My Freakin’ Pizza
1015 W. Chicago RoadThe Friday after the 4th was a pretty long day….for me anyway.
I volunteered to work an overnight shift in Grand Rapid so I could be off by noon and at the lake by 2:00. My mother-in-law had set out some meat to grill dinner but I was too tired to really too tired to deal with and the meat wasn’t thawed completely anyway.
We decided to just wait to grill Saturday night and order pizza for Friday’s dinner.
J’s parents have a Sturgis address but they’re closer to Centreville. The Local was always our go-to pizza place when we were at the lake but they closed…then reopened with a new owner…then closed again….all since last summer.
We’re all kind of pizza snobs. Chicago tavern thin-crust is the only way a pizza should be made according to all of us so finding a good pizza place that we all agree on is a little tricky.
J’s mom has been wanting to try My Freakin’ Pizza in Sturgis. No one had any objections to that idea.
My Freakin’ Pizza is on Chicago Street in downtown Sturgis near the intersection with Nottawa Street right next to Wings Etc. The pizza joint, owned by the same people who own Freakin’ Sweets just down the street, had to go through some renovations to transform it from what has been an empty store front for the better part of the last decade to the hottest new pizza place in town.
When the restaurant first open not too long ago, there was so much confusion about ordering. They opened up and didn’t have a working phone. People were perplexed. They couldn’t figure out you could just go there, order your pizza, and wait for 15 minutes while it was being made. The Sturgis community Facebook pages were something…..
That “problem” has been fixed. They have a working phone now and online ordering….which is how we actually put in our order.
The reason so many people were going crazy about My Freakin’ Pizza opening is actually a little bit of nostalgia. My Freakin’ Pizza is a new concept but the pizza they make is not. It’s actually the recipe from Mike’s Pizza & Subs which was right across the street for almost 40 years before being forced out of the space when the building was sold to be torn down and rebuilt. Mike’s said they were going to reopen when they could find a building but instead sold the recipe to My Freakin’ Pizza. The wooden cutout that was outside of Mike’s survived and made it’s way in to this new space.
My father-in-law actually drove me in to town to pick up the pizzas. I had a few beers and not much to eat. I knew I was going to sleep well that night.
The restaurant is a pretty typical pizza place set up. We went straight to the order counter in front of the kitchen to see if our pizzas were ready. They were but we had ordered a couple of flatbreads that had fresh greens on them so they waited until we got there to put that on so it wouldn’t wilt. We had to wait maybe five minutes or so while the flatbreads were being finished.
There is some dine-in space along the wall. It’s not a lot but there are enough tables for bigger groups or just for a small family. Most of the business, like most pizza shops, is done through carry-out but it’s still nice to be able to sit down and eat occasionally.
We got the pizzas home and everybody dug in.
We kept things pretty simple just ordering one large pizza. Half cheese and half pepperoni. I got a side of hot honey because I needed something a little more. The pizza is pretty much what I remember from the time I had Mike’s.
The dough is really soft airy. The sauce has a little bit of bite to it. It’s a pretty typical carry-out/delivery style pizza which isn’t usually our thing but this one hits a little different. It’s got a unique taste to that’s hard to describe…but in a good way. I drizzled the hot honey on the slices I took and shared a little with my in-laws. It just gave it that little bit of extra “bam.”
The pizza wasn’t the only thing we got. My Mother-in-Law wanted the Poppers. These jalapeno poppers are breaded, fried, and served with ranch. I passed on the ranch but happily bit in to the crunchy, peppery, creamy appetizer. Like a lot of fried foods, they suffer a bit from the to-go box but they still had a crunch and still had all the flavor.
J and her mom passed no the pizza and ordered the Fancy Berry Flatbread. These are flatbreads topped with mozzarella, strawberries, feta, a spring mix, candied walnuts and drizzled with a strawberry vinaigrette. They got two of these because neither wanted to share but they only ended up eating one and saving the second for later. This is the kind of pizza J really likes. Putting this on the much thinner flatbread over a regular pizza is a good choice.
Finally, we couldn’t do pizza night without dessert. There was only one thing on the menu and it was a good one. An Elephant Ear. The large piece of fried dough is covered in cinnamon sugar. We broke it off “evenly” and all shared. I love an Elephant Ear…reminds me of the county fair I went to growing up. It’s such a simple dessert and it was a good one.
The cost for this meal was right around $60.
My Freakin’ Pizza is going to do well in Sturgis. The people are already excited because they brought back Mike’s recipes but the thing is, they are just a really good shop. My Freakin’ Sweets is a stand out dessert shop and it sounds like the plan is to merge the two businesses in to the same building eventually. My Freakin’ Pizza was a hit for our holiday Friday night pizza night.
SW Michigan Dining 
We have just came across this entry from over a year ago!! My husband and I are so thankful for your kind words about our little family business. It really means the world to us. We hope you’re doing well and come back to visit soon!!
With so much appreciation,
The Merrills