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Myke’s Pizza open for lunch in downtown Mesa

Posted 1/15/22

As the downtown Mesa food scene continues to grow, one of its first cult concepts is expanding its hours and has an innovative menu.

Myke’s Pizza, which started as a sidewalk pop up in 2016, …

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Business

Myke’s Pizza open for lunch in downtown Mesa

Posted

As the downtown Mesa food scene continues to grow, one of its first cult concepts is expanding its hours and has an innovative menu.

Myke’s Pizza, which started as a sidewalk pop up in 2016, is open for lunch service six days a week inside the Cider Corps taproom, 31 S. Robson No. 103 in Mesa, according to a release.

The business is open starting at 11 a.m. Tuesday-Sunday, offering its regular menu of 10 hand-crafted pies, a house salad, chocolate chip cookies, seasonal pizzas styles and a rotating weekend dessert.

“We really appreciate the support the community has shown us as we’ve gone from a pop up and adjusted through the pandemic,” owner Myke Olsen said in the release. “With lunch hours, we hope even more people will have a chance to visit as we continue to create new dishes.”

Once an accountant, Olsen started making pizza as a hobby with a friend and hosting backyard pizza parties. When summer heat forced them to find an inside location, another friend with a business in downtown Mesa offered to help. By 2016, Myke’s Pizza could be found weekly at sidewalk pop ups where people would wait patiently as Olsen prepared pizzas one at a time in a tabletop oven, the release states.

His unique styles like the white sauce potato and bacon pie or a salami pizza with spicy local honey were the first to get him local recognition, but it is his creative use of fruit toppings that is getting him national attention, according to the release.

Olsen was a guest on the Dec. 13 episode of the Modernist Pizza Podcast to talk about his seasonal cherry and peach pizzas. The podcast is produced by the collection of food experts and innovators at Modernist Cuisine.

“To me it makes sense to try and kind of go beyond the conventional pizza toppings and kind of maybe push a boundary a little bit and end up with something that might really, you know, surprise you and please you,” Olsen said in the podcast, which is at modernistcuisine.com/books/modernist-pizza/modernist-pizza-podcast.

In 2019, Olsen moved Myke’s Pizza into a permanent spot inside the Cider Corps taproom and built out a kitchen with a Renato wood fire oven.

Opening for lunch is only one of his plans for the restaurant this year. He and his team will continue to experiment with different pizza toppings and styles. He also hopes to add more vegetable dishes and will continue to focus on local ingredients as he works with producers in the area, according to the release.

Olsen says the best way to learn about new dishes, pizza styles and weekend desserts is to follow the restaurant on Instagram @mykespizza.

The family friendly restaurant is open Tuesdays-Sundays for lunch and dinner. Find Myke’s Pizza at 31 S. Robson No. 103 in downtown Mesa, at mykespizza.com and on Facebook and Instagram @mykespizza.