Pizza Marketplace, a pizza industry publication, profiles the Arizona version of Grimaldi’s pizzeria, which was begun in Brooklyn, NY.  There are currently seven Western Grimaldi’s in Arizona, Nevada, and Texas, all family-owned.  Owner Joe Ciolli tells of the difficulty of getting Arizona pizza palates accustomed to the charred New York pizza style.  He plans to open four more Grimaldi’s this year, in Phoenix, Houston, and Dallas.  Next year he’s opening still more in San Antonio, Las Vegas, and Houston.  All stores will remain family-owned.  We’ll keep our fingers crossed that the high quality will be maintained.

Pictured above is a white pie photo of ours from Grimaldi’s in Old Town Scottsdale.  In ayersian’s Roadfood.com review of Grimaldi’s pizza, they state that “everything about this pizza screams perfection: the slightly burnt crust, baked in a coal-fired oven; the freshest-of-fresh toppings; and the extraordinarily aromatic tomatoes used as sauce.”  See both ayersian’s and our reviews here.