Pizza Today Pizza Industry Excellence (PIE) Awards celebrate exceptional work within the pizza industry, highlighting the excellence of entrepreneurship, business acumen, and stellar service of pizzerias of all sizes. Designed to honor pizzeria operators and help celebrate their business accomplishments, the PIE Awards offer a dozen categories covering a broad array of food service business disciplines.
Caliente Pizza and Draft House uses social media as a huge part of ourmarketing plan. The company utilizes Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube.
Spinato's Pizzeria leverages social media with vibrant campaigns and a strong visual identity, showcasing our family history and staff. Creative partnerships with brands like TMNT and Universal Studios have doubled our audience and boosted engagement by 750% in two years.
Square Pie Guys' playful and quirky social media perfectly reflects our unique pies and humor, showcasing everything from sending pies to Seoul to mixing Paneer with cheddar. With over 100,000 followers, our Instagram and TikTok highlight our creativity and connect us with fans far and wide, making our Bay Area business accessible and engaging online.
Caliente Pizza & Draft House
Spinato's
Square Pie Guys
Caliente Pizza and Draft House showcases how they have utilized their partnership with PizzaBib to create brands awareness for their brand and locations within PPG Paints Arena (local hockey arena) where their pizza is served to hockey fans.
In Atlanta, a baby blue pizza box from Varuni Napoli signifies a delicious Neapolitan pizza. Designed by Chef Luca Varuni, the box’s blue color reflects his wife’s eyes and his Italian heritage, while the red and white logo symbolizes key pizza ingredients and elements of Italian culture. Inspired by Tiffany blue, the design aims to evoke excitement and a sense of specialness.
Founded in 1979 and still at the same location, we updated our branding three years ago with a contemporary yet vintage design, moving from a 1970s cartoon to a majestic style. Our tagline, "The Dough Has Risen," highlights our daily, hand-formed pizzas made with our own dough.
Varuni Napoli
Vincenzo's Newhall
Caliente Pizza and Draft House showcasing, via TikTok, how the use of comedy and a little appropriate controversy can gain traction in views.
Mattenga's "Roaming Hungry Bear" video plays on San Antonio's BEXAR County name with a humorous segment about a bear chasing our Honey Bexar pizza. The video, which led to over 300 pizzas sold in two weeks and a spot on local TV, resonated with the community through its fun, local twist and playful approach.
This is a quick clip about the Vincenzo's Newhall Mustang GT delivery vehicle.
Goodfellas Pizzeria in Lexington's Distillery District offers a unique dining experience with a renovated industrial space, featuring a 105-foot smokestack, vintage decor, and a craft cocktail bar.
Old Scratch Pizza in Troy, Ohio, transformed a former fire station into a unique restaurant, blending historical preservation with modern design. The space features original elements like garage doors and a 22-foot red table, creating a standout dining experience that earned the 2024 Troy City Beautification Award.
Pizza Cassette in San Diego is an outdoor pizzeria located in a beer garden, featuring a live music venue with the seating, kitchen, and stage outdoors. The space, centered around a Valoriani wood-burning oven, transforms into an intimate, tent-covered setting during winter, offering a full menu despite its unique, open-air setup.
Goodfella's Pizzeria
Old Scratch Pizza
Pizza Cassette
See Category Descriptions
PIZZA COMPANY OF THE YEAR BY REGION
COOLEST DELIVERY VEHICLE
BEST PIZZERIA SOCIAL MEDIA
BEST PIZZA BOX DESIGN
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT AWARD
BEST BEVERAGE PROGRAM
Home Categories 2025 Winners Nominations FAQ
MOST INTERESTING MENU
Submit Nomination
The PIE Awards were created to celebrate excellence in the pizza industry. This year, we’re giving YOU the power to decide the winners in three unique categories! Explore the nominees and cast your vote for your favorites through December 9th.
YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR
Home Categories 2024 Winners Nominations FAQ
Popular Vote
Vote Now
Caliente refitted a classic 1967 Triumph Spitfire for this unique delivery vehicle. It even races in the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix!
Caliente Pizza and Draft House
A 1941 Ford panel delivery truck with a Chevy small block engine a Mustang front end and a Caprice Rear End. This delivery vehicle is known throughout the community as the Sourdough Willie mobile.
Sourdough Willy's
Castello’s Pizza turned a Smart car into a sleek, fully branded delivery vehicle that’s as iconic as it is practical. With its bold flame logo and eye-catching design, it’s a rolling billboard that delivers hot pizza and big smiles while showcasing the brand’s creativity and commitment to sustainability.
Castello's Pizza
Coolest Delivery Vehicle
From quirky cars to creative bikes, this category is all about the vehicles that add flair to pizza delivery.
Italian Food Company has built a loyal following across the Florida Keys through vibrant storytelling, stunning visuals, and a deep connection to the community. Since opening in 2021, this blend of Italian pizzerias, espresso bars, and trattorias has grown into four thriving locations. Their social media channels reflect the heart of the brand — authentic Italian recipes, generational pride, and the joy of la dolce vita. From Mamma Maria hand-rolling meatballs to pizzaiolos crafting dough with imported Caputo flour, every post celebrates Italian culture with warmth and spontaneity. With a signature style of humor, storytelling, and sensory visuals, Italian Food Company’s feed invites followers to feel like part of the famiglia. Their authentic approach has driven engagement rates above industry averages, making their social media a true celebration of food, family, and the Italian spirit.
Mattenga’s Pizzeria has made social media the heartbeat of its brand, connecting the San Antonio community while driving sales and building a strong reputation. Every post reflects the pizzeria’s core values: warmth, community, excellence, and pride in serving the city. From celebrating local heroes to impactful campaigns like feeding 700 teachers or hosting fundraisers, Mattenga’s storytelling strikes a chord. In just 60 days, their content reached nearly 2 million viewers, generated over 4,000 email leads, and turned followers into loyal guests. Recognized as San Antonio’s Best Pizza and Small Business of the Year for three consecutive years, Mattenga’s proves that good pizza and good news go hand in hand.
Sourdough Willy's social media presence stands out due to its emphasis on the unique, historical story of its 150-year-old Alaskan sourdough starter, behind the scenes look at the pizzeria and the numerous international awards and certifications earned by owner and Master Pizzaiolo Will Grant
Italian Food Company
Caliente Pizza & Draft House teamed up with PizzaBib to design a custom pizza box exclusively for the slices served at PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. This one-of-a-kind box is the ultimate gameday companion, combining Caliente’s award-winning pizza with a unique design that enhances the ballpark experience. Perfect for enjoying the perfect slice while cheering on the Pirates!
Mattenga’s Pizzeria
Sourdough Willy’s
Best Pizza Box Design
This category features creativity and branding that extends beyond the pizza itself. This award honors the most innovative and visually appealing pizza box designs.
Mattenga’s Pizzeria created a heartfelt pizza box for National Pizza Month and Breast Cancer Awareness Month, spreading a message of hope and strength. The box’s exterior reads, “A Slice of Strength. Together, We Rise,” while the inside reminds, “No One Fights Alone.” More than packaging, it symbolizes Mattenga’s commitment to supporting breast cancer warriors, with proceeds from October sales aiding local survivors and families. Having served over 200 survivors at community events, Mattenga’s designed this box to inspire, unite, and share a story of love, strength, and community—because every pizza tells a story, and this one reminds us we’re stronger together.
Mattenga's Pizzeria
Toss & Fire turned their pizza boxes into a centerpiece of the 2025 New York State Fair experience with three exclusive, limited-edition designs created in partnership with The Pizza Bib. Each box captured the fair’s energy and culture with a playful Toss & Fire twist: a butter sculpture food truck, a roller coaster ride with wood-fired pizza, and a crowd-surfing food truck at Chevy Court. To amplify the fun, they launched a “Win Free Pizza for a Year” contest, sparking thousands of social media shares and making their boxes instantly recognizable across the fairgrounds. These bold, whimsical designs transformed customers into walking billboards, creating massive buzz and making Toss & Fire a standout part of the fair’s unforgettable experience.
Toss & Fire
This category is designed to recognize pizzerias that excel in engaging their audience and showcasing their brand through various social media outlets.
Best Pizzeria Social Media
We're excited to kick off the 3rd Annual Pizza Industry Excellence (PIE) Awards. Designed to honor independent pizzeria operators and help celebrate their business accomplishments, the PIE Awards offer more than a dozen categories covering a broad array of foodservice business disciplines. After listening to your feedback from our inaugural awards cycle, we've made several exciting changes! We've condensed the categories, drastically lowered the entry fees and are planning something special in terms of an in-person event to honor our winners (more on that at a later date).
Best Beverage Program
Fired Pizza, Stockton, CA
2025 Winners
(Midwest, Mountain West, Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, West Coast) - Growth, sales volume, employee and community engagement initiatives, leadership in the local market will all be taken into consideration.
Midwest - Crafters Pizza and Drafthouse, Carmel, IN Mountain West - Pizzeria Rustica, Colorado Springs, CO Northeast - Toss & Fire, Syracuse, NY Southeast - Soprana Rooftop Cucina, Asheville, NC Southwest - Motor City Pizza, Lewisville, TX West Coast - Wicked Pie Pizza, Puyallup, WA
Best Pizza Box Design (Popular Vote)
Toss & Fire, Syracuse, NY
Best Use of Social Media (Popular Vote)
Mattenga's Pizzeria, San Antonio, TX
Community Involvement Award
Soprana Rooftop Cucina, Asheville, NC
Coolest Delivery Vehicle (Popular Vote)
Castello’s Pizza, Clermont, FL
Most Interesting Menu
Pizza By Ruffin, Seattle, WA
Honoring the Pizza Industry’s excellence, innovation and creativity
The Categories
Community Involvement Award Pizzerias are the heartbeat of their neighborhoods, and this award celebrates those that give back in a big way. If your shop shows up when your community needs it, we want to hear your story. Judges will look for consistency, impact and evidence of donations and partnerships.
Most Interesting Menu This category rewards the boldest, most inventive lineups in the game, from regional specialties to that one item your regulars can't stop ordering. Judges will consider creativity, innovation, uniqueness, ease of execution and profitability. Send a copy (or copies, if it changes seasonally) of your menu.
Best Beverage Program Think your drink lineup deserves a standing ovation? We're honoring pizzerias that treat beverages like a main attraction. Judges will look for creativity and originality in your drink offerings, plus smart pricing and inventory choices that protect your margins.
Coolest Delivery Vehicle Your ride is rolling advertising, and some of you have turned your wheels into an art form. From vintage vans to a fully decked-out mobile pizza unit, nominations should turn heads. Judges are looking for brand representation, creative design, visual impact and functionality.
Best Pizza Box Design This award celebrates the smartest, funniest and most eye-catching packaging designs out there. Judges are looking for originality and visual appeal of the artwork as well as brand personality and functionality.
Best Use of Social Media Some of you have turned scrolling into serious business. This category honors the pizzerias making the biggest splash online, whether through mouthwatering photos, viral videos or a comment section that's pure gold. Judges are looking for creativity and consistency in your content, engagement, shares and measurable results tied to your online presence.
Pizza Company of the Year by Region (Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, West) We’re seeking standout shops repping their corner of the country with exceptional pizza, smart operations and profitability. Judges will look for community engagement initiatives, leadership in the local market and a devoted clientele. As well as growth and sales volume.
With more than 20 PIE Award nomination categories, there are many exciting opportunities for a wide range of small to large pizza restaurants and entrepreneurs to participate. From innovations to best practices, we’re confident the readers of Pizza Today will find an exciting new opportunity for all their hard work to be recognized.
How much does it cost to submit a nomination, and what are the deadlines? Early-bird Deadline: Oct. 15, 2026 Cost: $29 per entry Final Deadline: Nov. 30, 2026 Cost: $49 per entry. Can we only submit one nomination? Nope! We encourage all pizzerias to submit a nomination, whether you submit one or 10 is up to you! When will finalists and winners be announced? Finalists will be notified in December 2026. Winners will be notified in January 2027. How does public voting work? Our judges will select finalists from three awards categories: • Best Pizza Box Design • Best Social Media • Coolest Delivery Vehicle or Mobile Unit The finalists will be posted on PizzaToday.com and Pizza Today’s social media accounts, and the public will get the chance to vote for their favorite finalist in each category using an online platform. Will there be a reception or ceremony for the PIE Awards winners? YES!!! Pizza Today has reserved time for a ceremony at Pizza Today Village during Pizza Expo 2027! What are some other benefits to submitting an application? In addition to being honored during the International Pizza Expo, winners who attend the awards ceremony will get a chance to appear as guests on The Hot Slice podcast. Winners will receive an awards plaque to hang in their store. They also will appear in a 2027 issue of Pizza Today magazine featuring exemplary pizza operators.
