I am a firm believer that pizza and Fridays were made for each other. Pizza Friday is a family favorite tradition where we celebrate our week with delicious pizza!
Each week my two year old chants, “Yay..yay.. it’s pizza FriDAY!” I love that this tradition is meaningful to my child and connects us as a family.
Family rituals and traditions, like Pizza Friday, are important for kids to create a sense of self and resilience.
The best part of Pizza Friday is that it can look different every week depending on our appetites and energy levels.
Some weeks we make homemade dough and roll it out all together, some weeks we try out gourmet toppings, other weeks we love to try out the local ‘za at restaurants nearby, and sometimes we just heat up a frozen pizza.
Are you ready to start a Pizza Friday tradition in your household? Or are you looking to shake things up on Pizza Friday? Here are a few fun ways that we’ve celebrated Pizza Friday lately.
XO,
Sylvia
Our favorite, kid-friendly local pizza restaurants
Organ Stop Pizza
A Mesa classic, check out Organ Stop Pizza, known as the most entertainingly affordable pizza in town. One of two in the country, this pizza place has a live organist playing songs by request; yep, you’ll most likely hear “Let it Go” and “Star Wars.”
Families can dig into specialty pizzas, pastas, appetizers, sandwiches, salad bar, desserts, a variety of soft drinks, beer, and wine, all while an organist plays songs by request on the Mighty Wurlitzer Pipe Organ.
Crust:
We love Crust Simply Italian pizza because you get great quality pizza for a great price. They have locations in Chandler, Gilbert, and Scottsdale. Their Gilbert location is at Verde Cooley Station and they often have live music in the park on Friday nights which really takes your family tradition to the next level.
I love the Uncle Louie and Nicky’s Burrata pizza. If you like a side of carbs with your carbs, I highly recommend the spicy garlic knots appetizer.
Fire & Brimstone:
Fire and Brimstone, located inside Barnone in Gilbert, offers delicious wood-fired pizzas made with local ingredients. We love to dine on the patio and then walk over to see the chickens at Agritopia.
If you’re a dessert person, Cream of the Crop (also located in Barnone), has some of the creamiest local ice cream flavors around.
Lou Malnatis:
We were so excited when Lou Malnatis partnered with the library summer reading program and we were able to get free personal pizzas. Free or not, these pizza pies are heavenly and you need to try them for yourself. Plan to call ahead and pick-up the pizza for a night at home because they don’t have seating.
Spinato’s:
Spinato’s has thin crust pizza and has locations all over the valley, it’s newest one in Epicenter by Agritopia. I’ll be honest, I’m not a thin crust gal, but my friends swear by this place so I’m going to try it out soon!
At home pizza ideas
Traditional Homemade Pizza:
When I have the energy, my absolute favorite thing is to make homemade crust together and then allow our family and friends to add their favorite toppings (my favorite topping is definitely goat cheese). For my dough I use this New York Times Cooking recipe, but I add 1-2 tablespoons garlic and fresh herbs right into the dough (usually oregano, basil, and thyme from my garden).
Pie Crust Cut-Out Pizza:
For a fun and easy pizza night at home, I like to roll out pie crust and use sugar cookie cutters to make fun pizza bites. My two year old is obsessed with Mickey Mouse, so of course using the Mickey Mouse cut-out is his favorite. Sometimes we make homemade pie crust or use leftovers, but often we just buy the refrigerated pie crust at the grocery store.
Eggplant Pizza:
Okay I know this one is a little weird, but sometimes after a week of eating heavy foods I’m not in the mood for pizza on Friday. I still want to keep the tradition going though, so I recently tried to make mini pizzas on roasted eggplants. It was so good my husband couldn’t believe it was eggplant.
To prepare the eggplant I chopped it into ¼ inch rounds, added salt, let the rounds sit for a few minutes, and then dried the slices with a paper towel. Next I topped the eggplant with oil and garlic salt and roasted at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes. Then I added pizza sauce, cheese, and fresh herbs and put back in the oven for a little over 5 minutes! We will definitely be eating eggplant pizza again!!
Local pizza deals
If you’re looking for pizza on a day other than Fridays (because let’s be real, pizza is good seven days a week), here’s a few local deals for families
Monday kids eat free pizza
- Rigatony’s (Tempe): Ages 12 and younger get 1 free kids meal on Monday with each adult entrée purchase.
- Venezia’s (Gilbert/Mesa/Tempe): On Monday,s 1 FREE Kids Meal with $20 order. 2 FREE Kids Meals with $40 order. 3 FREE Kids Meals with $60 order. Beverage included for dine-in & takeout.
Tuesday kids eat free pizza
- La Famiglia (Mesa): Kids eat free ages 10 and under every Tuesday off the kids menu; dine in only.
Wednesday kids eat free pizza
- Floridinos (Chandler): Kids eat free every Wednesday 4-8 p.m.
- NYPD Pizza (Gilbert): Every Wednesday after 4 p.m. and Saturday all day, kids 10 & under for dine-in only at NYPD will receive a Free Yutes Meal with the purchase of adult entrees. Served with beverage and ice cream sundae!
