West Valley
Grand Avenue Pizza Company
Opened: March 2023
For a decade, Grand Avenue Pizza Company was an arts-district fixture for late-night noshes and wildly creative weekly pizza specials with an international bent. Its closure last summer was crushing, but glory be! The GAPC is back in a Grand Avenue location about 50 blocks west of the original, this time in bigger digs with a completely chill vibe. Now there are pool tables, arcade games, a bar, a picnic table-furnished patio and a grassy lawn for playing cornhole. The pizzas (12- or 18-inchers, $16-$40) are as good as ever: built on airy, golden-brown crusts smeared with bright, house-made “red sauce” and lots of melty mozzarella. And if the candied jalapeños on the Ono pizza ($18) don’t seem candied, well, it’s early in the game. Who doesn’t love supple, pizza-like cheesy bread, brushed with garlic butter, laden with melting cheeses and sided with red sauce? Meanwhile, jumbo wings, dusted with various seasonings and served with various sauces, are a fun new addition — especially crispy Caribbean jerk wings, sided with sweet-spicy mango-habanero salsa ($12.50 per pound). What a great hangout!
Wild Card: Check Instagram for the legendary pizza specials (think lamb ragù or pork chile verde) and plan accordingly.
6729 N. 57th Dr., Glendale, 623-937-3004, grandavenuepizzacompany.com
