#pizzerias

Two pizza bakers at work in the window of their pizzeria, 1950s.

Pizza in Minneapolis

It’s hard to imagine a time without pizza, but did you know that pizza wasn’t popular in America until after soldiers stationed in Italy returned from World War II? One of the first mentions of the word Pizza in the Minneapolis newspapers, other than as someone’s last name or from a trip to Italy, is a recipe for Pizza Hamburgers in 1948. How very American! In October 1958, Minneapolis Tribune staff writer Sue Cronk wrote, “Pizza, the cheese-and-tomato pie, began gathering an enthusiastic following in this area a year or two ago.” One early Minneapolis pizzeria was Totino’s Italian Kitchen, which was founded by Rose and Jim Totino (of frozen pizza manufacturing fame) in 1951 at 523 Central Ave. Since then, pizzerias have proliferated.