Thick-Crusted Ranch Pizza Is Opening a Second Location in Northwest Portland

A bold, unique player in the Portland pizza scene is opening a second restaurant across the river. Ranch Pizza, a Woodlawn pizzeria known for its thick, chewy crust and tangy sides of ranch dressing, will expand to Northwest Portland this fall.

Willamette Week reports that the restaurant will take over the former 21st Avenue Bicycles in early October, splitting the space with Bentley’s Bagels. The menu is still under development, but if the original restaurant is any indication, the new pizzeria will specialize in its crispy, thick, bread-y pizzas, with toppings like pepperoni and basil.

Ranch Pizza started as a delivery-only pop-up business before taking over the kitchen at Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock’s bar, Poison’s Rainbow, in March 2018. Three months later, Ranch Pizza opened its own restaurant, a small pizzeria next to the Tamale Boy on Dekum. After more than a year in the Kerns bar, Ranch left Poison’s Rainbow, presumably to pursue this second location.

Ranch’s decision to open on the west side is emblematic of two major themes in Portland’s culinary world. The first: Northwest Portland is continuing its campaign to be a serious restaurant neighborhood, attracting big names like XLB and Pine State Biscuits as well as new heat like Kashmiri counter service spot Bhuna and modern Jewish deli Beetroot. The second: Portland is in its golden age of pizza, with serious pizzerias like The Star and Montesacro opening on the west side and bespoke pizza cart Gracie’s opening a restaurant in St. Johns. What will be interesting to watch is how Ranch will play in Northwest Portland, now home to a handful of big-deal West Coast pizzerias. Ranch Northwest will open at 916 NW 21st Avenue; stay tuned.

Correction: This story has been corrected to show that Ranch Pizza’s first location is in Woodlawn, not Woodstock.

• Ranch Pizza [Official]
• Ranch Pizza Is Bringing Its Detroit-Style Pies to Northwest Portland [Willamette Week]
• Iconoclastic Ranch Pizza Now Has Its Own Restaurant [EPDX]
• Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock Wanted to Name His Bar ‘Magic F—-ing Flute’ [EPDX]
• Previous Ranch Pizza coverage [EPDX]