Industrial-strength pizza

Sometimes you have to venture into an industrial area for a serious meal. I did that with two lifelong friends—Jimmy Stockner and Chip Cappel, the latter shares positive food finds on Instagram under Culinary Curmudgeon. We went to Rally Cap Brewing for darn tasty beer. What surprised us were the pizzas.

Why it works: Nothing extra. Nothing missing. The pizzas are built with intention—a swipe of sauce, no soggy drama. They’re fired in a real pizza oven, using dough from St. Bruno, a bread operation on the rise.

What to eat: 

• The Salsiccia ($15) - San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, sausage, red onion. The Capricciosa ($18): tomatoes and mozzarella, joined by mushrooms, black olives, and prosciutto, spicy Calabrian salami, artichoke hearts.
• Both pies carry a tang, cooked to that moment where chew meets crunch and the edges blister just enough to add a note of bitterness — the kind that makes you reach for another bite.

The comparison: This comes close to the best Neapolitan pizza in town, a narrow lane owned by Rocca on Government Street. The difference at Rally Cap is the pairing: you can have that pizza alongside a seasonal beer, and they’ll tell you which one works.

Bottom line: Great pizza doesn’t need mood lighting or a waiting list. Sometimes it needs a good oven, serious dough, a restrained hand with sauce—and a well-chosen beer.

—Mukul Verma