On the Richmond Pizza Trail: a slice of Mountain Mike’s Pizza

Some pizzas aspire to be statements. Others show up, clock in, and do the job — day in, day out, slice after slice. Mountain Mike’s falls squarely into the latter category, and frankly, there’s a kind of poetry in that. Because sometimes what you want isn’t wood-fired fig fantasy with a balsamic drizzle — it’s a circle of chewy crust and melted cheese that tastes exactly how you remembered it last time.

Predictable. Familiar. Unfussy. Reliable.

Mountain Mike’s Pizza delivers that flavor of dependability with a confidence born of repetition. No matter the topping — be it a cupping pepperoni that rises into little meat chalices slicked with orange oil or the veggie pile-up that feels like an entire garden haul — you know what you’re getting. It’s Pizza the Way It Ought to Be,™ at least according to the deeply democratic consensus of the Grandview Family. 

It gives you exactly what you think pizza should taste like. It’s not culinary. It’s not elevated. It’s just pizza. And that’s why it works.”

If social media is to be believed, in Italy, you have to sign a waiver promising never to put pineapple on pizza. Here at Grandview Headquarters, sometimes, we like a little sweetness with our slice. 

There’s crispness on the bottom of a Hawaiian slice, a stiff crust that’s neither pillow-soft nor cracker-thin. Somewhere in the realm of “nice,” which we are sure isn’t a technical term, but when your crust isn’t up for debate, maybe it’s already doing enough. 

Mountain Mike's Pizza also offers a gluten-free crust. It was chewy, like most gluten-free crusts, but not super greasy, like other restaurants make them to elevate the crispy factor.

And there’s the sauce: not watery, shy, or sweet. A thick red spread, applied in appropriate proportion, that says, “I’m here, and I matter.”

Even the cheese blend invites a quiet nod — part mozzarella, part probably something else — maybe a hint of cheddar, orange enough to suggest mystery but not enough to distract. It’s not a cheese that insists on being artisan. It just melts.

Mountain Mike’s pepperoni pizza, which is kind of like the Carne Asada Super Burrito of the pizza world, is the default setting. Mountain Mike’s pepperoni is unlike others. It is small and spicy. It cooks into little crispy cups, creating a drop or two of porky spicy chili oil. 

And the sizes? Ah, yes — the infamous “Mountain” pizza. Twenty inches large, dominating the table, out-measuring two 14-inch larges. Two large pizzas are not the equivalent of one Mountain pizza. We did the math. We used pi on our pies. You get more ingredients per inch and fewer crusty edges with the Mountain — fewer unadorned end zones, more central coverage, and about two percent larger. 

In an age of sourdough ferments and wood-fired crusts, Mountain Mike’s is the pizza your inner teenager still trusts. It’s the post-soccer party pie. It’s the birthday slice. It’s the free pizza in the office breakroom that no one complains about.

There is a Mountain Mike’s on Meeker Avenue in Richmond, one on the San Pablo Dam Road at the Raley’s Shopping Center, and one more on San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito. 

It may not change your life. But it will show up on time, with warm cheese, and let you eat in peace.

As the Richmond Pizza Trail continues, we’re eager to discover more standout pies across the city.

Let us know where to eat next, and check back next week for another stop on the trail as Grandview Independent attempts to find the best pizza in Richmond.

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