Enjoy Little Bettie pizza at WISEACRE2

The Weekly Dish

Have you missed Hog & Hominy’s pizzas like I have? I was thrilled when I heard the news last fall that Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman were opening up a pizza spot in the taproom at WISEACRE2.

We headed Downtown recently to give the new Little Bettie pizza and snack bar a try.

The first thing I will say is — Little Bettie pizzas are not Hog & Hominy pizzas.

That said, while different, they are equally as delicious. Ticer and Hudman have proved once again that they know pizza.

The pizza at Little Bettie’s is New Haven-style pizza. New Haven-style pizza has a chewy crust like its woodfired Neapolitan pizza counterpart (that’s what Hog & Hominy served), but is a thinner-crusted pizza. This thincrust pizza originated in New Haven, Connecticut — hence the name. Both New Haven and Neapolitan pizzas are renowned for their complex flavored crusts.

What is the same about Little Bettie’s and Hog & Hominy’s pizzas? Both are flavor-packed pizzas with one-of-akind topping combinations. The pizza menu at both is unlike anything you will find anywhere else.

We tried the Beefy Bettie ($16). It’s a red sauced pizza topped with pepperoni, bacon, Tuscan sausage, four cheeses, Calabrian chilies and shaved garlic. It’s a spicy twist on a meat-lovers pizza. The pizza was hearty, but not heavy as some meat-lovers pizzas tend to be. The toppings were just the right proportion.

I asked WISEACRE founders Davin and Kellan Bartosch which pizzas were their favorites. Davin said he loves the Slightly Pizza ($15) for its simplicity. That cheese-less is topped with red sauce, shaved garlic, olive oil, chili and oregano. Kellan’s favorite pizza is the Octopus’ Garden ($18). This unique white pizza is topped with ricotta cream,

clams, salsa verde, kale and panna gratta. I’ll be trying both these on my next visit.

The bartender told me the pizzas were single-serving size, but I found them perfect for feeding two.

We also tried some items off the snacks menu.

Hands down, the Onion Ringzzz ($9) may be some of the best onion rings I have ever tried. The onion rings are battered in a tempura-style batter made with WISEACRE’S Memphis Sands beer (fitting I thought!) and fried until crispy. My dining companion pointed out that when you took a bite, the onion did not separate from the batter. I don’t think I

JOE RONDONE/THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL Wiseacre Brewing Co. opened its second location WISEACRE2, which includes Little Bettie, featuring a New Haven-style pizza and snack bar, that held a soft opening on Dec. 16, 2020.

ARIEL COBBERT/ THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL Executive chief of cuisine Ryan Jennings and chief of cuisine Parker Rose at Little Bettie in WISEACRE2 in Memphis, Tenn., on Jan. 6.

COMMERCIAL APPEAL ARIEL COBBERT/ THE The Onions Ringzzz with lactose fermented green comeback sauce at Little Bettie in WISEACRE2 in Memphis, on Jan. 6.