Pizza Today magazine — which is, in fact, a real magazine for pizza industry professionals — puts together a list of the Hot 100 independent pizzerias in America each year.
This year, Catch-A-Fire Pizza in Oakley was ranked No. 90 in the collection of the country's "largest independent operations in the U.S. based on sales." The single pizzeria location inside the MadTree taproom reported annual sales of more than $2 million.
“Making our list is quite an accomplishment,” said Pizza Today Editor-in-Chief Jeremy White. “Each year our readers await the release of the Hot 100 list anxiously. Making it here isn’t easy — it’s a testament to many factors such as great food and service, solid marketing and old-fashioned hard work. The pizzerias on our Hot 100 list have managed to really set themselves apart from the competition.”
The pizzeria, which started as a mobile food cart, has been in operation since 2013 and moved to the MadTree taproom in 2015. Owned by Melissa and Jeff Ledford, the menu specializes in wood-fired pizzas with Reggae-inspired names like the Natural Mystic (red sauce, basil, roasted tomato, basil oil, mozzarella, sea salt) or the Goettup, Stand Up (garlic and olive oil base with Glier's goetta, peppadew, caramelized onion, four cheeses, white cheddar and a cracked egg; this pizza was also just name-checked in a goetta story in The Chicago Tribune).
Catch-A-Fire Pizza is located at 3301 Madison Road, Oakley.
