LAFAYETTE, CALIFORNIA – When your box of pizza arrives, you open it to find something unusual – instead of the traditional circular pizza pie, it’s a perfect square!
What’s more, the pizza is coated in cheese and cooked in a deep pan, resulting in a crispy crust that perfectly frames the thick yet light interior. On top is a layer of delicious cheese, including slices of real mozzarella.
This is the pizza from Square Pie Guys, a popular local chain here in the Bay Area. As the name suggests, Square Pie Guys make square pizzas.
Their pizzas are deep-dish but not in the traditional sense. We love the deep-dish, Chicago-style pizza at Zachary’s – the classic version with exceptionally thick, dense dough coated in a half-inch layer of melted cheese and red sauce. It’s decadent, and each slice is almost a full meal in and of itself.
Square Pie Guys is different. Where traditional deep-dish Chicago-style pizza is thick and dense, Square Pie Guys’ pizza is equally thick but much lighter and fluffier. The slices feel almost airy, with that delicious cheese-encrusted crust.
I recently ordered Square Pie Guys pizza from Local Kitchens in Lafayette, California. I was reviewing Koi Palace, a legendary dim sum place doing a pop-up at Local Kitchens, and the restaurant kindly sent a pizza for my kids, who aren’t fans of traditional dim sum!
The Square Pie Guys pizza nearly stole the show. The kids devoured a big chunk of it, and I enjoyed a slice as well.
At first, I wasn’t sure what I’d think of square pizza. Sometimes, the thickness of the pizza can mean too much crust, making it feel more dense than enjoyable.
With Square Pie Guys, that wasn’t the case. It feels like you’re getting the same amount of crust as a traditional pizza, just inflated into something thick and fluffy – almost like biting into a slice of focaccia bread rather than a dense loaf of sourdough.
The toppings on Square Pie Guys’ pizza also feel higher quality than your standard pizza place. I got a simple cheese pizza, but the mozzarella slices on top elevated it.
I keep coming back to the crust, though. I’m one of those people who typically leaves pizza crust on my plate, like a picky four-year-old.
In this case, I found myself eating the crust first. It’s not gimmicky like the stuffed crust pizzas from Pizza Hut I remember eating on the East Coast growing up. Instead, the crispy bits of cheese and Parmesan on the crust give it a crunchiness, almost like the crispiness you might find on a slice of garlic bread – minus the garlic.
Square Pie Guys also manages to make their pizza much faster than traditional deep-dish, which can take 45 minutes or more to cook.
Again, I won’t be giving up my Zachary’s! But this feels like a value add – something new and different in the deep-dish category that I hadn’t tried before.
I ordered a Square Pie Guys pizza expecting a simple background item to satisfy my kids. I ended up discovering something I’ll definitely be ordering again – perhaps even just for myself!
You can grab Square Pie Guys pizza on the Local Kitchens app or website. Thanks again to them for sending us some to try out.
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