Bridge City Pizza is a pizzeria and sandwich restaurant in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

neighborhood, in the United States.

Description

Bridge City Pizza is a restaurant serving

Chicago-style pizza Chicago-style pizza is pizza prepared according to one of several styles developed in Chicago. It can refer to both the well-known deep-dish or stuffed pizzas and the lesser-known thin-crust "tavern-style" pizzas. The pan used to bake deep-dis ...

and sandwiches in

southeast Portland Southeast Portland is one of the sextants of Portland, Oregon. Boundaries and features Southeast Portland stretches from the warehouses along the Willamette River through historic Ladd's Addition to the Hawthorne and Belmont districts out to ...

neighborhood. The delivery-focused business has a small storefront and counter with six stools available for on-site dining, as of 2016. Behind the counter are painting depicting

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American organized crime, gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-foun ...

and

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers (formally, The Fabulous Blues Brothers’ Show Band and Revue) are an American blues and soul music, soul revue band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, who met and began collaborating as original cast ...

. Alison Hallett of the ''

Portland Mercury ''Portland Mercury'' is an alternative bi-weekly newspaper and media company founded in 2000 in Portland, Oregon. It has a sibling publication in Seattle, Washington, called '' The Stranger''. History A prior version of ''The Mercury'' was ...

'' has described the pizza as "tavern-style" (thin crust, cut into squares). Pizzas range from 10 to 18 inches in diameter. Red sauce and toppings (including

giardiniera ''Giardiniera'' (, ) is an Italian cuisine, Italian relish of pickling, pickled vegetables in vinegar or cooking oil, oil. Varieties and uses Italian ''giardiniera'' is also called ''sottaceti'' (), a common term for pickled foods. It is typi ...

) are made on site. The Willie the Wimp and His Cadillac Hawaiian has pineapple, the Chicago Fire has bacon,

jalapeño The jalapeño ( , , ) is a medium-sized chili pepper Fruit, pod type cultivar of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. A mature jalapeño chili is long and wide, and hangs down from the plant. The pungency of jalapeño peppers varies, but is usual ...

and pork sausage, and the Big Hurt has ham, pepperoni, peppers, and

portobello mushrooms ''Agaricus bisporus'', commonly known as the cultivated mushroom, is a basidiomycete mushroom native to grasslands in Eurasia and North America. It is cultivated in more than 70 countries and is one of the most commonly and widely consumed m ...

. Bridge City has a

gluten-free A gluten-free diet (GFD) is a nutritional plan that strictly excludes gluten, which is a mixture of prolamin proteins found in wheat (and all of its species and hybrids, such as spelt, kamut, and triticale), as well as barley, rye, and oats. ...

pizza. Sandwiches include

Italian beef An Italian beef is a sandwich of American origin, originating in Chicago, made from thin slices of roast beef simmered and served with a thin gravy on French bread. Common toppings are a choice between spicy giardiniera (called "hot") or mild ...

with

au jus ''Au jus'' () is a French language, French culinary term meaning "with juice". It refers to meat dishes prepared or served together with a light broth or gravy, made from the fluids secreted by the meat as it is cooked. In French cuisine, cookin ...

, meatball marinara, and the Froman (sausage). Sides include garlic

breadstick Breadsticks, also known as grissini (: grissino; Piedmontese: ''ghërsin'', ), are generally pencil-sized sticks of crisp, dry baked bread that originated in the Italian city of Turin, Piedmont. History It is believed that the breadstick orig ...

s named after

Elwood Blues The Blues Brothers (formally, The Fabulous Blues Brothers’ Show Band and Revue) are an American blues and soul revue band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, who met and began collaborating as original cast members of ...

mozzarella sticks Mozzarella sticks are elongated pieces of battered or breaded mozzarella, usually served as hors d'oeuvre. Origins The history of frying cheese in a batter dates back to at least 1393 in medieval France, when a recipe for fried cheese stick ...

, fried

mashed potato Mashed potato or mashed potatoes ( American, Canadian, and Australian English), colloquially known as mash (British English), is a dish made by mashing boiled or steamed potatoes, usually with added milk, butter, salt, and pepper. It is general ...

balls named after Coach K.

History

Bridge City Pizza is operated by "thickly, hilariously accented" former Chicago residents. For Pizza Week in 2016, the restaurant served a pizza called The Antonio Abate. Named after the "patron saint of pizza makers" and cut into triangles, the pizza had

barbecue chicken Barbecue chicken consists of Chicken (food), chicken parts or entire chickens that are barbecued, grilling, grilled or Smoking (cooking), smoked. There are many global and regional preparation techniques and cooking styles. Barbecue chicken is o ...

, bacon, Alabama white sauce, and sweet

pickled Pickling is the process of preserving or extending the shelf life of food by either anaerobic fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar. The pickling procedure typically affects the food's texture and flavor. The resulting food is called ...

vegetables.

Reception

In 2014, Samantha Bakall of ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

'' said Bridge City "happens to make the best Italian beef sandwich in the city, and it's not even close". Similarly, ''

Willamette Week ''Willamette Week'' (''WW'') is an alternative weekly newspaper and a website published in Portland, Oregon, United States, since 1974. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business, and culture. History Early history '' ...

'' said the restaurant "makes what might be the best Italian Beef in town right now".

Thrillist ''Thrillist'' is an online media website covering travel. ''Thrillist'' was founded in 2004 by Ben Lerer and Adam Rich. In October 2016, Thrillist merged with internet brands ''The Dodo'', NowThis News, and Seeker to form the digital media ...

's Andy Kryza said Bridge City had Portland's best Chicago-style pizza in 2015. In 2016, Bakall recommend the Italian beef and said Bridge City "is worth a visit for any Chicago-Portland transplants homesick for Italian beef sandwiches and square-cut 'za". She also included the sandwich in her 2017 list of southeast Portland's 39 best "cheap eats". In 2016, the ''Portland Mercury'' Alison Hallett called The Antonio Abate "hearty, filling, and deeply satisfying introduction to a pizza style that's hard to come by in Portland". Matthew Singer of ''Willamette Week'' called the sandwiches "gloriously gloppy monstrosities that bleed juice straight through the wrapping", and recommend the Italian beef. In late 2021, ''Eater Portland'' invited writers to share headline predictions for 2022. One of

Bill Oakley William Lloyd Oakley (born February 27, 1966) is an American television writer and producer, known for his work on the animated comedy series ''The Simpsons''. Oakley and Josh Weinstein became best friends and writing partners at St. Albans Sc ...

's headlines read, "Portland Food Press Finally Notices Bridge City Pizza Which Has Been Making Absolutely Terrific Tavern-Style Pizza for Years But Getting Zero Attention". The website's Nathan Williams recommended Bridge City in an overview of eateries in the Woodstock neighborhood.

References

External links

* * {{Woodstock, Portland, Oregon Pizzerias in Portland, Oregon Restaurants in Woodstock, Portland, Oregon Sandwich restaurants in the United States

Description

History

Reception

See also

References

External links