Cheeseburger pizza? It helped put a Kansas City restaurant on a national ‘best’ list

A mainstay Waldo restaurant has made a national “best pizza” list with a special shoutout to one of its most offbeat offerings.

Mashed.com, a food news and recipe website, put Waldo Pizza on its new “The Best Pizza Place in Every State” list.

“With more than two decades of experience, this pizza place gets kudos for its delicious pies and the restaurant’s laid-back atmosphere,” the website said.

It said Waldo Pizza’s cheeseburger pizza — with dill pickle chips, hamburger, cheddar cheese and yellow mustard — “sounds questionable, but it’s actually a favorite with the locals.”

Phil Bourne, the former owner of Waldo Pizza and now an employee, said he added the cheeseburger pizza to the menu two or three years ago after staff and customers requested it, even though he’s not a fan of “crossover pizzas.”

“That blend of culinary items I’m kind of resistant to. If you want a Reuben, get a Reuben. If you want a cheeseburger get a cheeseburger at a cheeseburger restaurant,” he said. “Fortunately, most people don’t feel the way I do.”

Waldo Pizza was hiring employees in late 1987 and was open by early 1988. Bourne bought it in 1993, and recently sold it to Steve Kingery, a longtime employee who was most recently general manager.

The Waldo restaurant, at 7433 Broadway, has been open for carryout and delivery only since the pandemic. But it reopened a dining room Friday for dinner and weekend lunch “with all the necessary precautions including having installed an air purifier in the ventilation system,” Bourne said.

A Lee’s Summit Waldo Pizza is under different ownership.

Mashed.com put AJ’s NY Pizzeria, with locations in Topeka and Manhattan, on its “best list” for Kansas.

Another local pizza place, Wilson’s Pizza & Grill — at 1801 Quindaro Blvd. in Kansas City, Kansas — recently made The Daily Meal’s list of “The 101 Best Pizzas in America.”

This story was originally published September 21, 2020 at 12:42 PM.