There are two kinds of pizza eaters in this world.

The first happily eats every last bite, crust included.

The second works their way around the pie and leaves behind a sad little ring of abandoned crusts like the aftermath of some tiny carbohydrate massacre. (I'm not gonna lie. This is ME. I'm that second type of pizza person.)

But: there's an Oregon pizza shop that may have figured out how to bring both sides together.

Because when the pizza arrives, honey enters the equation.

And suddenly throwing away the crust feels downright irresponsible.

The Little Pizza Shop Hiding Along McLoughlin Boulevard

The place we're talking about is Milwaukie Pizza Co., a family-owned pizza shop tucked into the Castle Mall along SE McLoughlin Boulevard in Milwaukie, just south of Portland.

If you've driven this stretch before, there's a decent chance you've gone right past it.

That's part of the charm, and also a massive mistake.

This isn't an enormous restaurant with neon signs screaming for your attention. It's a small neighborhood pizza shop built around something much more important: really good dough, quality ingredients, and pizzas coming blistering hot out of a stone-deck oven.

Milwaukie Pizza Co. opened in 2021, but owners Chris and Julie brought years of restaurant experience with them. According to the restaurant's own story, the two originally met while working at The Keg Steakhouse in Milwaukie, and pizza was actually the first restaurant job for both of them. Chris later attended culinary school and spent years working in kitchens and restaurant consulting before the couple eventually decided to open a place of their own.

The result feels less like somebody saw pizza as a business opportunity and more like somebody spent years thinking, You know what? We could make a really good pizza.

And then did it.

If you're exploring the area, this also makes an easy food stop while working your way through our Portland travel guide, which covers everything from Portland neighborhoods and attractions to nearby day trips and food worth seeking out.

About That Honey...

Here's where things get interesting.

Honey isn't merely sitting around as a novelty condiment at Milwaukie Pizza Co. It's actually part of the dough recipe itself.

The restaurant's hand-stretched dough ACTUALLY contains honey and is cold fermented for at least three days before being baked at high heat. The long fermentation helps develop flavor and chew, while the honey contributes to that beautiful crisp exterior.

That's a lot more effort than opening a bag of premade dough and tossing pepperoni at it.

The finished crust walks that wonderful pizza tightrope between crispy and chewy. Eat it hot and you've got that crisp bite around the edges. Let it cool slightly and more of the chew comes through, almost like biting into a good baguette.

Then comes the fun part.

Honey can be drizzled over those crusty edges, introducing just enough sweetness to play against the salt, cheese and charred bits from the oven.

Suddenly the part of the pizza some people normally abandon becomes dessert-adjacent.

Pizza crust redemption arc complete.

Start With The Nonna's

You can absolutely walk in here and order pepperoni.

Nobody is going to judge you.

But the specialty pizza menu is where Milwaukie Pizza Co. gets considerably more interesting.

Nonna's Pizza comes with an olive oil and roasted garlic base, fresh mozzarella, Roma tomatoes, pepperoni, dollops of red sauce, fresh basil and aged Parmesan.

That's already several steps beyond your typical neighborhood pepperoni pie.

Then there's the Quattro Formaggi, combining fresh and shredded mozzarella with aged Parmesan and Gorgonzola over olive oil and roasted garlic. A drizzle of balsamic glaze finishes the whole thing.

Cheese lovers, you've been warned.

The BBQ Chicken Pizza gets smoked chicken, bacon and house-pickled red onions over a barbecue sauce base, while the Hawaiian swaps predictable deli ham for sliced smoked pork loin and pineapple.

Their menu even jokingly describes Hawaiian pizza as "a classic heresy."

Finally, someone willing to acknowledge the pineapple civil war without taking it too seriously.

This Isn't a Dump-Everything-Out-of-a-Can Kind of Pizza Place

One of the more impressive things about the menu is how much care goes into ingredients that could easily be shortcuts.

Mushrooms are herb roasted.

Chicken is smoked.

There are house-pickled red onions.

Sauces range from traditional house-made red sauce to arugula pesto, roasted garlic and olive oil, buffalo sauce and even gochujang Korean barbecue.

Protein choices include the expected pepperoni and Italian sausage alongside Basque chorizo, smoked chicken, crispy pork belly, meatballs and anchovies.

Vegetarians aren't sentenced to plain cheese and olives either. Artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, herb-roasted cauliflower, Mama Lil's peppers, fresh jalapeños, arugula and roasted garlic are among the available toppings.

There's even non-dairy cheese and a gluten-free crust option.

Milwaukie Pizza Co. offers pies in 10-inch, 14-inch and 18-inch sizes, which also means you can approach dinner sensibly.

Or order an 18-inch pizza and tell yourself you're planning for leftovers.

We've all been there.

Do Not Sleep on the Garlic Cheese Focaccia

Pizza may get top billing, but there's another carb lurking on this menu that deserves your attention.

The Garlic Cheese Focaccia starts with house-made focaccia and piles on garlic compound butter, mozzarella, Parmesan and smoked provolone before getting finished with balsamic glaze.

House red sauce comes alongside for dipping.

At that point we've essentially crossed from "appetizer" into "I may accidentally fill up before my pizza arrives" territory.

There are also oven-baked wings, boneless wings, salads and black bean hummus if you're building a bigger meal.

For dessert, you'll find things like a house-made brown butter chocolate chip cookie and a triple-chocolate brownie.

Because apparently the three-day fermented pizza dough wasn't enough temptation.

You Can Still Just Grab a Slice

This may be our favorite part.

Milwaukie Pizza Co. isn't forcing you to organize a family reunion every time you want some pizza.

They sell pizza by the slice earlier in the day.

According to the restaurant's current posted hours, slices are available until 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and until 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

That turns the place into a genuinely useful lunch stop if you're traveling through the Portland metro area or running around Milwaukie and Oak Grove.

Grab a hot slice. Add a drink. Introduce the crust to honey.

Continue with your day significantly happier.

Even the Soda Fountain Is Doing Its Own Thing

Here's another detail we love about places like this.

Instead of treating drinks as an afterthought, Milwaukie Pizza Co. pours Rocky Mountain Soda Company fountain drinks, made with cane sugar.

It's one of those little choices that tells you quite a bit about the restaurant.

Nobody needs to seek out a less-common soda company for a neighborhood pizza shop. You do it because you're paying attention to the whole meal rather than simply figuring out the cheapest thing that can come out of a fountain machine.

Pair one with a piping-hot slice and suddenly you've got a pretty spectacular little lunch.

Every Month There's a New Rotating Pizza Special

This is where the folks at Milwaukie Pizza Co. really go out on a limb and let their cooking creativity shine, and without fail, they post a monthly update over on their Facebook page.

Previous seasons have included pies with black bean hummus bases, summertime crab-topped pizza, and even gramma's old standby favorite: pimiento cheese.

This past July there was a strawberry pizza with a balsamic glaze drizzle that I'm honestly sorry I missed out on trying.

As of this writing, they were offering one of my favorites: the always classic Margherita, but with a twist. Fresh local heirloom tomatoes.

Red sauce,fresh mozzarella, shredded mozzarella, and heirloom tomatoes from Hartnell Farms. All that is topped with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, aged parmesan, and fresh basil sprinkled on after the masterpiece comes out of the oven.

That's quite literally my favorite slice..

Family-Owned Pizza Without the Fuss

There's something refreshingly straightforward about Milwaukie Pizza Co.

You're not coming here because there's an Instagram wall covered in plastic flowers.

You're not paying for a plate designed by an architecture firm.

You're coming because someone cared enough about pizza dough to let it ferment for three days.

That's our kind of obsession.

Chris and Julie opened the restaurant as a family venture, and that neighborhood approach still comes through in the whole concept.

It's casual. It's approachable. You can grab a slice or bring home a giant pie.

But behind that simplicity is a surprising amount of technique.

Cold fermentation. Hand-stretched dough. High-heat baking. House-made and house-prepped ingredients.

And, of course, honey.

Make It Part of a Greater Portland-Area Adventure

Milwaukie sits close enough to Portland that this doesn't need to be a dedicated pilgrimage unless, of course, you've reached the stage of life where driving specifically for pizza sounds perfectly reasonable.

We support this lifestyle.

If you're visiting Portland or exploring communities around the metro area, check out our growing Oregon Cities & Towns Guide. We're building these destination hubs to make it easier to connect the restaurants, attractions, history, outdoor adventures and other places we've covered around Oregon into actual trips instead of isolated stops.

And if chasing down little independent restaurants is your favorite Oregon road-trip strategy, you'll probably want our guide to 42 of Oregon's best mom-and-pop restaurants bookmarked too.

Because waterfalls and mountain views are wonderful.

But sometimes the destination is pizza.

Here's All the Important Little Details for Milwaukie Pizza Co. You Need to Know

Address: 13239 SE McLoughlin Blvd, Milwaukie, OR 97222

Phone: 503-305-6083

Hours: Tues-Thur and Sun: 11am-8pm, Fri-Sat: 11am-9pm, Mon: CLOSED

Web: milwaukiepizzaco.com

Socials: Facebook,