Some food stories are born overnight. Others take decades to reveal themselves.
Ranger Joe’s Pizza is the result of a long orbit—around family legacy, personal reinvention, and a craft that refused to stay buried. From pizza shops in the early 1980s to nearly twenty years in law enforcement, the path to opening Ranger Joe’s was anything but direct. What emerged in Montana is a pizza operation defined by discipline, patience, and an unapologetic commitment to doing things the right way.
In this conversation, the founder of Ranger Joe’s Pizza speaks in his own voice about history, fermentation, adventure, failure, persistence, and what it takes to build something real. The questions and answers below are presented exactly as given, without alteration.
1. What inspired you to start Ranger Joe’s Pizza, and how did your journey into the world of pizza-making begin?
Pizza was always in the background of my life, even when I tried to walk away from it.
My parents owned pizza shops in the early 1980s, and I grew up inside the business—pizza making, learning dough management, stretching dough, running the front and back of the house, and understanding the rhythm of a pizza operation from the ground up. From the day my father opened his first shop in 1982, it took off. It went gangbusters. Along with New York style, we even brought Chicago style pizza to central Florida at the time. We had the freedom to make pizza the way we wanted—high quality, ingredient-driven, and ahead of its time in many ways, much like what we do today.
Ironically, being Irish, German, and French, you wouldn’t expect pizza to be the family trade—but it became part of our DNA.
Eventually, due to operational challenges and franchise-related issues, my parents made the difficult decision to exit the business. At that point, I wasn’t groomed to take it over, and honestly, I didn’t want to. So I walked away. I went to Hollywood, pursued a completely different path, and later spent nearly two decades in law enforcement. But every few years—for nearly 30 years—the idea of pizza would quietly resurface… and then fade again.
About 25 years in, something changed.
I pulled out the old recipes and started making dough again—paying attention to every detail I remembered. Friends and neighbors couldn’t get enough of it. That’s when I knew: this wasn’t nostalgia. I still had something real. I started with New York–style pizza, then moved into Detroit-style, and the response was overwhelming. People kept saying, “This is the best pizza we’ve ever had.”
That was the turning point.
When I decided to leave law enforcement early after 19 years, I told my wife we should open a pizza shop. Her first response was, “Are you crazy?” To prove I wasn’t, we literally turned our home kitchen into a full-blown pizza lab—testing dough formulas, styles, and processes. Eventually, she realized this wasn’t a hobby. I was all in.
We made a bold move, relocated to Montana, opened Ranger Joe’s Pizza, and the rest is history.
Looking back, pizza wasn’t something I chased—it was something that waited for me. After 30 years away, I didn’t just return to pizza. I returned to who I was always meant to be.
2. Can you tell us about your signature pizza style? What makes your pizzas unique compared to others in Montana and beyond?
What truly sets us apart is that we refuse to cut corners.
Our dough is cold-fermented in our walk-in cooler for up to four days, allowing it to fully develop flavor and texture. We use unbleached, unbromated flour, cook our sauce in-house, and prepare our sausage in-house as well. Every pizza is stretched by hand—never pressed, never rushed.
For our Detroit deep-dish and Sicilian styles, we par-bake the dough to absolute perfection. While many restaurants have shifted to frozen dough or pre-baked crusts, we’ve stayed committed to what our customers can taste immediately: fresh, high-quality, handcrafted gourmet pizza made the right way.
That commitment shows in our results.
Our Korean barbecue pork belly pizza earned second place at Pizza Expo in Las Vegas, and our Honey Bear pizza—created by my son—helped us win Best New York–style Pizza in the entire state of Montana.
At the heart of it all is our sauce. Its signature flavor is an old family recipe, refined and elevated by my wife with one special ingredient that truly sets it apart. It’s familiar, bold, and unmistakably ours.
Our customers know the difference—and that’s why they keep coming back.
3. We know you’re passionate about adventure—how does that influence your approach to pizza, both in the kitchen and on the menu?
Adventure isn’t just a theme for us—it’s where the name Ranger Joe’s Pizza was born.
The idea came after a hike in Glacier National Park at Kintla Lake with my sons, nephews, my son-in-law, and a close friend. What was supposed to be a mildly elevated hike turned into something far more challenging. The trail was overgrown, poorly maintained, and much tougher than expected. We were overpacked, underprepared, and quickly realized this wasn’t going to be easy.
I had organized the hike, and failure wasn’t an option. Through a series of missteps that nearly ended the trip, I kept everyone focused, moving forward, and aware of our surroundings. We pushed through, made it to camp, spent the night, and hiked out the next morning—tired, sore, but proud.
That night at dinner, the group jokingly—but meaningfully—“promoted” me to Ranger Joe for keeping everyone going and getting us through it safely.
Later, when we started making pizza in our home kitchen and began talking seriously about opening a shop, my wife said, “Why don’t you call it Ranger Joe’s Pizza?” When we opened our first brick-and-mortar location, that name stuck—and it’s been our identity ever since.
Everything we do is rooted in that Montana outdoor spirit. From the moment you walk into our lobby, to our branding and marketing, to the names on our menu, Ranger Joe’s Pizza reflects adventure, resilience, and a deep appreciation for where we live. It’s not manufactured—it’s lived.
Adventure isn’t just our backdrop. It’s who we are.
4. Currently, are there any special promotions or new menu items that you’re particularly excited about?
We’re expanding into a new dine-in space next to our original Kalispell location, creating a place where guests can sit down, relax, and enjoy the full Ranger Joe’s Pizza experience.
With this expansion, we plan to introduce a few carefully chosen additions to the menu, including our garlic knots and a possible baked spaghetti or baked ziti. For the past five years, we’ve intentionally kept our menu simple and effective, focusing on doing a few things extremely well. As we grow, we believe adding new items slowly and thoughtfully is the right approach—making sure everything meets the same standards our customers already expect.
5. How do you engage with your audience on social media, and what’s been the most surprising response you’ve received from your followers?
I engage with our customers on social media by sharing the kind of content I know they actually want to see. They want to be part of the adventure. They want to know what’s happening inside the shop. Since I’m the face of the brand, people are naturally curious about what’s going on with Ranger Joe.
I give regular behind-the-scenes updates—dough making, day-to-day life in the kitchen, employees refining their skills, preparing for competitions like Pizza Expo, and team highlights. I also feature our customers, share real photos from the shop, and post moments that show the personality and culture behind the brand. Lately, I’ve even started experimenting with AI-generated content to keep things fresh and creative.
The goal is simple: keep customers informed, involved, and moving along on the journey with us as the brand grows.
Our primary platforms are Facebook and Instagram, where our audience responds especially well to spontaneous, unscripted posts. That element of surprise keeps things fun and authentic, and customers genuinely seem to enjoy it. In addition, I’ve begun expanding into SMS and email campaigns to stay connected beyond social media and reach customers more directly.
6. Who is your best pizza supplier, and what qualities do you look for in the ingredients you choose?
We’ve built a strong working relationship with U.S. Foods, and our current representative has done a great job helping us manage food costs while still understanding that they have a bottom line to protect as well. It’s been a true partnership, not just a supplier relationship.
I especially value their online tools, including Menu Profit Pro, which offers a food-cost calculator and a recipe-building platform. Those tools help us stay disciplined and informed when we’re developing or refining menu items.
My approach always starts with flavor. I look first at products that I genuinely like and believe taste great. From there, I evaluate the ingredients, the cost, and how each product fits into our overall goal—producing the highest-quality pizza possible without compromising consistency or value.
That balance between quality, cost control, and long-term sustainability is what allows us to keep improving while staying true to our standards.
7. Your pizza oven must play a crucial role in your pizza-making process. Can you share what type of oven you use and how it affects your final product?
We use a Middleby Marshall PS360 oven at our Kalispell location and a Middleby Marshall PS555 at our second location in Columbia Falls.
While we originally used Baker’s Pride deck ovens in the 1980s, my parents’ business grew so quickly that we transitioned to conveyor-style ovens for volume. The Middleby Marshall ovens we use today—especially the PS360—are very similar to the conveyor ovens we ran back then, which made the transition feel familiar from day one.
That familiarity allowed us to dial things in quickly and confidently. I believe these ovens strike an ideal balance between high-volume production and consistent crust quality and cook performance.
Over time, we’ve fine-tuned a few key adjustments that help us achieve an exceptional finished product. We’re able to cook all of our pizza styles in these ovens and par-bake our Detroit deep-dish and Sicilian pizzas without sacrificing quality.
Overall, it’s a system we trust—and one we’re very happy with.
8. Do you have a favorite pizzeria outside of your own? What draws you to that place?
I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy pizzas from many different restaurants over the years, including places run by operators I respect greatly. There are definitely a handful that stand out to me, each for different reasons—whether it’s how they run their operation, their attention to detail, or the way they prepare their pizzas.
That said, I prefer not to name a single favorite. Every great pizza has its own story and its own approach, and I like to appreciate each one for what it is while keeping my personal favorites to myself.
9. Looking back, can you share the best pizza recipe you’ve ever created? Are you willing to reveal it to your fans?
Right now, it would have to be the Korean barbecue pork belly. It features an in-house Korean marinade that I developed myself, and once people try it, they can’t get enough of it.
I’m also currently working on a new pizza—the Chipotle Bison Trail Boss. It’s still in development, but it includes chipotle-seasoned bison, a white sauce base, pickled ginger, chives, garlic, ricotta dollops and a raspberry glaze, along with a few other elements we’re still fine-tuning.
That’s all I’m going to say for now—you’ll have to come by and taste it yourself. 😄
10. What is the most memorable moment you’ve had at Ranger Joe’s Pizza, perhaps involving a customer or a unique pizza request?
One of the most memorable moments for me was right before Ranger Joe’s Pizza even existed.
We had secured the loan and were fully committed—but for nearly two months, I couldn’t find a location in Kalispell that made sense. I was looking for something on a corner, off Highway 93, with good visibility, and nothing was working. Eventually, I just stopped looking. I gave up for a while.
Then one day, after telling my wife that I thought I was ready to start searching again, I decided—almost on a whim—to check Craigslist first. I found a listing that had been posted just two hours earlier. It was on a corner, right off Highway 93, and it had previously been a coffee shop with a drive-thru. It was perfect.
Two days later, I flew up, met the owner, and she took a chance on us. We signed the contract shortly after. That moment still feels surreal.
Equally unforgettable was opening day. You spend months building a vision—creating a floor plan, writing a business plan, pouring your heart into something you’ve never done before at that scale. You don’t know everything. You’re learning, adapting, and in some ways, winging it. Then suddenly, it’s real. The doors open, customers walk in, and the response was overwhelming. That was the moment I knew all the risk and uncertainty had been worth it.
11. If you could create a pizza that represents the spirit of Montana, what toppings would you choose and why?
If I were to create a pizza that truly represents the spirit of Montana, it would be the chipotle bison pizza I’m currently developing.
It starts with chipotle bison—a bold, game meat that reflects the rugged character of the region. The flavor profile is big and unapologetic, built to stand out. Dollops of ricotta are placed across the pizza like mountain peaks, giving it both texture and a visual nod to Montana’s landscape. A light drizzle of sweet, chipotle spiced raspberry adds contrast—because people in Montana tend to have a little sweetness, but also plenty of grit and spice.
The pickled ginger brings in a subtle tang that balances the richness, adding complexity without overpowering the pizza. Altogether, it creates a layered, bold, and adventurous flavor profile.
It’s rugged, it’s flavorful, and it’s unapologetically different—just like Montana.
12. Pizza making is both an art and a science. How do you balance creativity with the technical aspects of the craft?
You can’t rush the process—there’s real art and science behind great dough.
From the moment we begin mixing, every step matters: how the dough is handled, how quickly it’s balled, and how fast it gets into the cooler all directly affect the quality of the dough when it’s ready to be stretched into a pizza skin. The moment yeast is introduced, it begins seeking out sugars, producing carbon dioxide and ethanol. That natural fermentation is what allows the dough to rise, develop structure, and build a strong yet extensible gluten network.
Anyone on my team will tell you how seriously I take our dough. We pay close attention to the technical details that make the difference—consistency in dough skins, proper proofing, and precise baking, especially for our deep-dish styles. It’s a process that’s constantly evolving, constantly monitored, and something we’ll always stay committed to at Ranger Joe’s Pizza.
That same philosophy applies to our sauce.
We cook our sauce in-house, allowing the flavors to fully develop and the garlic aroma to run wild throughout the kitchen. We don’t open a can and put sauce on a pizza. Our sauce begins with a family recipe, a proprietary spice blend we developed in-house, resulting in a bold, distinctive flavor you won’t find anywhere else—and is one of the key elements that truly sets our pizzas apart.
Craft, patience, and consistency—that’s what makes a great pizza, and that’s how we do it.
13. What is one piece of advice you would give to someone hoping to start their own pizza shop or to make pizza at home?
Invest as much time in your research and preparation as if you already owned a pizza shop. If possible, even consider working in one for six months to a year to truly understand the operational demands and the level of commitment required to run a smooth, profitable, and fundamentally sound business.
If you want to establish strong culture and clear standards, you have to be the captain of the ship. That means being present—nearly every day—for the first year and a half to three years. You’ll be motivating your team, developing people, reinforcing standards, engaging with your community, and embedding yourself in the minds and hearts of your customers.
That kind of connection doesn’t happen from a distance. It takes grit, consistency, and real commitment—and the only way to earn it is by showing up, day after day.
14. In a world of ever-changing food trends, what’s one trend you wish would come back or gain more recognition?
I really believe in getting back to pizza simplicity—the kind of pizza we grew up with in the ’80s and ’90s. While I enjoy creative and elevated pizzas, and they absolutely have their place, there’s something special about a truly great, original New York– and Detroit-style pizza.
Simple doesn’t mean basic. It means using the right ingredients, handled the right way, to create the familiar flavors we all remember from our favorite corner mom-and-pop pizza shop. That combination of simplicity and depth is what made those places unforgettable—and honestly, I miss them.
These days, a lot of pizza has gone in a more “fancy” direction. At Ranger Joe’s, we do offer a few creative, elevated pizzas, but the heart of what we do is honoring that old-school, comforting pizza you grew up loving. That’s our commitment—familiar, flavorful, and done right.
15. Pizza nights often involve fun rituals. Do you have any personal traditions when making or serving pizza?
My favorite way to enjoy pizza is simple—sitting on the couch, watching a movie, usually something action-packed. A Tom Cruise movie is always a solid choice, or a good zombie flick like World War Z.
There’s just nothing better than biting into a hot, cheesy, flavorful pizza with an ice-cold Pepsi while you kick back and relax. That’s about as good as it gets. 🍕🥤🎬
16. How do you source local ingredients, and why is it important for you to support local producers?
At this time, we are not sourcing local products and primarily rely on US Foods and Sysco for our ingredients and supplies. That said, we are actively exploring opportunities to partner with local ice cream producers and possibly local baked-goods makers in the near future as we continue to grow and evolve.
17. Is there a particular success story or piece of feedback from a customer that has touched your heart or influenced how you run your business?
We’ve had countless people and couples come in and tell us how grateful they are that we brought truly great pizza to the valley. For years, many of them searched for something that reminded them of the pizza they grew up with on the East Coast—or their favorite spot back home—but never quite found it. They always had to settle for something that was close, but never fully satisfying.
Since opening, we’ve had so many customers come up to us just to say thank you. Some shake our hands, some stop us mid-shift, and you can see it in their eyes—there’s a genuine excitement there. Even though it’s “just food,” it means something deeper. It’s the comfort of knowing that when they want great pizza for themselves, their friends, or their family, it’s finally right here, close to home.
Those moments are incredibly rewarding, and they remind us why we do what we do.
18. What’s your take on the pineapple-on-pizza debate? Where do you stand?
I think just about anything can go on pizza. If you create it, people will come. That said, there are definitely a few toppings I personally don’t love—but pineapple is absolutely fair game.
In fact, my son is working on a Hawaiian-style pizza as I’m writing this. So stay tuned—hopefully it’ll be out soon for the world to try. 🍍🍕
19. If you had to describe the feeling you want your customers to have when they eat your pizza, what would it be?
The feeling I want customers to have when they eat our pizza is simple: Why didn’t I get here sooner? or How did I not know about this place?
I want that first bite to feel special—something familiar, yet different—like they’ve been missing it for years without realizing it. I want them to feel like they’re having an adventure in food, not just grabbing a slice.
When they leave, I want them to feel satisfied, energized, and good—knowing they just ate a high-quality pizza made the right way. And ideally, as they walk out the door, they’re already thinking about when they’re coming back and what they’re ordering next.
That’s the experience we’re trying to create every single day. 🍕🔥
20. What do you think sets Ranger Joe’s apart in the competitive pizza landscape of Montana?
I believe what truly sets us apart starts with our customer service and our people. From the moment a guest walks in, we make a point to acknowledge them, guide them through the menu, answer questions, and explain what goes into making our pizza. That interaction matters. It sets the tone.
Beyond that, it’s the culture we’ve built—between our employees, our customers, and the pride we take in our product. Our flavor profiles are unlike anything else in the area, driven by extensive, unique recipes and the operational procedures we’ve developed over time. You simply can’t get our pizza anywhere else.
Then there’s the vibe.
What you experience inside Ranger Joe’s isn’t something you’ll find at another pizza place in Montana. From the outdoor hiking décor—backpacks, sleeping mats, and real equipment used during our Kintla Lake hike—to the animal mounts, including a full bear, wolf, antelope, and deer, everything inside tells a story. Combined with the carefully chosen color scheme and overall atmosphere, it creates a space that feels immersive, authentic, and completely intentional.
As we continue to grow, these are the things we’ll never lose sight of—the service, the culture, the product, and the experience that make us unique, different, and special.
Because at the end of the day, Adventure Is Not Complete Without PIZZA!
Ranger Joe’s Pizza is not built on shortcuts or nostalgia alone. It’s built on repetition, discipline, memory, and the belief that food—done right—can anchor people to place and to each other.
In Montana, where the landscape rewards those who prepare, endure, and commit, that philosophy fits just fine.
And sometimes, after thirty years, the road really does lead you back to where you started this time with purpose.
