Chris Ostapenko Wins World’s Best Cheese Slice

If you’re like Kevin and think outsmarting Joe Pesci is cool, consider what it would be like to win a $5,000 big check for making the World’s Best Cheese Slice at the 2025 International Pizza Expo. In fact, Chris Ostapenko of Slice on Broadway makes a cheese slice so glorious, the city of Pittsburgh declared May 6, 2025, Slice on Broadway Day in his honor.

Ostapenko tells Pizza Today that he makes about 100 cheese pizzas on Friday nights at the shop, and he followed the same method in this year’s International Pizza Challenge. “The rules were simple: Make the best cheese pizza you can,” he says. “I made the pizza as I do every day in the pizza shop, and the results paid off.”

Chris Ostapenko of Slice on Broadway in Pittsburgh celebrates his World’s Best Cheese Slice Championship win with team mates at International Pizza Challenge at Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. Photo courtesy of Slice on Broadway.

Those looking to follow in Ostapenko’s footsteps should know he’s worked at Slice on Broadway for 15 years. If that doesn’t intimidate you, you might be ready to follow his steps:

• Cold ferment pizza dough for 48 hours
• Use house-made tomato sauce
• Liberally apply a house blend of cheeses

“I think this pizza stood out because of the balance of the flavors that we try to accomplish between the dough, sauce and cheese,” he says of winning over judges and claiming the division trophy.

Following Ostapenko’s win in Las Vegas, the Pittsburgh community showed up to support him by ordering his award-winning cheese pie. “I made more pizza that weekend than I have in a while,” he says. “People were coming to try the World’s Best Cheese Slice!”

World’s Best Cheese Slice History and Rules

The International Pizza Challenge debuted the World’s Best Cheese Slice division at Pizza Expo 2024. Unlike some other divisions, World’s Best Cheese Slice has strict guidelines for competitors:

• No par-baking.
• Must use red tomato sauce.
• Only grated cheese and dry spices are permitted
• Once the pizza is in the oven, no toppings or drizzles can be added aside from olive oil

Contestants select their best three slices, which are presented to judges blind.

Andy Huynh Wins Inaugural Prize

Andy Huynh, Cowabunga+, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, wins the World’s Best Cheese Slice Division at International Pizza Challenge 2024.

The first year the International Pizza Challenge opened its division devoted to World’s Best Cheese Slice, Andy Huynh brought home the trophy to Cowabunga+ in Hamilton, Ontario. As the owner of Cowabunga+, Huynh uses a sourdough starter and tops his cheese pizzas with marinara sauce, a Canadian mozzarella blend, Fior di Latte and oregano. Of course, only grated cheese is permitted during the competition.

Additionally, Huynh had to travel to Las Vegas with his pizza dough, some of which was packed in luggage lost by the airline, along with other ingredients. This left him without sufficient dough to compete for the coveted Pizza Maker of the Year award, which is open to division champions on the final day of Pizza Expo. Rather than rush the dough that needed to be ready the next day, the pizza maker asked a Cowabunga+ staff member to fly the pizzeria’s signature 72-hour fermented dough down from Canada.

“Luckily for us, we had a lot of support from our suppliers on the floor of the Expo. When we explained what happened, they were happy to give us some sauce and cheese,” Huynh tells Canadian broadcast station The News Forum. The baggage “landed about midnight Wednesday night, and by Thursday at 7 a.m., we were back on the floor competing again.”

Cheese Pizza Recipes

For a Truly elevated cheese pizza (pun intended), consider Chris Decker’s four-part pie featuring burrata cream and fried basil.

If you have a hankering for cheese pizza but are feeling fancy, Scott Wiener has the steps to create a four-cheese pizza Margharita soufleé.

Finally, you can’t go wrong with a classic cheese pizza. Yes, all for you.

The Great American Pizza Challenge

If you think you have what it takes to win a pizza competition, The Great American Pizza Challenge is taking place Oct. 26-27 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Information about the categories is available here.

In the meantime, happy National Cheese Pizza Day! May your cheese pulls be long and you always have Gouda luck!

The post National Cheese Pizza Day 2025 Falls on America’s Pizza Night appeared first on Pizza Today.

National Cheese Pizza Day on September 5 calls to attention the quintessential holy trinity of pizza, the cheese pizza. It is the classic combination of cheese, red pizza sauce and crust. A cheese slice is what we use to measure pizzas from different pizzerias. It’s the basis to which all other pizzas are judged. The cheese pizza is a staple deserving of its own holiday. Pizzerias around the country demonstrate just how innovative and creative a cheese pizza can be on National Cheese Pizza Day.

People love cheese pizza so much that Extra Cheese is a Top 5 Pizza Topping. See what other toppings round out the Top 5 and even Top 10. 

Let’s crush on delicious cheese pizzas from pizzerias in the U.S.

Here are just a sampling of cheese pizzas that we, at Pizza Today, have had the amazing opportunity to try in America:

Williamsburg Pizza, Brooklyn, New York

Williamsburg Pizza, Brooklyn, New York. Photo by Josh Keown

Modern Apizza, New Haven, Connecticut

Modern Apizza, New Haven, Connecticut. Photo by Josh Keown

Scottie’s Pizza Parlor, Portland, Oregon

Scottie’s Pizza Parlor, Portland, Oregon. Photo by Josh Keown

Greenville Avenue Pizza Company, Dallas, Texas

Greenville Avenue Pizza Company, Dallas, Texas. Photo by Josh Keown

Razza, Jersey City, New Jersey

Razza, Jersey City, New Jersey. Photo by Josh Keown

Scarr’s Pizza, New York, New York

Scarr’s Pizza, New York, New York. Photo by Josh Keown

Pizza Jerk, Portland, Oregon

Pizza Jerk, Portland, Oregon. Photo by Josh Keown

Cheese Pizza Recipes to Honor National Cheese Pizza Day

Pizza Today has thousands of recipes in our online recipe collect. We’ve scoured the collection to bring you the best cheese pizza recipe for you to try.

First up is a cheese Grandma Pie. There is something about the Grandma pizza style that draws attention to that glorious whole-milk mozzarella. Here is a grandma pie recipe by World Pizza Champion and Pizza Restaurateur Tony Gemignani. Go to the recipe below.

Grandma Pie Recipe

Next, John Gutekanst wanted to great an elevated spin on a traditional cheese pizza. The Royale with Cheese uses a cheese blend of Feta, Asiago, Parmigiano, Gorgonzola and Provolone. Go to the recipe below.

Royale with Cheese Pizza Recipe

One of the best cheese pizzas we ever made in the Pizza Today Test Kitchen was an Upside Down Sicilian Pizza. This pizza changes up the placement of the mozzarella to be applied first then the sauce. This pizza was also created by the goat of the pizza industry Tony Geminani. It is dynamite. Get the recipe below.

Upside Down Pizza Recipe

Here are a few other spins on cheese pizza to give a try. (Don’t hate on the beer cheese and nacho cheese!)

Four-Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza

Beer Cheese Pizza

Nacho Cheese Pizza

The Best Cheese Pizza in the World

Andy Huynh, Cowabunga+, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, wins the World’s Best Cheese Slice Division at International Pizza Challenge 2024.

We felt so strongly about the role of the cheese pizza that we debuted a Division for The World’s Best Cheese Slice in the International Pizza Challenge at the 2024 International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas.

The Cheese Slice competition has strict criteria. In IPC’s newest division, competitors provided the dough, traditional red tomato sauce (only), cheese/cheese blend and spices. NO par-baking. Once the pizza enters the oven ONLY a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil (infused or not), grated cheese & dry spices after baking are acceptable; NO other drizzles, toppings, cheeses, or work on the pizza is allowed once the pizza enters the oven. This division is open to all crust styles.

Find more International Pizza Challenge 2024 winners.

Share Your National Cheese Pizza Day With Us

We want to see what you are doing for National Cheese Pizza Day. Tag Pizza Today on your favorite social media channels!

The post September 5 is National Cheese Pizza Day appeared first on Pizza Today.