Pizza Travels on the Old Route 66

My better half was yearning for a piece of old Americana, so we took a little road trip to the old Route 66 in Joplin, Missouri.

There is not much left of the old Route 66, but there are still a few fun reminders remaining of what the popular road probably once was. Set within the clutter of urbanized chain restaurants far from the charm of 1950’s and 60’s nostalgia was a small, unassuming place called Woody’s Wood-Fire Pizza.

While the pizza restaurant was not an original part of Route 66 history (it opened in 1999), the property itself has been around that long. It’s the kind of place you would drive right past it if you weren’t looking for it. Even though we were looking for it, we still drove by it, but after a quick turn around, we eventually found our destination.

The place is not fancy by any means, but when it comes to pizza, that doesn’t really matter. What does matter is the taste. This pizza was definitely worthy of the visit. The restaurant offers standard menu service, but they also have an all you eat buffet. This was nice to see because many restaurants have moved away from buffets since the whole Covid nonsense. We didn’t get the buffet, but it made me happy to see a place brave enough to at least show they’re trying to maintain some “normality” of pre-Covid life.

Unless you’re obsessed with pizza as I am, most people don’t pay much attention to how a pizza is cooked, but ovens vary greatly, as does what powers them. Wood, electric, gas, and coal all create different tastes. Being that Woody’s uses wood fire, the oven is amazing, and since I was geeking out over it, the pizza master was nice enough to invite me back to check it out. I will admit I was quite envious and wouldn’t complain if I had one in my house. Wood is not easy to work with, but Woody’s does it quite well.

If you haven’t tried wood fired pizza, you should. It’s not my personal favorite, but it gives a very unique taste that is pretty decent when cooked correctly, and the staff at Woody’s surely did it right. Wood or not, it was tasty regardless.

If for some reason you happen to be motoring through southern Missouri, definitely stop by to check it out.

~ Marty ~

For many years of my life, I’ve been on a quest to find the perfect pizza. As I travel this great land, I must visit as many pizza places as I can, and I’ve been to quite a few with many more on the radar. I’ve decided to incorporate my pizza journeys into my blog, so more posts like this will surely follow. If there is somewhere you think I should try, let me know!