Where to Get the Best Pizza Strips in Rhode Island

The best pizza strips in the state come from mom and pop bakeries that haven’t changed much since they opened their doors decades ago. And since Rhode Island is so small, you can essentially do a pizza strip crawl and pick up boxes of the room temp Rhode Island favorite to test out and compare at home or work. The staff at Rhode Island Monthly did just that. We covered up any telltale markings from the bakeries on each box, then numbered each pizza from one to seven. We had staff fill out a score card that tallied points for three categories, including appearance, crust and sauce (one to five points for each), then we voted on our favorites. The winner was unveiled at the end.

D. Palmieri’s Bakery
624 Killingly St., Johnston, 621-9357, dpalmierisbakery.com
The original Domenico Palmieri first opened a bakery in Providence in 1905, which later moved to Federal Hill. His grandson, Domenic, is the one who decided to open up a whole new bakery in Johnston. It’s still run by the same family, including Eric Palmieri who creates pizza art masterpieces in the form of iconic and popular characters as well as holiday, Patriots and sports-themed pies. The pizza strips are simple and delicious with nothing more than a fantastic family sauce recipe smothered on crisp-edged dough.

DePetrillo’s Pizza and Bakery
1755 Smith St., North Providence, 353-3100, depetrillospizzabakery.com
Dough and red sauce is the name of the game at DePetrillo’s though they also offer traditional pizza with cheese and other toppings, too. The family-run business has been serving locals for more than thirty years, and a football party just isn’t a football party without a tray of their slices made with housemade dough that’s rolled out and topped with a thirty-two-year-old secret sauce recipe.

LaSalle Bakery
993 Smith St., Providence, 831-9563; 685 Admiral St., Providence, 228-0081, lasallebakery.net
Almost everything at LaSalle Bakery’s two locations has a touch of sweetness, including the sauce on the pizza strips. The focaccia-like dough is topped with a tasty secret-recipe tomato sauce and nothing more for a true specimen of the Rhode Island pizza strip. The bakery is run by Michael Manni Jr., the son of Michael Manni Sr., who started as a pan boy at the bakery in 1965. He worked his way up to owning it in 1975 with his wife, Cheryl. Michael Jr. took over the business in 2013 and runs it with team members who have been on staff for decades.

Colvitto’s
91 Point Judith Rd., Narragansett, 783-8086, colvittospizza.com
The Ramieri family has been serving up Italian comfort food and baked goods since 1992. Their pizza strips are the very Rhode Island version that everyone thinks of when heading to Narragansett beach. Wrapped in wax paper, the eight-inch strips feature housemade crusty dough slathered with red sauce. Red and white strips are only $1 each, but you can also order them by the party pan (thirty-six or fifty-four pieces cut into smaller squares and served cold). Specify red sauce or add a dollar for a sprinkling of grated cheese on top. They are also known for a display case filled with Italian desserts, including zeppole and sfogliatelle.

The Original Italian Bakery
915 Atwood Ave., Johnston, 919-5777, theoriginalitalianbakery.com
This fourth-generation bakery stays true to the Rhode Island pizza strip by topping a focaccia-like dough with nothing but the secret family sauce recipe. The pizza chips are also some of the best around, featuring crisp rounds topped with sauce and a sprinkling of romano cheese (or order white, jalapeno or the bacon-potato-cheese versions). Baker Don DePetrillo first launched a small bakery in 1967 on the corner of Veazie Street and Branch Avenue in Providence, and eventually worked up to owning nine DePetrillo’s Pizza and Bakery storefronts across the state. In the mid-’90s, he moved on from the bakeries to live in Florida for a time, and returned to Rhode Island
to open the Original Italian Bakery in 2007.

Vienna Bakery
110 Maple Ave., Barrington, 245-2355, viennabakeryri.com
This small-town bakery has been serving the neighborhood since 1923. Their pizza is boxed up with twelve to twenty-four individual square slices that are best served at room temperature or cold. The sauce is sweet and robust with a light sprinkling of Romano cheese on top (a fact that may send some Rhode Islanders into a tizzy).

Sal’s Bakery
1288 Chalkstone Ave., Providence, 454-8090, facebook.com/antsavas
From the no-frills bakery case to the window that peeks out from the kitchen, and the sweet lady that runs the counter, Sal’s Bakery charms every patron that walks through the door. The pizza comes with slightly charred edges, their famous red sauce and a sprinkling of cheese. It’s available in a sheet of twenty strips and a party size with sixty pieces. Also try the legendary potato pizza, calzones and monkey bread.

The winner is, D. Palmieri’s Bakery in Johnston.

Did you know?
Pizza strips became a thing in Rhode Island thanks to health department woes, according to LaSalle Bakery. Back in the day, local bakeries used leftover dough from bread to make pizzas, and they’d leave them out on the counter for people to grab and go. But health inspectors objected to dairy sitting out on the counter, so many bakeries decided to ditch the cheese entirely and a Rhody legend was born.