Walking up to The Pizza Yard in the winter is akin to strolling through a scene fit for a snow globe. It’s a respite from the cold, but also from the mundane. Inside you’re met with a cherry-red, wood-fired oven imported from Italy and red steel shelves stocked with cans of Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes. Custom art by local artist Colby Sanford adorns the walls, including a piece featuring owners Matt and Jessica Reschke’s backyard, where they serve pizza to their friends—a scene that depicts the birth of The Pizza Yard.

Matt, self-proclaimed as pizza-obsessed his entire life, has spent the last 14 years making, creating, and dreaming up new styles of pizza. He’s shared his creations with friends through the years via backyard pizza parties, and now he shares them with customers in Midway, where the Reschkes converted a 120-year-old home into a pizza shop. 

Not quite traditional, Matt describes his pizzas as “Neapolitan-ish;” he’s more focused on using local ingredients than getting the Vera Pizza Napolitano seal of approval. Utilizing seasonal, home-grown produce is extremely important to the Pizza Yard team. 

The rotating menu features everything from the traditional (margherita) to the unique (a BLT pizza made with home-grown heirloom tomatoes, locally sourced bacon, and a house aioli). Don’t miss the popular hot honey pizza, featuring hand-crushed Bianco di Napoli organic tomato sauce, mozzarella, Creminelli pepperoni, house-pickled jalapeños, and a drizzle of local wildflower honey. 

The local appetite for Italian cuisine has inspired the Pizza Yard team to open a gelato shop across the street: Dandelion Gelato, set to debut this winter. Buon appetito! 35 N Center St, Midway, 435-315-4000.