Tony Piezano’s Makes Focaccia Pizza in Southeast Portland

There’s a new pizza pop-up in Southeast Portland called Tony Piezano’s, operating out of the Meat Cheese Bread space during select evenings. It’s run by Tony Hope, who is known for his work at places like Pizzacato, Sunny’s Pizza, and Pizzeria Stellina. He likes to think of Tony Piezano’s as a focacceria more than a pizzeria, and describes his type of pizza as focaccia pizza. They’ve been open for about a month.

I had a chance to chat with Tony—at the time we were both kind of sleep deprived for our own reasons, but had a good conversation, nonetheless. Here’s what we talked about.

How I Heard about Tony Piezano’s

In late May, a reader messaged me with this: “Good afternoon, I’m reaching out to see if you know anything about a new pizza spot operating out of Meat Cheese Bread on SE Stark. It’s called Tony’s Piesanos (I believe). I first noticed it the other week or so, but I haven’t seen it posted anywhere and I can’t find anything about it online.

“No idea if it’s run by the people at Meat Cheese Bread or if it’s a pop-up. I can tell you though that it’s open late and it gets pretty packed outside when it is. Unfortunately, I haven’t been over yet to give them a try. Just thought I’d see if you’ve heard anything or know anything about it. Thanks!”

I looked around and only found their ORSOS record; not long after that in May I saw they created an Instagram account, and that’s how I got in touch with Tony.

Tony Piezano’s: What’s in a Name?

I asked him why he named the place Tony Piezano’s “Ah, you know, it’s because I’m a native Portlander,” he explained. “And I’ve been doing pizza and food. I’m a man of the people—a countryman, essentially.” In Italian, a “paesan.”

He added, “So my name’s Tony, I’m man of the people, and that’s basically why I wanted to be Tony Piezano’s. I spell it “PIE” instead of “PAE.” And the Z, as well. “I love that play on words.” You and me both, Tony.

Tony’s Background In Food

Tony has been doing pizza for over 20 years, and has opened about four pizzerias for other people during that time. “I did Pizzacato for a long time—that was where I first started,” he explained. “At the time, it was Pizzacato, American Dream, or Escape from New York. Those were ‘fancy’ pizza places in Portland back in the day, in the late ’90s, early 2000s.”

He continued, “I helped open the 60th and Division [Pizzacato] location, and then I opened up the Pearl District location. After that I opened up Sunny’s Pizzeria, which was over in Sellwood.” He helped Gina Rollo open Pizzeria Stellina down the street in 2021, during the COVID pandemic.

Along with all that pizzeria action, he’s worked on the other side of the spectrum in fine dining (a Cena). And for four years he worked for John Stewart at Meat Cheese Bread. This shared history helped Tony Piezano’s find a home there.

Meat Cheese Bread

“I fell in love with Meat Cheese Bread because John’s kind of an old school cook like me,” said Tony. “We have the same mentality when it comes to how we cook and what kind of food we want to make—good ingredients, keep it simple, and make good sauces with those good ingredients.”

He continued, “So I asked John and I said, ‘Hey, are you not doing anything at night? I’d like to do something in my wheelhouse. I’m not going to be doing sandwiches, but I’ll do something that’s kind of in the same breath of what you’re doing: made to order slices.”

He was also inspired to pitch this setup by what he saw at nearby ENSO, a wine bar up the street. La Lucha Coffee operates in the morning, and ENSO operates in the afternoon and evening. He thought, “Well, I could just flip it, do the reverse—do something at night instead of the morning, at Meat Cheese Bread”

He added, “And then that way, that part of the block has something going constantly. Honestly, neighborhood people have all been really happy that I’m there.”

Tony Piezano’s: a Focacceria

I asked Tony what style of pizza he makes, since at that point in the conversation I didn’t fully understand the focaccia element. “I don’t want a corner into pizza—that’s the main thing,” he said.

He continued, “I want to call it a focacceria because I can use the focaccia as a vehicle for anything that I’m going to be doing in the future.” That could be anything from topping it with sun-dried tomato pesto, to cheese and pepperoni, to a vegan wild mushroom option.

He also likes to use organic, local flours for his focaccia, and pointed out that the dough is not super thick, maybe as high as an inch. He loves to use fresh ingredients, too.

Bonus: The focaccia pizza tends to be lighter and easier on the digestion, as well. “So when you go home at the end of the night, you’ve not gotten a gut bomb—you’re going to be able to go to sleep and wake up, and you’re going to feel good the next day because you’re not eating anything heavy or super processed.”

His Inspiration 

A place that has inspired Tony in his focaccia pizza work is Pizzarium Bonci. “I went to my favorite place in Italy,” he explained. “It was in Rome. It’s called Bonci.”

He continued, “And basically, their concept is they have these sheet pans, right? Full sheet pans, and they they make these pizzas on them. You basically tell them how big you want your slice—with your hands! You just show them, and they take some scissors and they cut the slice out. And then they weigh it.”

He continued, “Now, I’m making a slice the order. They do their slices premade, so it’s just sitting there, and then they heat it up for you and you eat it.” Like most slice shops do.

But what Tony does that’s different, is that he par bakes his focaccia. And then, when someone orders it, he cuts a slice out of the pan and cooks it to order, where the whole thing becomes fully cooked.

Italian-Heavy … For Now

Tony admitted his focaccia pizza work is “Italian-heavy for now,” but he wants to dip into other flavor profiles in the future. “I cooked in Thailand,” said Tony. “And so I’ll definitely be doing some Thai pizza down the road.”

He added, “I use fresh curries that are made from scratch, and I prepare them traditionally, where it all has to go through the knife, not a blender or anything like that. So it tastes different than what you would imagine—it’s a lot more floral.”

The Twist at the End

When I asked Tony if he spends any of his time eating pizza round town, he told me, “Oh, dude, you know, that’s the one thing that everyone finds hilarious about me is … I’m actually intolerant to gluten and dairy.”

So how does he deal with it? He says that showering every night after work helps. “But the nice thing about the focaccia is I don’t have to slap the dough,” he explained. “I’ve done a lot of New York style where I’m tossing dough and just getting covered with flour every night.”

The Dairy

His work doesn’t involve nearly the same amount of cheese that you’d find on a typical NY-style or Chicago deep dish style pizza, either. “That’s the thing—you’re not going to be getting a ton of cheese on every slice—like on the bolognese slice that I have. There’s no mozzarella on it. It’s just a shaved Pecorino.

The Bolognese at Tony Piezano’s

He spoke lovingly about his bolognese sauce. “You know, for me, it’s all about my pork bolognese,” he said. “I love it. I can eat it all night. And I’ll just make dishes without the wheat or the dairy, and I can eat the bolognese with a salad or something.”

And about his bolognese: “So you got your mirepoix that you make your base with, and you throw some pork in and it smokes it up—pancetta and such. And then you get this nice, smoky bolognese. It takes four hours to make, but that’s the star of the show.”

Besides the Focaccia

Along with the focaccia pizza he also offers a Caesar salad. More items are in the plans. “I used to own a catering company and one thing that I liked to do that people really loved was a sprouted greens and quinoa salad. That’s going to be down the line.”

“And I want to do one of the traditional Italian desserts that you can just take and grab. But I don’t have anything else as of yet,” he remarked.

He continued, “But, you know, I’m taking it slow right now. I’m trying to keep things a little consistent right now so people will know what they’re going to get if they come in. But I’m going to be alternating seasonally what’s good and what’s fresh; I’ll be changing things based on the time of year.”

When To Find Tony Piezano’s

He’s open 5pm to midnight Thursday through Sunday. So this is a nice late night option.

Tony ended our conversation with, “I’m just trying to do good ingredients, good stuff, and make people feel good. And I don’t have any plans of going anywhere.”

So head on over to Tony Piezano’s when you can!

Tony Piezano’s [opened May 8, 2026, est]
1406 SE Stark Street, Portland
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