Poppy Pies — Restaurant in Jackson

TL;DR - Poppy pies is likely the best artisan pizzeria in the state of Mississippi.

For the past couple of years, Poppy pies has been a mobile pizzeria that originally started off with several Gozney Roccboxes on folding tables, later upgraded to a food truck outfitted with a bonified, wood-fired Italian pizza oven, and has now graduated to a brick-and-mortar storefront located between Fertile Ground (grab a beer while you wait!) and Pulito.

As of this review, they currently serve three styles of pizza, with the third style only offered on Sundays.

Neapolitan – Poppy Pies does a great job at consistently creating a delicious authentic Neapolitan Pizza. This pizza is the traditional 12 inch pie that has its roots in southern Italy. The outside crust is crunchy on the surface, but soft and chewy in the middle. The center of the pizza is very thin, but soft and foldable rather than crispy. This means its often light enough to eat a whole pie alone – depending on which toppings you get. While all good Neapolitan pizza’s have some leoparding around the outside, I would place Poppy Pies in the top 20 percentile from a char perspective – meaning, that if you don’t like a little char on your crust, you probably won’t prefer this style. But the dough really is spectacular, and so I suspect they are using a pre-fermentation step which adds to the flavor. Poppy Pies has about 7 topping varieties – most of these are traditional combinations like Margherita, Pepperoni, etc. My three favorite specialties are the “Captain”, which pays homage to the southern Captain Rodney’s dip, the seasonally available “Street Corn” that has previously been available in the summer months, and the newly added Burrata.

Detroit Style – If you want something a bit more rich than the Neapolitan, the “Detroit Style” is a deep dish pizza cooked in a metal rectangular pan. The crust is a higher hydration focaccia style bread that cooks in the melted cheese and oil, resulting in caramelized edges that are to die for. The pizza is finished “red top” style with the sauce added after it comes out of the oven. It’s then cut long ways down the middle, then across several times to leave you with 8 square-ish pieces. Our group always fights over the 4 corner pieces.

New York Style (Currently Sundays only) – I was very surprised how much I ended up loving their new NY style pizza. This is a big 18 inch pizza that can be prepared in most (I believe) of the available topping combinations. The Poppy NY Style pizza does diverge a bit from the traditional floppy New York style crust to a more New Haven forward style that is crispier and more heavily charred around the edges. I think the greatness of this pizza is how light and airy it is: Where a large (14 inch) domino’s cheese pizza would be way too much for my wife and I, last night we ate an entire Poppy NY Style Burrata (18 inches or so?) and still felt great afterwards. Yes, it is a little pricey, but so is Sal & Mookie’s NY Style pies – and at the risk of being too honest (senza offesa..), just taste better.

Final Remarks – Eat here a few times and you can tell how passionate the owner and staff are at making really amazing and authentic pizza. Truly a must-visit if you are in the...

Alright, let’s get this out of the way—yes, the pizza at Poppy Pies is good. The crust hits that sweet spot between chewy and crisp, the sauce has a nice tang, and the toppings are fresh. Solid. Definitely worth a visit if you're craving a slice.

But let me tell you what really matters: the ranch. I don’t know what kind of sorcery is happening in the back of that kitchen, but this is not your average ranch. This is divine intervention in a plastic cup. This ranch could broker peace treaties. It could heal broken hearts. It’s so rich, so creamy, with that perfect balance of garlic, dill, and whatever else they’ve decided to bless it with—I'm pretty sure angels stirred it by hand.

I found myself rationing my crust just to make sure I had enough ranch to last the meal. I’d dip a slice, look around, and think, “Do they know how good this is?” I even considered asking if they sold it by the gallon (they don’t—yet—but I’m starting a petition).

So yes, go for the pizza. Stay for the ranch. Actually, go because of the ranch. Poppy Pies, if you’re reading this: bottle that magic. You’re sitting on...

I visited Poppy Pies the other night and I must say, I’ve never had such an amazing pizza experience. The crust was perfectly crisp, the sauce was deliciously fresh, and the mozzarella… oh my! It was like a bite of Italy itself. Truly some of the best Neapolitan pizza I’ve ever had.

But, what really made my evening unforgettable wasn’t just the pizza (although it was divine), it was the tall, lanky young man at the counter. You, with the glasses, who greeted me with such a kind smile—honestly, I couldn't focus on the menu because of how captivating your presence was. If you're reading this, know that your warmth and charm made my pizza taste even better.

If by any chance you’re interested in a slightly older woman with a love for good pizza (and charming cashiers), I’d love to return and maybe chat over another slice. 😉

Until then, Poppy Pies, I’ll definitely be back for more of that heavenly pizza… and maybe to see that charming...