Columbus-area pizzeria wins nation’s best garlic knots at International Pizza Expo

For the first time ever, the International Pizza Expo set up shop in Columbus, and local restaurant owners didn’t fail to bring their A-game.

The Expo, which was held Oct. 26-27 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, featured a wide variety of pizza-related vendors, events and other industry professionals, and was headlined by The Great American Challenge.

The Challenge saw competitors from across the country—and the world—bring their best across seven categories: Dessert Pizza, Traditional Thin Pizza, Gluten-Free, Pepperoni Slice, Non-Traditional Thin-Crust, Breadsticks/Garlic Knots and Young Pizza Maker of the Year.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

The winner of the Garlic Knots category was Brayden Miller, a manager at Dublin’s Black Dog Pizzeria. Second place went to Franky Vigliotti of Peppino’s Restaurant & Catering in Syracuse, Nee York, and Wilhelm Rodriguez from Puerto Rico took third place.

A pair of other Buckeye State pizza-makers took home hardware as well. Joe Harnett, founder of JT’s Pizza in Linworth and Grandview was the third-place finisher in the Nontraditional Thin Crust Division (he also created the best Columbus-style pizza in the Non-Traditional Division, according to the results) and Issam Halawi, owner of Upper Crust and Pizza Bogo in Northern Ohio, took third place in the Gluten-Free Pizza Division.

Want to read more? Check out our print publications, (614) Magazine and Stock & Barrel. Learn where you can find free copies of our newest issues here!

BROUGHT TO YOU BY