Eric Riser was 15 when he began working in eating places. Now, in simply a decade, the 25-year-old has his personal restaurant, Munchie’s Pizzeria, serving one of many hottest pies in Tallahassee — a Chicago-style stuffed pizza that’s almost two-inches excessive.
The pizza has been in a lot demand that it may take one to a few days to get a deep-dish pie when you place your order. It used to take longer however Riser has not too long ago employed eight individuals so the method is taking much less time.
“We are able to now do about 70 a day,” mentioned Riser, whose pizzeria is on West Virginia Road by the Florida State College campus, throughout from DeGraff Corridor. ”With New York model pizzas we don’t have these limitations.”
The Ocala native began out serving New York pizzas when he first opened Munchies in June 2019, gaining reputation as a late-night place to seize a tasty slice of pizza or maybe an order of Buffalo wings. When college students had been on the town, Munchies stayed open until 3 a.m.
New York-style pizza was the sort Riser most acquainted with after working as a supervisor for Dominoes in Gainesville, Tampa, Fort Myers and Connecticut.
“Once I went to Connecticut I had no thought there have been so many types of pizza,” mentioned Riser.
He then moved to Tallahassee to be along with his household — his mother and father had moved right here to be close to his sister — and to return to school to check hospitality at Florida State College. However whereas driving for Uber, Riser found a excellent location for a restaurant on Virginia Road. He determined to grab the chance with an help from his mother, Joanne, and put school on maintain.
Riser was constructing his enterprise when shutdowns occurred as a consequence of Covid-19. Riser needed to provide you with different sights to assist the restaurant survive. Seeing the necessity for yeast, flour, eggs, even bathroom paper and different substances, he began providing groceries at Munchies. Prospects usually purchased a pizza or wings together with some provisions. However extra wanted to be carried out.
“I used to be at a level the place I needed to do one thing,” mentioned Riser. “I wasn’t certain whether or not college students had been coming again within the fall. I might make it ‘until the top of the summer time but when the college was closed within the fall I must make some troublesome choices and I wished to remain forward of that.”
Riser realized that there was a lack of Chicago-style pies in Tallahassee. He didn’t get to go to Chicago however he sampled the deep-dish pizza in numerous elements of the state and did plenty of analysis.
He began serving the pies a few weeks in the past and demand escalated. On the time he solely had two pans and the workers was primarily him and his mother and father. Riser needed to shortly rent extra individuals and get extra pans.
The 12-inch, deep-dish pizza is a time-consuming course of. Any approach you slice it, the Chicago-style pie seems completely different, tastes completely different and is ready in a different way.
The dough is kneaded and brushed with butter. It takes about two kilos of dough to make the pizza (earlier than it bakes). There’s shut to a few or 4 kilos of mozzarella (shredded in-house). Riser can use vegan cheese however the crust does have butter so there’s no precise vegan Chicago-style pie at Munchies.
The pizzeria presents an in depth listing of toppings together with cheesesteak, pepperoni, salami, sausage, assorted peppers, onions, feta and garlic. You’ll be able to nonetheless order wings, salads, sandwiches, appetizers and a number of New York-style pies — with thinner crusts and a skinny layer of sauce baked within the oven.
Riser cooks the tomato sauce for the Chicago pie from scratch, letting it simmer for at the least an hour. “The sauce by no means goes within the oven.” The pie is topped with a dusting of Parmesan cheese.
My husband and I ordered the Chicago-style pie with ham and mushrooms. You’ll be able to name on the cellphone however you’re urged to order on-line. I had heard of mates having to attend 4 or 5 days to get their pie however by the point I ordered our pie final week, Riser had already begun coaching his new workers. We bought a name that our pie could be prepared the following day. We had a alternative of a 12:30 p.m. time slot or one at 7 or eight p.m. We selected the lunchtime slot, often a better time to get a pizza, Riser mentioned. The essential, eight-slice Chicago pie is $18 with $2 per topping.
Though the pie is a median 12 inches, it’s so thick it seems humongous. One slice is like a meal. We took a chew and it was scrumptious. The wealthy, garlicky sauce has a slight kick. As my good friend Danny mentioned, the mozzarella Is all over the place, together with the again of the crust and up the perimeters. I really like the way in which it melds with the dough. We additionally had loads of ham and mushrooms.
I believed for certain that we must freeze most of this pie, however it was so good we, properly largely me since I’m the pizza lover within the household, ate one slice day by day and completed it off. I haven’t had a Chicago-style pizza in years however Munchie’s pizza held up properly to my reminiscences of the pie.
I’m already trying ahead to the following one.
Munchie’s Pizza is open from 11 a.m. to midnight from Monday to Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday and 11 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday. 695 W. Virginia St.; 850-759-0660.
