Why Top-Notch Pizzerias Love Grilled Pizza

Everyone has a different take on which part of the pizza reigns supreme. For some, pepperoni is a security blanket, offering meaty tradition on a silver platter. Others may say cheese takes the crown and provides a soft and chewy texture incomparable to that of other toppings. Thick red marinara sauce falls far on each end of the scale, never quite meeting in the middle or on common ground. Too much, and it can overpower the other elements; too little, and it may make the pizza dry. Still, the question remains: What's the best part of a pizza? 

Slice, a delivery app highlighting independently owned pizzerias, reviewed some of the biggest pie trends across the United States and crunched the numbers. As expected, pepperoni came in first as the most popular topping (it covered more than 30% of ordered pizzas), while extra cheese stretched to third. Despite one element playing a part in one of the most ordered pizzas of the year, this characteristic didn't quite make it on the charts. 

Thin, thick, liquid, doughy, cheesy, stuffed — everybody loves crust. It's literally the backbone of the pizza; without it, we would be left with a soggy, supple mess. But for Matt and Emily Hyland, proud pizza pioneers and shop owners, there's a unique charring quality that trademarks their crust, setting them apart from other local shops. And it can only come from the hot grates of a burning grill.

"One of my favorite parts about eating pizza is the char on it," pizza pioneer Matt Hyland told Fatherly in 2022. "It's a little bit sour from all the carbonization and everything. When you grill a pizza, you get a lot of that." 

As Hyland attests, grills can be used for much more than traditional barbecued summertime meals. They can evenly bake and char a well-made pizza crust in minutes, though this technique can be challenging to perfect. Fatherly notes that grilled pizza crust requires a high concentration of gluten to withstand the intense heat from below. Toppings should also be kept in mind, as cheese often requires a longer cooking duration to properly melt. Rather than placing them initially on the crust, you should include your sauce, cheese, and additional toppings towards the end. The final product should be equal parts melted cheese, rich red sauce, and bubbly browned crust. Now that's amore.

According to Atlanta Magazine, the Hyland duo opened their first pizzeria, Emily Loves Pizza, in 2014. Their goal was to combine two types of pizza — Grandma and Detroit — to create a unique mouthfeel experience for guests. Up until the 2019 opening of their sister shop, Violet, the two used wood-fired ovens to craft and bake their signature pies with a cheese-covered crust. But with Violet, they opted to use a dual-fuel grill to char their unconventional pizzas, per Eater. 

Wood-fired and grilled pizza seem relatively similar, right? They both source their heat from nearby flames to bake and char the pizza's crust, allowing it to absorb the natural smokiness emitting from the fire. So, what's the difference?

Visit any traditional pizzeria, and you'll find that their wood-fired ovens are primarily made of brick. Round Grove Products notes that bricks are an ideal cooking material because of their absorbency and durability under high heat. These also help circulate hot air within the oven and allow the pizza to bake to crispy perfection. The location of the fire inside is equally important as the bricks, notes Pizza Oven. Most are likely stoked in the back or side, while others are encircled in the middle, allowing multiple pies to bake at once.

Meanwhile, grills source their heat underneath the food, cooking it from the bottom up. They are often fueled by propane, natural gas, or charcoal and vary in their heat, time, and levels of charring. Grills work much like convection ovens in that they circulate hot air and are great for searing meats and veggies. Simply Recipes explains that they are also wonderful alternatives to wood-fired ovens and can create the same crisp crust and smoky flavor. However, it's important to remember that grills can get overly hot pretty quickly. Keeping a spray bottle by your grill can maintain control of those flames and save your food from a fiery demise.