3 Things St. Louis-Style Pizza Lovers Will Defend to the Death

Fans of Dogtown Pizza are obviously fans of St. Louis-style pizza, but we started wondering what else we might have in common. We did some painstaking official research (read: seeing what kind of pizza conversations are happening across our social media) and we noticed St. Louis-style pizza lovers do these three things.

1. Cut Pizza Into Squares

Most people outside of St. Louis are familiar with the more standard triangle slice cut when it comes to pizza, but St. Louis-style pizza lovers know the only way to cut St Louis style pizza is “party style” or “square cut.” The St. Louis-style cut isn’t just for looks or to express city pride; it’s actually crucial to being able to properly enjoy your STL style pizza.

Anyone who’s ever made the mistake of letting someone unfamiliar with the party style cut does the pizza cutting is aware of the tragedy of floppy, foldy thin crust slices weighed down by toppings cheese and sauce.

Cutting this type of pizza correctly, into squares, gives each piece enough structural integrity to support the weight of the toppings and can be slightly folded—or folded over completely—to prevent the toppings from ending up on the plate instead of in your mouth.

2. Defend Thin Crust Pizza

New York and Chicago have their namesake pizzas too, but real St. Louis-style pizza lovers will defend cracker-thin crust above all others. New York calls their pizzas “pies” but it’s a pie mostly made of bread, and even Chicago doesn’t go thin enough for our tastes!

When you start with a good crust recipe and then roll it out to the thinnest possible thickness, it ends up being more of a texture than a flavor—and that’s the whole point: St. Louis cracker-thin crust lets you taste the sauce and the cheese and the toppings without overpowering the flavors with lackluster, glorified bread. St. Louis-style pizza lovers know the toppings make the pizza!

3. Debate About Who Actually Invented St. Louis-Style Pizza

When it comes to St. Louis-style pizza lovers, entire families and friend groups have broken up over a disagreement about the all-important provenance of St. Louis-style pizza. One side of the debate believes St. Louis-style pizza was first created by Imo’s Pizza, with their combination of a cracker-thin crust and Provel cheese (a blend of cheddar, Swiss, and provolone) dating back to 1964.

The other side of the debate—the correct side—knows that St. Louis-style pizza was first served by Amedeo Fiore no later than 1947, with all the right ingredients in place: the classic thin crust made from a rich yeast dough, then topped with tomato sauce, provolone cheese, toppings like anchovies, olives, and ground pork, finished with olive oil and even more cheese. It’s a little more traditional than what we make now at Dogtown Pizza, but everything we do is focused on improving that classic recipe!

Do you notice your St Louis style pizza loving friends doing any of these three things? Have you cut ties with a friend or family member who cut your Dogtown frozen pizza the wrong way? Let us know in the comments!