Immediate Popularity: Spicy Pie

By Neil Schloesser
Contributing Writer

Spicy Pie has opened in the old AKA clothing store in downtown Fargo on the corner of Second Avenue North and Broadway. The store still has a large AKA billboard outside on the side of the building so they’re hard to miss. (The billboard should be converted to an ad selling pizza by adding a pizza to the model’s outstretched hands and a mustache to the model’s face)

The interior is original, not at all dull. There is edgy, smart, and challenging artwork all over the store (I recommend the Britney Spears collage piece in the back) alongside many hi-def televisions playing a variety of programs, alongside empty cans of ingredients stacked into pyramids with rolls of paper towels on the tables. Spicy Pie also sells clothing with its name imprinted on shirts and shorts.

The exposed brick wall is just right, homey and authentic, goes with Downtown and Broadway. The interior’s mix of hipster art with sports bar vibe works. It’s the work of someone with flare, a brilliant marketing move.

The food itself was very good. They serve pizza by the slice or pie, grinders, tacos and tostadas, beer, and pop. I ordered a slice of pizza and a soft shell taco. The pizza is a gigantic serving of New York, the kind of slice you fold over and eat like a sandwich. It was $2 plus twenty-five cents for each topping.

This isn’t fast food. Each slice is individually cooked, so be prepared to wait a few minutes. They cook cheese pizzas and use these precooked pizzas as the base for their individual slices. Because they reheat the pizza in the oven each slice is as crispy and hot as if it were freshly baked.

The pizza slice was large. I had Italian sausage and onions. The sauce was bright red and simple. This is a sauce that is simply tomatoes. There was little salt in the sauce or cheese. The cheese was used sparingly so it blended with the flavors but did not overpower them. The sauce was part of the pizza—it was not the whole thing or absent entirely from the palette, same with the crust which was crispy with a slight flour taste. All in all the slice of pizza tasted fresh and simple, unprocessed.

The soft taco was a blend of textures and flavors and was a cross between Taco John’s and Taco Shop in flavor and presentation. It was good. Very good.

And Spicy Pie is good through and through, deserves its evident popularity. I ate for under $5, walked away full, and the interior was intelligent. What else is there? Oh, Did I mention wi-fi and outdoor seating?

Questions and comments: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

If You Go

What: Spicy Pie
Where: 322 Broadway
When: M-Th 11-11; F-Sat 11-2am
Info: 701.356.7437