When I was about 14 years old growing up around Chicago, a few friends and I — Joe, Mike, and Jay — spent most of our weekends hanging out in Mike’s basement, laughing, arguing about music, and eating way too much pizza. Mike has since passed on, but those nights are memories I’ll always keep close.

One night, my buddy Joe had a wild idea. He said, “What if we could fix pizza?”
The middle slices were always floppy and messy, but everyone loved the crust. So why not cut the pizza like a donut — no soggy middle, just perfect crust on every slice?

That idea became what we now call the Donut Cut.

The Birth of the Donut Cut Pizza

Someone joked that we should name the place Crusty Joe’s, and for a while, that name stuck. None of us remember who actually said it first — but we all remember that moment: four kids, laughing in a basement, accidentally inventing a new way to enjoy Chicago tavern-style pizza.

It wasn’t about trends or gimmicks. It was about making pizza better. Years later, we’re proud to bring that same spirit to Chi-Town Tavern Pizza Co., now serving Sarasota and the Skye Ranch community.

Every pizza we make today follows that same Chicago tavern tradition — hand-tossed dough fermented for five days, scratch-made sauce simmered slow, and toppings that are either handmade or carefully sourced.

Our Ingredients, Our Standards

We use Applegate organic turkey pepperoni, homemade chicken sausage with fennel, and fresh-cut green peppers roasted in avocado oil. Those are our premium toppings — because they’re worth it.

No seed oils.
No food dyes.
No shortcuts.

We may have grown up, but we’re still chasing that same perfect crust and that same feeling from Mike’s basement — friends, laughter, and pizza everyone can enjoy, crust and all.