Venn Pizza on Britton officially opens today. Located in the stretch of Old Britton, the main street of the Britton municipality absorbed into OKC in 1950, Venn has a focused menu featuring pizza, wings, a few appetizers, and salads. Operating partner Jay Iaquinta said the team — which includes partners Chris Gomez and Annie Gray — have been calling their style “ugly Okie pizza.”
“It’s an 18-inch, thin crust pie,” Iaquinta said, “and because we’re doing slices every day, it makes more sense production-wise to do only one size.”
The pizza menu is a combination of classics and creative specialty pies. Slices of pepperoni and cheese will be available every day, as will The Nomad, an homage to the old fried pepperoni pizza at the iconic restaurant of the same name that used to be on N. May. (Ned’s Starlite Lounge now occupies the building.) There will be two slices of the day Monday through Friday, and then chef’s choice on weekends. Monday is sure to be a popular day, as the Royale with Cheese and Bikini Bottom are the daily slices.
The Bikini Bottom is likely to become the signature pie. The riff on Hawaiian pizza does indeed feature pineapples, but they’re bourbon-candied pineapples, and rather than straight marinara, the sauce is Head Country BBQ marinara, which means no weird clashes of acid. The pie also goes full Hawaiian with diced and seared Spam, and to give it a flavor and spice kick, fried jalapeňos finish it off. It’s not just the best Hawaiian pizza we’ve ever tried; it’s one of the best pies period.
Iaquinta built the bar program with input from cocktail genius Julia McLish at Barkeep, and it includes another Okie nod in the form of a flavored Club Special menu using Western Son vodkas. The specialty cocktails are creative, complex and designed for serious booze hounds, a rarity with pizza joints. Three house wines are also available, a red, white and rosé from Prisma via Brazos Wine Company, one of the best portfolios of South American wines available.
The wings, which include Frenched thighs (bucos on the menu) are excellent, as is the sauce, but the runaway hit on the appetizer menu is likely to be the Meemi Bread, a pull-apart style fresh bread stuffed with cheese, pepperoni and sausage and served with marinara. It’s comfort food of the most delicious variety. The patio is already constructed, but the gate to close it off has not arrived yet. Fans are already in place, and misters are on the way. Venn is a brilliant addition to the development along Britton, and it’s likely to be just as popular for the bar as for the delicious food.
