Most new restaurants spend their first year building a loyal customer base, but one Rhode Island pizza shop has already earned national recognition. Joe’s Pizza of Warwick opened less than a year ago, yet its owner recently defeated competitors in a national pizza competition. The winning entry was a meatball-topped specialty pizza that customers have been able to order since the restaurant first opened.
Located at 163 Kilvert Street in Warwick, the restaurant took first place in the non-traditional thin New Haven-style category at the Great American Pizza Challenge in Columbus, Ohio. Owner Joe Boisvert earned the honor during the October 11 and 12, 2026, competition, just weeks before the business’s first anniversary. The achievement gives the young restaurant a notable reason to celebrate before its first full year in business.
A National Victory Less Than a Year After Opening
Joe’s Pizza opened on Black Friday in November 2025, making the achievement especially remarkable. By October 2026, Boisvert competed against pizza makers from other states at Pizza Expo Columbus, an industry event with several competitive categories. His restaurant emerged as the highest-scoring entry in the non-traditional New Haven-style thin-crust category…