R Town Pizza

Midtown · Pizza · $$ · 180 W. Peckham Lane, Suite 1100 · rtownpizza.com

The crust arrives with those signature caramelized cheese edges, dark and lacey, crackling at the corners. Detroit-style pizza done right is a specific and uncompromising thing: the airy, focaccia-like interior, the sauce ladled on top rather than hidden beneath, Wisconsin brick cheese pressed into every corner of the pan until it fuses with the steel and becomes something architectural. Marvin Kinney honors the form completely — and then he gets creative. One bite and you understand immediately why people drive across town for this.

The Three One Three is the classic: pepperoni, red sauce, the racing stripe. The Robocop goes soppressata, capicola, smoked bacon, fennel. The Axel Foley — Marvin's personal favorite — brings fennel sausage, red onion, and Calabrian chili into something that earns its name. Devil's Night runs spicy shrimp with garlic and Calabrian chili. Angel's Night answers with spicy mushroom. The pie names alone tell you what kind of kitchen this is: one that takes the craft seriously and refuses to take itself too seriously. Gluten-free crust available, and it doesn't feel like an afterthought.

The snacks earn their own conversation. Cast iron meatballs with provolone, bubbling and well-seasoned. Calabrian shrimp baked with bacon. Jojo potatoes (IYKYK) a half-pound, baked, breaded — the kind of side that quietly steals the table. And then there's the bar: rare and well-chosen bourbons, and a beer list featuring selections from Bell's Brewing out of Kalamazoo — one of America's pioneering craft brewers and, not coincidentally, a Michigan institution. The Detroit circle, completed.

Marvin Kinney grew up in this industry — bussing tables at 13, managing by 17 — and saw enough broken kitchens to know exactly what he didn't want to build. Fair wages. Genuine welcome. A room where neurodivergent families and regulars and first-timers all feel equally met. His mantra, we have to stay human, isn't a slogan. It's an operating philosophy you feel somewhere between the pinball machines and the smell of crust baking in hot steel. Yelp's Top 100 U.S. Restaurants noticed. So did everyone else.

Don't miss: For $1, you can split two different Detroit-style pies on one pan. Order the Axel Foley on one half and whatever calls to you on the other. Best dollar you'll spend in Reno.