Nov 43 min read

Discovering The Red Pepperoni: Cheesy Charm and a Classic Slice

Downtown Madison Pizzeria

This pizza is so good that former employees bring their college friends back to Madison to sample the great pizza made fresh every day at the Red Pepperoni. The Red Pepperoni opened in 2012, right across the street from the Red Pepper Deli. Deli owners, John and Lori Heitz decided to open a second restaurant when that building became available. Quickly, they attended the International Pizza Show in Las Vegas. “We met great people who showed us how to do everything,” Lori explained. Friends told them, “You have to stick with Red,” so they named their pizza shop, “The Red Pepperoni.”

The secret to great food at the Red Pepperoni is fresh ingredients. The dough is made fresh every day. Everything is prepared fresh on-site each day. The sauce is customized with its own blend of herbs. The ranch and blue cheese sauce is also made in-house. “We make everything from scratch. We pay the price for the best ingredients. If we changed the flour, it would make a difference,” Lori said.

Photo Credit to Lindsay Holley with Madison Main Street.

Starters include the usual breadsticks, cheesy bread, and wings plus mozzarella sticks, toasted ravioli, and Italian meatballs. There is also homemade spinach artichoke dip and loaded fries with cheese, bacon, scallions & ranch dip.

Pizza lovers can build their own custom pizza (6”, 10” & 14” sizes), starting with homemade sauces, and adding various cheeses, meats, and a variety of veggies. In addition to regular crusts, pizzas are also available crustless, cauliflower crust, and gluten-free crust.

Seventeen specialty pies are featured on the menu. Lori’s favorite is the Sicilian with sausage, capicola ham, pepperoni, salami, Giardiniera, and parmesan cheese. The Giardiniera is a spicy Chicago relish that includes pickled carrots, jalapenos, and banana peppers. John’s favorite specialty pie is the Hawaiian, with added jalapenos.

Photo Credit to Lindsay Holley with Madison Main Street.

Lori loves all the salads, but her favorite is the Buffalo Chicken Salad. John’s favorite salad is the Italiano Salad topped with pepperoni, capicola ham, and salami plus cheese and veggies. The menu also features Calzones, a pizza pie stuffed with ricotta and mozzarella cheese. They are served with marinara sauce, but there are 10 other delicious dipping sauces available: Cheese, Garlic Butter, Ranch BBQ, Buffalo, Thai, Teriyaki, Alfredo, Pesto, and Spinach Dip.

Photo Credit to Lindsay Holley with Madison Main Street.

John and Lori start each day at the Red Pepper to keep up with catering orders. During the day, Lori floats between the Red Pepper and the Red Pepperoni. She said she doesn’t know how to make a latte but stops into the Red Roaster (opened in 2015) to pick up a latte or coffee during the day. John ends his day cooking at Red on Main, their chef-designed American bistro.

Photo Credit to Lindsay Holley with Madison Main Street.

When they moved from Cincinnati to Madison in 1998, there were no restaurants downtown. John leveraged his culinary background and experience to start a deli. Operating the deli made it possible to be off on Sundays and done by 4 pm each day when their children were young. Their three sons grew up helping in the restaurants and are still willing to help when they are back in town.

Looking back, Lori said, “We feel so fortunate to have built our four businesses here in Madison. We are lucky to have wonderful support from our customers and our employees, some have been with us for over 20 years. We are like family; we take care of each other.”

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