Righteous Slice, the two-story pizza restaurant located at 175 W. 200 S. in Rexburg has been considered pricey but delicious to most and according to Bill Crawford, the restaurant’s owner, Italian natives have said Righteous Slice pizza is as authentic as pizza shops in Italy. Recently the restaurant has received a new buzz in town with their award-winning pizza.
“This year it was August, right?” Crawford said to his wife Cheryl, “still this month that we went to Nappa and did their real California pizza contest. This is the one where Apollo Borracho took the grand prize.”
When Crawford had the aspiration to open a pizza business there were many factors that caused him some discouragement such as a lot of hard work, long hours, low pay and the skill level it takes to make and own the business. However, Crawford gained motivation and inspiration when he enrolled in a pizza school with one of the largest influencers in the pizza industry.
“I did enroll in a pizza school in San Francisco, under the instruction of a guy named Tony Gimignani, who I didn't realize at the time, but he's the biggest celebrity in the pizza industry,” Crawford said. “And he's just become even more influential over the last 17 years. And so, it was a real privilege to be able to go to school with him teaching.”
Crawford then went on to a pizza education program in New York where he learned how to perfect the restaurant’s most popular style of pizza.
“We built the business on the back of Neapolitan,” he said, “So Neapolitan pizza is traditionally 11 to 12 inches in diameter. It's going to have sauce, fresh mozzarella. It's cooked at 900 degrees. And so, it's a very soft pizza. There's still a lot of moisture left in it, because you can't bake all the moisture off that fast, at that temperature. It'll burn. And so, it comes out light and crispy when it first come out of the oven.”
Crawford says right now, Righteous Slice sells 60% Neapolitan pizza and 20% New York-style pizza. You can purchase their righteous menu items including the award-winning Pollo Borracho Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. or Friday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., online ordering is also available at www.righteousslice.com