch pizza that comes in twenty-four square slices, and it fills the box.



The restaurant is not large... just one room for dining and one for ordering.  They also sell pastries -- including big fluffy cupcakes and marvelous chocolate chip studded cannoli.  Drinks come from a vending machine.  What's it like inside?

Rick and Jane Mines

The restaurant has now been in operation for 10 years.  On my latest visit, the folks from PizzaTV.com were taping -- and Rick and Jane were presented with this special recognition.  Next April, they're going to compete at the World Pizza Championships in Parma, Italy.  I have no doubt they'll make Arkansas -- and the United States -- proud.
Check out their website and head on up.

Pie Eyed at Old Chicago Pizza in Conway.

Yeah, it's a chain operation.  There are places all over the U.S.   But Old Chicago Pizza isn't just another Pizza Hut or Pizza Pro or Papa John's.  There's more to this pie than meets the eye.

Part of that is that it's not all about the pie.  It's also about pasta and beer.   Lots of beer.  To the tune of 110 different varieties available.  That, my friends, is a lot of beer.

The restaurant does "beer flights," where the drinker gets four 4 ounce glasses of different beer on a paddle to sample. The one you see pictured here is the Old World Flight (minus a few sips). For someone searching out their next favorite brew, I suppose it's a pretty good idea.

We've tried the Signature Trio ($9.49) off the appetizer menu. And as far as appetizers go, they're pretty neat. I can easily see someone making a meal off the cheesy garlic bread, the pepperoni rolls and those Italian nachos -- which, by the way, if you aren't able to eat pepperoni or Italian sausage, they'll make with beef instead. Very nice of them. But you want to know about the pie. Fair enough.

Old Chicago does an especially thick-crusted pie, in two varieties -- stuffed, like the Chicago Seven stuffie shown above ($16.99) with its cheese and Italian sausage, pepperoni and vegetables on the inside.

There's also the traditional non-stuffed pies, like the Thai Pie ($15.59 medium, $18.99 large) with its blessings of roasted chicken, onions, teriyaki and Mozzarella and Cheddar and Thai red chili pizza sauce. If you can call that traditional. The dough is very much on the yeasty side, thick and chewy, enough to keep you filled for a long time. Oh, they do offer thin crust, but it's not pushed like the "Chicago" style.

Calzones are made with that same thick dough, hearty and just about all you need for a lunch.

The restaurant also does steaks, chicken, fish and chips, sandwiches and pasta, like the pictured Grilled Chicken and Spinach Ravioli ($11.19) -- which isn't ravioli stuffed with chicken and spinach but the two main ingredients sauteed together and poured in a sauce over cheese ravioli.

Without the chicken, the dish is identical save the chicken on top.

And then there's dessert.

The place offers several sorts of desserts, including a cheesecake they claim takes two days to make and the Famous Big Cookie, served up in a hot pizza pan. There's something to be said for the simple elegance of the Little Big Cookie ($2.99, serves 2), though -- if for nothing more than it's a hot chocolate chip cookie that you're not going to take home in a box. In hindsight, I can't remember why in the world we would have ordered it without the "a la mode," considering that a cookie this big is begging for dairy.

My experiences with Old Chicago Pasta and Pizza is from the Conway location; a new location's just open in North Little Rock on Warden Road. Pretty decent for a chain. You'll find the Conway location at 1010 Main Street (next to the defunct Doe's Eat Place). It opens at 11am each day and keeps on going to midnight or later. (501) 329-6262. The North Little Rock location is at 4305 Warden Road... (501) 812-6262. And there's a website with all sorts of details.

Another Thin Slice at Iriana's Pizza in Little Rock.

I've been thinking about my favorite pizzas lately, and got to the thin crust and wondered, which should I share? Well, of course, it must be Iriana's.

For those not familiar with the place, it’s in a storefront across from the Chamber of Commerce, next to The Hop. Inside, the space is all blacks, whites and grays accented by red lampshades and the red straw cups that adorn each table. It’s also a damn fine place to grab lunch.

The menu is simple… a short list of pizza toppings (just 13), a short list of sandwiches, a couple of salads, some breadstick options. Simple is good, though, especially when you’re dining solo or going dutch. You can order the small salad or the large one, the half sandwich or the whole. Nice options for this tight pocketbook economy.

Salads ($2.49 small, $4.29 large) come with Italian or Ranch dressing, that’s it -- and they’re served up with a single bulky twisted breadstick. The average pizza place uses the same dough for both pizza and breadsticks; if they’re doing that here I’m not getting it, because the breadsticks are thick, yeasty things, a bit chewy and probably meant more for dipping in sauce or wiping down with butter. That being said, they’re not typical and that’s a fine thing.

But you’re not looking for me to talk about a breadstick. You clicked through because you’re curious what I think about Iriana’s pizza. Okay. Fair enough.

Iriana’s is to me what I think of when I think of a typical Arkansas cracker-crust pizza. The particular type of pizza is thin but can hold its own. I mean to say, you can pick it up and eat it without it becoming droopy or falling apart. It’s a pizza meant to be eaten with the hands, not the fork.

The restaurant’s known for its “sweep the floor” pie, a combination of pepperoni, Canadian bacon, sausage, peppers, onions, mushrooms and olives. You can get a 12” pie or a 16” pie, but if you’re not looking to share or take it back to the office with you at lunch, you can indulge in a slice instead. A plain cheese slice is $1.89; pepperoni or mushroom are $2.19 each and a Sweep the Floor slice will come up $2.59. It’s a decent deal, considering the size of slice we’re talking about -- I’m guessing it’s a sixth or eighth of a large pizza, a big flat slice that’s bigger than the plate, quite probably eight inches long and wide at the top.

I usually go for mushroom, because I like mushrooms and I like the way Iriana’s does mushrooms, fresh and thinly sliced to go along with the pie itself. The slice is somewhere around a third of an inch thick at best, and when you pick it up it stays together. The sauce is smooth and a little salty; the cheese is a little sharp, and the crust is firm and crunchy.

There are no desserts at Iriana’s -- you can go down the street to the River Market to go assuage your sweet tooth -- but there is beer. The restaurant’s open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and closed on Sunday. They do offer limited delivery. (501) 374-3656. Check out the website.