WINSTON-SALEM, N.C — Americans on average eat about 180 slices of pizza per year or about the size of a suitcase. With that much pizza being eaten the debate about the best pizza in the U.S. is a hot topic, but one pizzeria in our state has made the 50 Top Pizza USA list for multiple years.
What You Need To Know
- After tasting pizza in Italy, Peyton Smith's passion for pizza began
- Mission Pizza Napoletana in Winston-Salem has been named as some of the best pizza in the U.S. for multiple years
- Smith cooks his pizza for less than a minute and a half in close to a 1,000-degree oven
- His pizzas use ingredients from the state and around the world
Peyton Smith has always loved soccer, as it gave him something to work toward and practice. Although he still plays for fun, he has turned in soccer balls for balls of dough, eventually opening up Mission Pizza Napoletana in Winston-Salem.
“I thought it would be a good personal endeavor that could maybe be a good business,” Smith said.
For about 15 years, Smith has been working on his art of crafting pizzas, giving him an outlet to improve and spark creativity.
“How do we want this to look and feel and taste, and what are we sort of inspired to make, and why and where does that come from?” Smith said.
His passion for the pies started in the late '90s, when he tasted a pizza like never before in Italy. Which is pretty impressive considering he said pizza culture there is more divided than N.C. barbecue here.
“The cheese tastes like milk. The herbs are nice and fresh, and it's like super light because it's cooked really fast,” Smith said when talking about pizza in Italy.
He wanted to bring that taste to N.C. by using the best ingredients of locally grown tomatoes or buffalo milk cheese shipped in from Italy. Each pizza is cooked for about 80 seconds in an almost 1,000-degree oven for a soft inside and crispy crust.
“I probably manipulate my pizzas a lot because I want to get it. I want to be very precise on the bake,” Smith said.
While the use of pineapple on pizza is up for debate, Smith’s pizzas are not, with Smith snagging another spot on the Top 50 Pizzas in the U.S. for a fourth year, as well as other awards and titles from the James Beard Foundation Awards, Food & Wine and more.
“Neapolitan pizza is one of the great food cultures in the world. And so to be able to represent that with integrity and intent and intentional commitment every day is fun and valuable to me,” Smith said.
Pizza Baby in Charlotte also made the top 50 list for this year.