Sometimes hungry customers even arrive by dogsled.
Nestled in the “ golden center ” ofAlaska’sfrigid Department of the Interior , about 30 statute mile outside of Fairbanks and 200 miles south of the Arctic Circle , lies a pizza pie - eater ’s hidden hoarded wealth . wall by towering spruce Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and obscuredmuch of the yearby snow , the scenic road to this nigh - mythologic spot is n’t for the syncope of heart . travel along the astray - open Steese Highway and then driving another 20 miles on the solitary Chena Hot Springs Road , traveller will eventually find a converted 1985 Ford school bus parked in a welcome clearing .
This is n’t just any bus topology , heed you . It ’s a fully - contained nutrient hand truck that boast more styles of regional pizza than any other pizza parlor in North America . Located just at the end of Anders Avenue , visitors arrive by all means of transport — bicycle , motorcycles with sidecar , snowmobile , and even sleigh - dog team braving the arena ’s vivid winter storms .
There’s Only One Way Down from the Highest Restaurant in North America—Strapped to a Pair of Skis
The trip down is even more fun than the journey up.
Wagner ’s Pizza Bus , which has been operated by Mike and Diana Wagner since 2013 , serves more than 30 varieties of regional pizza , creating a veritable mathematical function of America ’s favorite PIE right in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness . From the cold - cheese “ Ohio Valley ” pizza of my hometown ofPittsburghto Connecticut ’s charred - crispy “ apizza , ” Wagner ’s has it all . For pizza aficionado like me , who can distinguish between the sweet , St. Basil the Great - spiced simplicity of a red-faced sauce - topped Trenton love apple pie and the tangy , duncish gall of its related to but nevertheless distinct cousin , the South Philly pizzazz , on mouthfeel alone , its menu is both bewildering and a ambition come unfeigned .
Other offer let in the orthogonal Detroit style ; the abstruse , cheeseflower - laden Chicago mystifying dish as well as the fragile Chicago tavern vogue ; and the chewy , straight Sicilian . And if those pies are n’t your thing , you’re able to savor the creamy , provel - exceed St. Louis cracker impertinence , or enjoy the nostalgic taste of a pan - baked , square - cut Old Forge pizza pie from Pennsylvania . Then there ’s the hearty , pan - fried Buffalo , New York variety , D.C. ’s giant slice and the fine pies Denver has to offer , pizza traditionally sell by the pound and suffice with a side of honey that was invent in Idaho Springs , Colorado .
The list only keeps going from there . Each pizza has its own taradiddle , its own trenchant look , and its own legion of fans .
Wagner’s Pizza Bus
As for how all these pizza got here — a spot not far from where parents enjoin their kiddosSanta Clauslives — Mike Wagner recognise a school charabanc parked along the side of the road with a planetary house that read “ Pizza Bus for sales agreement ” while on a fishing head trip toDelta Junction , Alaska , a city of about 950 masses or so 100 nautical mile south of Fairbanks . Intrigued , he take his married woman to see it the following weekend . “ There was no earpiece number to impinging , so we entrust our number on the bus topology , ” he tells me . “ A few weeks by and by , they called us back and we bribe it . It was already set up with a pizza pie oven . ”
The bus , originally holler “ snarl Grizzly Pizza , ” had been selling pizza in Delta Junction since the early 1980s . After purchasing it , though , the Wagners made some modifications . “ We moved some equipment around to make it more user - friendly and updated the appurtenance , ” Mike explain . “ We also painted it red with a blanched cap for passion reflexion in the summer . ”
Originally , Mike and Diana , Pennsylvania kids who emigrated to the near - Arctic 20 years ago to experience all that Alaska had to offer by way of outdoor activity and an improved timbre of life , were n’t plan on offering such a diverse menu , which has now balloon to include regional sandwich such as Philly cheesesteaks and southerly - panache chilly dog-iron , as well as original signatures like their breakfast pizza pie ( sputter egg , two cheeses , and ham , bacon , or sausage ) and their pickle pizza ( pickles , dill weed , and mozzarella over a clean ail sauce ) .
“ We started with our lily-white pizza and Sicilian because they were my go - tos when I got cut while hanging out at the center back home , ” explains Mike . “ Then , in 2017 , we added Chicago and Detroit style pizzas because they were pop up all over Facebook . Until then , they only had round pies up here . get along from a billet like Pennsylvania , hoagies and unlike kinds of pizza pie were basically in our pedigree , so it was meet that all the rest started to come up as we began digging into the food blogs and studying how to make these other varieties . ”
These new offer sold well — Diana can adulterate 100 - plus Proto-Indo European Earth’s crust by hand on a busy day when the double-decker , which has just one pizza oven , is servicing a bragging event in town , with each pie sack up a pocket-size profit — and grant them to extend their client base beyond local firefighters fighting forest ardour . “ During the fervor , we started doing burger for the fireman , ” says Mike . “ Our fixture asked us to keep them , so we did . Then we bestow hot click to go with the burgers , and we desire them to pair some of the regional pizza . We even brought in Italian beef cattle from Chicago . ”
“ We realise people postulate to feed no matter what , and our bus topology is equipped with a generator , so they can occur here when there are storm and the superpower go out [ temperatures can drop to 50 below in the surrounding area ] and know that we ’re going to be open , ” Mike cover . “ Our pizza has even fed dog musher on theIditarodandYukon Questdog - sled races . ”
Photo courtesy of Ryan Christie
In term of how their Alaskan wilderness pizza pie compare to the veridical thing , Ryan Christie , a longtime patron who shares my love of Ohio Valley style pizza , which features dusty cheese and other toppings add after the fact to a thick crust that ’s cooked in a deep sheet tray , lay Wagner ’s Ohio Valley above that of Pittsburgh ’s Beto ’s and Osso ’s of Washington , Pennsylvania — very gamy praise given where he and I come from . “ They ’re absolute obsessive when it come to nutrient quality , ” he tells me . “ Everything is researched , and they ’ll assure you about all of it if you ask — and each part ’s crust is very distinct . ”
Of of course , not all regional pizza stans are as open - minded as Christie . Some , in fact , openly scorn other styles , such as mocking the American cheese used on Altoona pizza pie . Wagner , who loves instruct about new pizza panache and has expand his own repertoire by trading recipes with food bloggers , understands that people have preference , but does n’t see the point in labeling one style as bad , off - limits , or inedible .
“ With something like the Altoona Hotel pizza , I ’ll see people say that it ’s not a pizza because it has white-livered cheese on it , ” he argues . “ I tell them you ca n’t pronounce it in compare to other pizza pie . You have to try out it as a whole Modern food , no unlike than our pickle pizza or the pizza we make with mustard sauce , which is an awesome variation on the Trenton tomato pie that pop with a drizzle of leaf mustard , then cheeseflower , and last the pizza pie sauce on top . genuine Italian pizza did n’t even have cheese on it , but all these immigrants bringing it to America started arrange their own twisting on it . ”
Photo courtesy of Ryan Christie
That ’s hard - won sapience , in particular in a never - end regional pizza pie battle where take it personal — and then making it personal — seems to be part of the merriment . But then again , Mike is also acutely aware of just how special his performance is : “ I read a story a few weeks ago about a guy claiming to do a lot of regional pizza pie , but when I go through it , it was mostly just different topping on a smattering of style . EvenTony Gemignani , with all his award - winning pizzerias , does n’t match what we do . There are manner not on our card that we can still make , like California style or Turkish pide pizza , which is shaped a bit like a canoe . We make more regional pizzas than any other place in the world , and we do it all from a bus in Alaska . ”
Wagner’s Pizza Bus
