Dolly's Pizza, New Baltimore

Dolly, the daughter of Italian immigrant restaurateurs, opened the first Dolly's Pizza in the back room of a tavern in 1966. As she bustled about the kitchen, Dolly’s youngest son, Robert, watched and learned, socking away his knowledge until he was old enough to follow in her footsteps and, ultimately, take the successful small business to new heights. When he did eventually take the reigns, he expanded his mother’s original back room pizzeria into a franchise with an upward of 20 locations and counting.

Although the business has grown over the decades, its focus on quality, customizable pies remains steadfast. More than 15 classic ingredients, from Italian sausage to green pepper, top Dolly's build-your-own pizzas. Cooks construct these custom creations atop a hand-tossed crust, deep-dish square crust, or thin and crispy crust. To tailor the pies even further, they can add a distinctive pop to any of the three dough bases with complimentary seasonings such as Cajun, butter, sesame, or garlic. They also use those flavors to enrich Dolly's 10 signature pies, including the mayo-based BLT and the pineapple- and almond-topped deluxe hawaiian pizza. Cooks round out the menu with non-spherical classics, such as grinders, breadsticks, St. Louis-style pork ribs, and wings smothered in one of 12 sauces.