Ogden Valley Pizza And The Memories and Music That Made the Menu
Ogden Valley Pizza is a love letter to owner Ryan Johnson’s teen-age memories.
“Pizza has been, is, and will always be a part of me,” he said. “Memories of nights where we started at Blockbuster, then headed to Pizza Hut or Godfather’s, and headed back to the house. We liked to watch the movie on the tramp in the backyard! Or staying up all night with my mom making homemade pizzas. I still to this day make Mom’s recipe, and re-live those days. I tried to recreate the memories I have of pizza, and the nostalgia of it all!”
The takeout pizzeria’s menu is also steeped in Johnson’s love of ‘80s music, something I discovered when interviewing him and his wife Amy for a Standard-Examiner article. The top-selling pepperoni pizza, is called Weezer, after his favorite band. “And it’s also named for my Grandma. Her name was Louise, and she had a breathing problem, so we called her Grandma Wheeze.”
And there’s La Bonita — pepperoni, sausage, peppers, olives, onions, pineapple and tomatoes.
“If you grew up a teen in the ‘80’s, then you danced in the church gym to La Isla Bonita,” Johnson said, referring to the Madonna hit song. But it also came from a West Coast vacation Johnson and his wife, Amy, took. They ordered a pizza from a little mom-and-pop place, and ate it on the porch of their rented condo while looking out at the ocean.
“It was one of those moments that stick,” Johnson said. ““That pizza was amazing, and it was called La Bonita!”
The pineapple-topped “IZ,” was named for Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, known for his rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” It’s topped with is topped with pineapple chunks, smoked ham, onions and bacon.
Fat-Bottomed Cheesebread is so named, “because I’m a huge Queen fan,” said Johnson, “and the song is about beautiful women.”
After six years in Eden, the takeout pizzeria last year expanded to a second location, on 12th Street in Ogden, next to a Jersey Mike’s. It may be quirky to have an Ogden Valley Pizza in Ogden City, which is actually Weber Valley. But maybe it’s part of the charm.
Between Ryan and Amy, their son, Bridger, daughter Lindsay and son-in-law Jake, the Johnsons have over 25 years in the pizza industry. When Eden’s long-time restaurant, Alpine Pizza, closed in 2016, the Johnsons decided to fill that gap.
“We wanted a better pizza option in our hometown, so we came up with the idea of starting a takeaway and delivery business,” Ryan Johnson said. “We kept things simple and the menu short, so we could focus on quality and flavor. We pride ourselves in using the highest quality ingredients we can get our hands on.”
He added, “We’ve been building our own recipes long before we got the company. I grew up poor, so we cooked a lot.”
The Eden location is a cabin at 2612 North Highway 162.
“It’s small, but it works for us,” Johnson said. They initially considered naming it, “Hail Mary Pizza.” A football-loving family, they felt like it was a “Hail Mary pass” to sink all their resources into it — “every last cent,” as Ryan Johnson says.
But they settled on “Ogden Valley Pizza,” to designate the community they were serving.
“We wanted something to let our neighbors know how much this area means to us,” said Johnson. And at the time, they had no plans to expand outside of Ogden Valley.
“We enjoy the outdoors and the valley in which we live, and we support as many local charities and causes as we can afford to support as a company — cleanups, local education, teams, and individual athletes,” said Ryan Johnson. “Every year, we invite numerous school students to the shop to learn about the workings of a business. We are dedicated to providing excellent pizza to our neighbors, and we are proud to serve the community in which we live and raise our children.”
The Eden pizzeria proved so successful that they decided to expand. They looked for a location that would be easy to access from Ogden Canyon, and found it at 216 E. 12th Street. Their son, Mckinnon Johnson, runs the 12th Street location, and son-in-law Jake Johnson is the company’s general manager and runs the Eden location.
“I wanted to give my family something to work with and be a part of,” said Ryan Johnson.
They use local ingredients when possible. The dough’s flour comes from Big J Milling in Brigham City. “They meticulously inspect each bag before sending it to us,” said Ryan Johnson. “They went above and above to keep us on track during the current pandemic.”
“Our best product is our dough,” said Amy Johnson. “We make it every night, and that’s what sets us apart from other places.”
Her personal favorite pizza is the BBQ chicken, which uses Miss Essie’s BBQ Sauce, made in Murray with a 100-year-old family recipe that originated in Arkansas. “The sauce is just amazing,” she said.
The company’s second best-seller, the Frontside Rodeo, refers to a snowboarding trick, “because there are a lot of snowboarders in Ogden Valley,” said Ryan Johnson.
It’s what most pizza places would call a “supreme,” since it’s packed with pepperoni, ham, sausage, bell peppers, onions, olives and mushrooms.
Then there’s The Diaz, — plain cheese pizza. Why? Because Ryan Johnson is “100% sure” he saw Cameron Diaz at a store in Eden, still beautiful with no makeup or Hollywood frills. Apparently, plain cheese pizza can be beautiful.
The Flying Tomato refers to Olympian Shaun White’s nickname. The “White” alfredo base is studded with halved grape tomatoes, chunks of chicken, and sliced mushrooms and spinach.
The Lindsay is named for their daughter, who pushed for a vegetarian pizza on the menu — peppers, onions, olives, mushrooms and tomatoes.
There’s also Amy’s Yoga Pant Salad, which Ryan Johnson named as a nod to health-conscious, yoga-practicing salad-eaters.
You can also order a “Harvey Dent” — half-and-half toppings.
They used to have a menu board explaining all the names, and “people would stand for 15 minutes reading it and laughing,” Ryan Johnson said.
They do offer a “gluten-friendly” crust, but because there’s so much regular flour floating around in the kitchen, they can’t guarantee that it won’t get contaminated. “I don’t want to take someone else’s health in my hands,” Ryan Johnson said.
He doesn’t claim to be “authentic Italian.”
“Yeah I get it, folks like that Napoli recipe from Italy, some say it’s the only way pizza should be,” he said. “I love me a good dinner at Settebello. But to me, I grew up right here in the good old USA, and this is the pizza I love. I’m not trying to be an authentic Italian pizza place. I’m trying to be an authentic hometown pizza joint, the kind I grew up with. This is what I love.”
Locations: 2612 N Highway 162 #2, Eden; 216 E. 12th Street #B, Ogden
Contact: Eden: 385-205-6138; Ogden: 801-528-6844; ogdenvalleypizza.com
Hours: Monday-Thursday, 11a.m.-8 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 11a.m.-9 p.m.
Prices: $5 to $18 or more, depending on pizza size and ingredients.