5 Extinct Pizza Shops in Salt Lake City
Pizza has always been the go to for something fun to eat, easy to order and dang yummy all around. As a pizza connoisseur, I love checking out any and all pizza places everywhere I go. In my opinion, Salt Lake City has some of the most amazing pizza around! There are so many wonderful, local pizza places here and they all have their own special twist when it comes to this iconic food item.
Salt Lake has seen so many different pizza places come and go and many of the greats are still around. This post isn’t about who is still here, but more of a tribute to those who are no longer with us. We all have those memories of hanging out with friends on a hot Summer afternoon eating our favorite pizza, or on that cold winter night when you want delivery. All those times as a youth scaring the pizza delivery man or ordering pizza to someone else’s house. (Well, maybe that was just me and my crazy friends). Pizza just makes sense, and for me, it makes sense all the time. I made a post on Facebook a few weeks back asking friends to share their favorite (out of business) pizza places in Salt Lake City. Here are 5 extinct SLC pizza places that they responded with and a couple I added. (In no particular order)
- Der Ratskeller Pizza Shoppe. Matt Hardy was the first to mention this place and soon many others followed in support of his opinion. According to the Division of Corporations, Der Ratskeller Pizza Shoppe was originally registered in 7/10/1969 under the registered agent Roy C. Moore and expired on 9/1/1988. I had unfortunately forgotten about this place until I saw those comments. It surely brought back some great childhood memories. Click here for Photo Credit:
- Ambassador Pizza. Ashley Moffitt was the first to mention this place, also followed by many others. This restaurant was personally one of my favorites. Tons of great memories at the one located in Holladay specifically. Unfortunately I could not find any photos of this place or their pizza. According to the Division of Corporations this business was originally registered on 1/6/1987 and expired on 4/1/1998. They had many locations throughout Salt Lake City.
- Gepetto’s. Jon Andrus was the first to mention Geppetto’s. What an amazing staple this place was for Salt Lake City for so many years. Gepetto’s opened in 1970 and had a full menu of yummy items; pizza obviously being an important piece of that menu. They had two locations, one that was on 1300 East by the University of Utah was closed quite a few years ago, but the other location was in Holladay located at 2340 E Murray Holladay Rd. This location closed in 2014 and was heartbreaking for many people who frequented that place for years. The restaurant was decorated with 60’s and 70’s memorabilia and had live music almost every night. Click here for Photo Credit:
- Rocky Mountain Pizza Co. One of my favorites, this restaurant was located at 3977 South Wasatch Blvd in the Olympus Hills Shopping Center. Great spot with a cozy fireplace that also offered all you can eat pizza on certain days. According to the online business database/directory Manta, this place was founded in 1983, so they had a great run! Sad to see this place gone. Click here for Photo Credit:
- Showbiz Pizza Place. Salt Lake City used to have a Showbiz Pizza until it rebranded to Chuck E. Cheese’s in 1992. Although this restaurant is not native to Utah, and wasn’t necessarily known for gourmet pizza, I thought I would add it because it was so much fun when I was a kid. Additionally, Nolan Kay Bushnell, a native Utahan and co-founder of Atari, opened the first Chuck E. Cheese’s restaurant in California. The first Showbiz Pizza opened on March 3rd, 1980. I remember having Birthday parties at Showbiz and watching the “Rock-afire Explosion” animatronic band made up of a bunch of funny dressed animals. It was fun while it lasted. Kids can still enjoy rides, entertainment and of course pizza at Chuck E. Cheese’s.
I hope you enjoyed this walk down a pizza paved memory lane! Please add your favorite deceased pizza joints in the comments below.
Push Ups Anywhere 
Pipes and Pizza was my old favorite! We wnjoyed watching black and white silent movies with an old time organist while eating delicious pizza with family and friends. I sure miss it.
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I’m happy to know that someone else besides me remembers pipes and pizza! AWESOME!
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Pipes and pizza, was located on the north west corner of 4500 so. and state Street. My family went there often while growing up in the late 60’s and early 70’s. An organist was in the middle of the elevated floor and the wooden air pipes are clearly seen laying down at the east of the building. One could look through the windows and gaze at all the different sizes. The organist had many many switches at his command that would trigger any number of different “air activated” instruments that lined the walls about 20 feet off the ground running along the walls of the place. Heavy thick wooden tables were everywhere for families to eat and enjoy the absolutely fabulous pizza. I have very fond memories of this place. Another awesome place was “shakeys pizza” located on 3300 so. And about 200 east. Live music on the weekends. The atmosphere was great and the pizza even better. That was early 70’s also. I think they originated in Idaho, Pocatello. I think they are still there. Another place famous for pizza and especially spaghetti with golf ball size meatballs was “BRUNO’S”.
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Showbiz awesome also, loved the games. I remember the one up 3300 South and about 1100 East in the Southwest corner. High school days, 1980’s. Loved the games like :frogger, centipede, qix, tempest (my favorite) I found a beta version on google apps that isn’t too bad and just like the old version!. Great memories!
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I have many good memories of getting take-out from Amabassador Pizza’s Bountiful location. They also provided pizza to Centerville Junior High when I was a student. A pretty legit pizza for a school.
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You must be younger than me. I remember pipes and pizza, 4500 south state street, Shakeys pizza parlor, 3300 south 200 east, live music on the weekends. Der Ratskeller of course, godfathers. Pipes and pizza was the best! There was an organ player and the wooden pipes could be seen through the front windows, various instruments along the walls near the ceiling that would come to life depending on what song the organist was playing, they were all activated by air. It was so cool when we were kids, always looked forward to going there.
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