Arizona Local The Wizard of Za Pizza Highlight

Updated: April 29, 2024

Have you ever heard of the Wizard of Za? Most of Arizona is familiar with his love for both pizza and beer, but if for some reason you missed it, check him out at @wizard_of_za

Who is the Wizard of Za? Wizard of Pizza!

The almighty Wizard, aka Steve, is a connoisseur of some of our favorite things you can consume. There is nothing better than the combination of pizza and beer, and I will fight anyone that disagrees. All of that passion the Wizard has put behind his favorite things has lifted him to one of the most notorious go to guides for the best local pizza and beer experiences in Arizona.

So, us folks here at Spinato's agreed that the Wizard has good taste, right?! We have both of those things available at our locations, so why not bring it all together? The Wizard knows what he wants in a pizza, so we decided to let him go nuts and build a custom pizza to his liking. And then, we decided to bring it to another level. Let's make this collab even more cozy and partner with a local AZ brewery, B.R.I. (The Beer Research Institute). If you are familiar with BRI, you know they make great beer. If you haven't tried them before, get your butt over to their new taproom & arcade in downtown Mesa. Check them out here!

We contacted Matt and Mark from BRI, to see if they like pizza. Turns out, yea! Everyone likes pizza, and we love beer! It really is a match made in craft foodie heaven. So, how is this collab pairing going? Let's see.....

The Wizard of Za Custom Pizza

We had the Wizard put together three ideas for a unique pizza. I will be honest, they were all delicious. Not too mad at my job the last few months, we just keep sampling pizzas and beer, it's the worst :) We found a winner! I am not going to tell you what it is yet, but we invited the Wizard and the guys from BRI to our family kitchen headquarters to sample the pizza. BRI brought the beer, they are the best. Everyone should have friends like them. So we had a nice round table lunch sampling and talking pairings. Matt has extensive experience in pairing beer with food, and I would go as far to say that it is something he really enjoys, and you can tell.  

As you are reading this, BRI is working on a beautiful style to pair with The Wizard's classic pizza. The almighty Wizard had two styles that he was specifically looking for, and we believe we all landed on something perfect. Still not going to tell you what either of them are....yet! You are just going to have to keep following along over the next two months as we continue to document our progress. We will be updating this blog as we go. What's coming up next? Brew day & tour at BRI, stay tuned!

Try the Wizard of Za Pizza at Spinato's

Can't wait to try this pairing? Join us at our launch party at our Tempe location on Sept 2nd from 4-6pm. We will be hosting the Wizard of Za, The BRI crew, Our featured artist: Jason Neisinger, The Spinato's Family and the Tap That AZ team. We will be giving away glasses to everyone that orders the pairing, while supplies last. We will also have sampling and giveaways! Can't make it then or there? We will have this pairing available at all of our locations through the month of September, and we will be giving glassware away at every location first come first serve on Sept 2nd!