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I first remember hearing the name Rusted Sun Pizzeria several years ago. It seems to consistently come up on lists of best pizza places in Salt Lake. But until I started working in Salt Lake it was hard to make visits to any of the places I heard about. I was reminded of Rusted Sun shortly after I started working up here when I drove past it one day on my way to work and put it on my list to visit.

In my family growing up, food was a general theme that was incorporated into almost everything we did. And as a subset of that the pizza genre was always high on the list. If we ever caught whiff of someplace that was reputed to have good pizza, it was like bloodhounds on a scent. We would seek it out and add it to our data set (by consuming it) of good pizza.

Once we decided to visit Rusted Sun Pizzeria, I started looking for anything I could find about it. Websites, review, etc, etc, etc. They don't have a website and other than the using minimal listing on citysearch and other review sites (and the submitted reviews) I couldn't find out much about them. The best source of info I stumbled across was a collection of restaurant reviews originally published in the Salt Lake Tribune that had a good bit of background about Rusted Sun. The full review is available online, but the highlights I picked out to help set the context for our visit included:

• Rusted Sun was originally name Deloretto's


• The current owner bought, renamed it, and upgraded the dining experience (linen napkins, real plates and silverware, table service)


• Locally owned and run

The big plus for me is that it is not part of a chain and that it is locally owned and from what I could see on our visit, the owner was in the kitchen directing the stuff and cooking the pizzas. We went on a Tuesday and arrived shortly before noon. Table seating is limited, there are maybe six booths along the front wall. There is also a bar facing the kitchen with seats for another 8 or so people. We originally sat at the bar, but moved to a table as soon another group left. The service was efficient and friendly with nothing missing. They were prompt taking our order and quick bringing our drinks out. The server also made sure we never ran out of drink. The menu had other stuff on it besides pizza, but I didn't even pay it enough attention to remember what else they offered.

As is our procedure for any new restaurant we ordered a pizza, half with pepperoni and half with just cheese. There are two philosophy's at work here. One, even though most of the places we have visited offer pizza by the slice, we always order a whole pizza so that we can guarantee we get one that is freshly cooked and served straight from the oven. Two, my brother is all about pepperoni on his pizza. For me the first visit is always cheese only, because I operate under the assumption that if they can't make a good cheese pizza, chances are toppings won't make it any better. It is also a pizza that you can find at every pizza place. With all the different things you can get on your pizza today, I like to make sure our pizza eating is as close to an apples-to-apples comparison as possible.

The pizza at Rusted Sun came piping hot to our table. So hot, that we had to let it cool for a minute before we could really eat it. And that was after I had burned the top of my mouth with the first bite. One of my entries about pizza at some point needs to describe our proposed classfications for categorizing pizza styles, but for now, I'll just say this falls into the traditional category (the other choices are cracker thin, NY style, traditional-thick, deep dish/stuffed/Chicago, and Sicilian). It had a NY style crust that was a little crispier and crunchier than true NY style. And it passed all the tests required for me to want to return for another visit, which is truly all the matters, is it not?

On our next visit I want to try a calzone, which they offer for all the pizzas on their menu. Some of their house specialities looked good as well.

So overall, Rusted Sun Pizzeria is on the list of good places for pizza in Salt Lake. The thinks going for it are locally owned, fresh cooked pizzas with good flavor. It is a solid entry in our directory of Utah pizza.

Rusted Sun Pizzeria
2010 S State St
Salt Lake City, UT 84115