Madness. Layer after layer of creativity. Endless inspiration — and no, we’re not talking about experimental music. We’re talking about Underground Pizza dishing out some of the best pan pizzas in Baltimore. The News-Letter sat down with owner Evan Weinstein to learn how he’s cooking up pies that are just as delicious as they are original.
The New-Letter: Alright, let’s kick things off. Tell us the story behind the name “Underground Pizza.” What’s the meaning behind it?
Evan Weinstein: It all started during the pandemic. Before COVID-19, I was in the event business: underground EDM shows, dubstep parties, Moonrise Festival, you name it. When I first started making pizzas, I was doing it straight out of my house. I’d meet people in parking lots or on street corners, basically selling pies out of my trunk — pizzas I baked at home, not in a fully equipped commercial kitchen.
So yeah, the name made total sense. Underground Pizza — it was literally an underground thing. It fit what we were doing. Even the music we play at the restaurant still carries that underground vibe.
COURTESY OF UNDERGROUND PIZZA
Today, Underground Pizza has two locations, including one at the gorgeous Inner Harbor!
N-L: That’s awesome. So remind us — before pizza, you were in ticketing, right?
EW: Yeah, I was in the concert and event space. I’d done everything from warehouse raves to full-on multi-stage festivals with camping. I had been in that scene for 21 or 22 years before the pandemic hit.
Then the pandemic came and just shut everything down. There was no safety net — no Plan B, no backup. One day you’re a concert promoter, and the next day, there are no concerts. That was the reality. Nothing to fall back on.
I started making pizzas at home. Just cooking to stay sane during lockdown and posting pictures online. Then people started messaging me — “Hey, can I buy one?” And that was it. Someone said, “I’ll buy one,” and I said, “Alright, cool. I’ll sell you one.” That’s literally how it started.
N-L: Love it. So here are two questions: First, what makes your pizza so amazing? And second, how did social media help you blow the brand up so fast?
EW: I think we’ve got a unique take on food. I design probably 80%–90% of it, then it goes through the kitchen, comes back and we refine it together. I also do a lot of the sourcing — the butters, oils, cheeses — and we taste-test everything. We treat it almost like a white-tablecloth restaurant. That kind of care leads to better pizza.
Honestly, I’ll go up against just about anyone in the pizza game. I’ve done blind taste tests. You can taste it in the ingredients, see it in our volume. We put everything under a microscope — from sourcing to cooking — all to answer one question: “What’s the best version of this pizza we can make?”
As for social media — marketing’s what I’ve always done, but it can only take you so far. It gets people in the door, but the pizza has to speak for itself. Even when we turn off the marketing, we’re still probably outselling most places in the state.
N-L: So you're saying you think you’ve got... what, the best pizza in Baltimore?
EW: I do. I’ll stand by that. I make better pizza than — well, some styles are just different. But I’ll say this: We make the best pan pizza in Maryland.
That said, I love other people’s pizza too. The other night I went to Little Donna’s in Fells Point — forgot how much I love that place. The week before that, I hit up Baltoz Bakery in Stoneleigh. That guy does New York slices. I’ve never even tried making those before, and his are amazing.
The pizza community’s also really friendly. We all support each other, share ideas — it’s competitive, but in a good way.
N-L: On that note, how has the Baltimore community shaped your business? And what about the local pizza scene — has that influenced how you work?
EW: Flavor-wise, definitely. Like our crab dip pizza or the hot sauce with fish peppers — that’s Baltimore. But as for how we run things, we just figured it out ourselves. We had zero restaurant experience. We weren’t influenced by expectations — we just went for it.
A lot of our inspiration comes from friends and coworkers. We bounce ideas off each other. That crab dip pizza? A chef I worked with early on had the idea, and we took it further — better crab, piping bags, refined technique. Now we use all Maryland crab meat for that one. It’s not about copying — it’s more like, “Cool idea, how do we make it ours?” A lot of ideas come from stuff that isn’t even pizza. Crab rangoon pizza? I saw some rangoons on sale and thought, “What if we made this into a pizza?” Then we figured it out in a way that respected what crab rangoon is.
We’ve done deconstructed dishes too — like purple cauliflower pizza, roasted broccoli pizza. I go to farmers markets and ask vendors, “What’s fresh? What do you need to move this week?” Then I buy a case and say, “Let’s make this into a pizza.”
N-L: I noticed your menu has some wild names — John Clucken, Garfield, Roney Boy... are those part of the creativity too?
EW: Yeah, we have fun with it. Garfield was lasagna-inspired. Roney Boy came from “Stay [gold], Ponyboy” — we flipped it into something fun. Some names are jokes, some are more serious. The Blast Off came from a purple cauliflower pizza inspired by a guy named Space Boy Pizza.
We get inspiration from everywhere. I talk to a lot of people on Instagram — not just pizza chefs. Pizza Expo is where we all meet in person. That’s coming up in two weeks. It’s like a reunion of people you’ve been DMing with for months.
Right now I’m literally driving to Reverie in D.C. The chef there has a Michelin star, and worked at Noma. He’s a good friend I can call when I want to do something wild with molecular gastronomy.
N-L: Gotta ask — what’s your personal favorite item on the menu?
EW: Oh man, our desserts have been on fire lately. I’ve eaten like half a cheesecake this week. We just dropped a Basque cheesecake — I’ve been devouring it.
Favorite app? Gotta be our Kitchen Sink Wings. That came from me just messing around in the kitchen one day, realizing you could layer flavors so each bite hits differently — not just a flavor mix, but real layers.
Favorite pizza? Depends on my mood. Sweet Nona is super cool. Anything with our vodka sauce — that sauce is insane. The sausage we’re using now is also amazing. Honestly, even just our pepperoni pizza — it’s phenomenal. I’m still not sick of it.
COURTESY OF UNDERGROUND PIZZA
At Underground Pizza, you can literally devour everything that makes you happy!
N-L: I feel you. So when you shop at the farmers market — is that something most pizza shops do?
EW: We do it because it’s fun. A friend who helped early on told me, “You’ve gotta stop adding stuff to the menu.” I was like, “But that’s the fun part!”
There’s this quote from Grant Achatz — the chef at Alinea in Chicago. Someone told him, “You don’t have to change the menu — none of tonight’s guests have had these dishes before.” And he said, “Yeah, but what about us? Where’s the fun for us if we do the same thing every night?”
So yeah, going to the market is exciting. It’s good energy. It’s a challenge. We get to support local farms, try new things, blow people’s minds — like, “Whoa, this guy put squash on a pizza?”
We did a stuffed squash pizza for Thanksgiving — sausage-stuffed squash, sliced so the sausage was in the middle. It was amazing. Only one person ordered it — I didn’t care. I thought it was cool.
N-L: Wait, squash?
EW: Yeah, it was a Japanese black pumpkin — stuffed with sausage, roasted, sliced, and placed on a pizza. Like, who else is doing that? Who has the balls to do that?
N-L: That’s wild.
EW: Seriously. Pizza is one of those things — you can do whatever you want. People say, “You’re not supposed to do that,” and I’m like, “I’ll do what I want.” Watch me sell crab rangoon pizza like crazy. We bought eight cases of crab rangoons in one weekend. The supplier was like, “No one’s ever bought that much from us before.”
N-L: Your energy is infectious. How do you keep it going like this?
EW: It’s up and down. I had a good week recently. I go to therapy — my therapist Aaron Johnstone is great. That’s helped a lot.
Even with the option to sell the business, I still wake up excited every day. Running a restaurant is a creative challenge I love.
N-L: That’s great to hear! Last question — thanks again for your time — anything new coming up for Underground Pizza?
EW: Yeah, tons of stuff. We’re working on fun thin-crust pop-ups, maybe even bagels — we’ve got a great bagel program in the works.
And I’ve got an amazing team. We take care of each other, and everyone brings great ideas. Just yesterday someone told me, “If you make sourdough discard donuts, I’ll buy them.” I went to our baker and said, “Can you do it?” He goes, “Yeah, I’ll start tonight.” That’s how we roll.
Our outdoor space is reopening. We’re baking beautiful breads. We’ve got sandwiches coming later this year — a full sandwich program with house-baked breads.
