Cutie Pie Pizzeria Will Open on NE Fremont in Portland

Cutie Pie Pizzeria is opening on the southern edge of the Cully neighborhood on NE Fremont Street. They’ll be sharing a wall with the Mad Hanna bar; Cutie Pie will be in what was once the pandemic-era Hannex cafe and general store.

I first became aware of Cutie Pie Pizzeria back in February, but was unable to find any contact info then. So, I waited—and then May came along, and their email address was discoverable through submitted city paperwork. I reached out to them and we were able to meet last week and chat about the new pizzeria.

Who Is Behind Cutie Pie Pizzeria?

Cutie Pie is coming to us from Patrick Ramsey, who was formerly at Sizzle Pie. He worked there for over 13 years in myriad capacities—from making pizzas when he started, to being Vendor Relations Manager at the end of his time with the company.

He is opening Cutie Pie with a partner, who prefers not to be named at this point in time.

Time at Hammy’s Pizza and Sizzle Pie

Patrick started out in the world of pizza at Hammy’s Pizza. It was a very late night kind of party shop. “It was fun and everything,” remarked Patrick. “But I was managing that store at the time, working 60, 70 hours a week. I was not seeing my now wife very often, and so I knew that I needed a life change.” The pay could have been better, too.

He continued, “And so one day, I got a call from one of the original owners of Sizzle Pie and he said, ‘Hey, I heard you make a good pizza.’ And I was like, ‘Who are you?'” Turns out his buddy passed on his number to the Sizzle Pie folks, who had heard about his good work in pizza.

So he went in an interviewed and turned out it was a good fit. “It fit in with who I was, you know, with all the punk rock and metal—a rock-and-roll pizzeria. And so it stuck.” For 13-and-a-half years.

He really enjoyed his time there. “I met so many amazing people,” he said. “Some of my best friends to this day are from Sizzle Pie. I’ve got plenty to be grateful for that. But the the last few years were taking its toll on me, and it was it was becoming more and more difficult to have a life outside of work.” As the Vendor Relations Manager, not only was he involved with back end of the business side of things, but also with the operation of the shops.

Patrick says he’s not doing any of Sizzle Pie’s recipes. And he is creating the space that he wants to work in, and one that he hopes other people to enjoy working in.

The Cutie Pie Pizzeria Name Origin Story

You know I love this question, so here’s what Patrick told me about why he named the pizzeria Cutie Pie: “My daughter was born about six years ago, and I’ve never been one to use baby talk or adhere to just children’s music,” he explained. “When she was a tiny baby we ended up finding this one funk song from the eighties, called ‘Cutie Pie,’ that every time it came on, she would just go right to sleep. And so ever since then she’s been my little cutie pie.”

He added, “I wanted her to be a part of the business, too. And you know, she’s going to be a staple around here.”

What Style of Pizza Will They Make at Cutie Pie?

They will be focusing on personal size pizzas—10-inch pies—and everything made to order. No slices, just whole pies.

The style can be broadly characterized a Neo-Neapolitan but with some NYC influences. “It’s New York-leaning, but with a much higher hydration,” said Patrick. “Just not cooked quite as hot as a lot of those [Neapolitan pizzas] are. I’ve been trying to cook them a little bit longer to let that evaporation happen and get the crust a little bit crispier.”

The Pizza Oven

The oven in a pizzeria is a key force that shapes the end product, and here he’ll be using a Moretti Forni oven—an electric oven in the impinger style (also known as a conveyor style) that uses forced air to heat everything up. He decided on this because of the lack of a hood in the space (and installing a hood is $$$$). “This is a fully ventless option because of a dual carburetor system that’s within it,” Patrick explained.

It’s a self-contained system. He did a lot of testing and he likes that he has control of the top and bottom heat, allowing him to get the exact bake that he wants, consistently. And it is user-friendly for a single operator, which will be himself or his partner.

“There there’s a lot of malleability with this oven to get the exact bake on everything that I want,” remarked Patrick. “So because I am doing personal pizzas, calzones, focaccia sandwiches and more out of this small space, I really wanted something that I knew could be transferable between all of those things, with limited downtime for reheating. It heats up so fast!”

Fun fact: Moretti Forni has been making electric pizza ovens since the 1940s.

The Space and Location

The location was appealing because it’s close to home—Patrick lives in the area, about five minutes away. And he’s been a regular at Mad Hanna for a number of years, and has gotten know the owners Brenna and Liz over time. “I would come in and try to support the Hannex as much as I could while it was open, so I knew the space,” he said.

“But I also knew the ethos that Liz and Brenna operate with their business and it is very much community focused,” he explained. “It is a ‘shirt off your back’ kind of mentality. And that was something that I really wanted to partner with.”

He is aiming to have a friendly space that is clean, a place where everyone feels welcome. He also likes that it’s nestled into a neighborhood. And he wants to encourage a family-friendly atmosphere at Cutie Pie.

There will be about 25 seats in the dining room—some two tops, a bigger table with four seats, and the bar seats.

He also has plans for some art installations on the white walls that are there (he has talked to a few artist friends and some tattoo artists he knows). But first, he wants to get the functionality down and get the food dialed in, because that is his prime focus.

The Food and Drink at Cutie Pie Pizzeria

The Pizzas

As I mentioned earlier, the style will be Neo-Neopolitan and he is looking at offering eight different pizzas right now. The base for most of the pies will essentially be a Margherita (“it’s a very simple red sauce, very tomato forward, bright, a little salt, not not overly herbaceous or sweet”). He will be using fresh mozzarella—not a low-moisture whole milk mozz—on all the pizzas.

One of his favorite pies he’s developed involves sausage and red onion with herbs, topped with a little chili crisp. Another pie will feature an arugula pesto. And good news: They will use the far superior (IMO) smaller cupping pepperoni to the wider, thinner pepperoni easily found here in the PNW.

Back to that fresh mozz: He found a company that makes cheese he really likes, Caputo. They make an Orecchiette di Mozzarella—little button sized fresh mozzarella. It can do double duty: be the mozzarella for pizzas and also in the Caprese skewers appetizer he has planned.

On the Subject of Gluten-Free Pizza

He will have gluten-reduced options on the menu but a purely gluten-free—AKA celiac-safe—pizza is not in the plans. In fact, he is of the mind that the only way you can really be assured that a pizza is gluten-free is that it’s made in a strictly GF shop. And that’s because there is flour everywhere.

“I would not recommend any pizza in a pizza shop as celiac safe because the flour becomes aerosolized,” he explained. “It’s everywhere in the building. I just want to be honest with folks about that.”

Other Savory Eats

Foccaccia sandwiches will also be on the menu, with meat, vegetarian, and vegan choices, as well as a build-your-own option. Look for a few salads, small Caprese skewers, some focaccia sticks, and something he has been calling a poppet—a small wrapped puff pastry filled with ricotta and herbs.

“Tiny things that you can just pop into your mouth,” he explained.

He has some ideas for other dishes, but he recognizes that he needs to rein himself in with getting too wild. (“I want to understand the prep load first.”)

Dessert

The main dessert he talked about was mini whoopie pies. “I’ll start with a chocolate with chocolate ganache whoopie pie as a standard, and then there will be a rotating one.” That first rotating one he’d like to create is a carrot cake whoopie pie with cream cheese frosting. He also may introduce a champagne cake with a snickerdoodle frosting at a later date.

No vegan desserts are in the plans at this point.

Drinks

He has a limited on-premises liquor license, and he’ll be offering a few beers and ciders (next door they have great cocktails). He is not aiming to offer wine to start.

As for NA drinks, he’ll offer a handful of sodas, maybe some juice options for the kids. But he noted that a lot of the younger crowds that come are not drinking alcohol as much as their predecessors, so a NA beer or two will likely make it onto the menu.

You Can Order a Pizza at Mad Hanna

While they will not have a shared space (or anything like a “Pie Hole” like at the Hollywood Theatre), if you are next door at Mad Hanna, you can order a pizza from Cutie Pie and eat it at the bar.

There will be menus there and you can order via a QR code while sitting at the bar. Their POS system will generate a text message when the order is ready. “So they don’t have to stop having a good time next door—they can they can just pop over when it’s ready,” he said.

He would like to do delivery next door but it will be hard when it’s just a solo staff working situation. This may be something they can implement at a later date.

Cutie Pie Pizzeria Hours

Look for them to be open Tuesday through Sunday, closed on Monday. Their hours will be 11am to 10pm for each of those days they are open. Minors will be allowed in the entire time.

UPDATE 6/18/25: According to Cutie Pie’s Instagram story late on June 17 (the day this article published), they are having their soft opening on Thursday, June 19. Here are more details.

I really enjoyed chatting with Patrick, and learning more about Cutie Pie Pizzeria. Looking forward to stopping in when they are open!

Cutie Pie Pizzeria [soft opening June 19, 2025]
6127 NE Fremont Street, Portland
Instagram

Updated June 18, 2025.