The day earlier than Thanksgiving, many of the strains you see across the nation are at grocery retailer checkouts, as folks hurry to select up last-minute substances. However should you stroll down Wickenden Avenue in Windfall, Rhode Island, on the third Wednesday in November, you’ll see a line of hungry prospects down the block ready for the most well-liked slice of pizza all 12 months lengthy.
Yearly, for in the future solely, Fellini’s Pizzeria gives its well-known Thanksgiving Pizza, topped with basic gadgets from the vacation dinner desk. Unorthodox amongst each pizza parlors and Thanksgiving celebrations, the weird combo has impressed cult devotion, pre-orders months prematurely, and annual crowds, who jostle for one of many coveted slices.
To make this iconic vacation feast of a pizza, the pizzeria bakes a complete wheat crust with mozzarella, then tops it with a layer of mashed potatoes, a pound of freshly house-roasted turkey, dollops of stuffing, and a beneficiant splash of gravy. Prospects can (and may) add cranberry sauce. As somebody who has personally sampled this limited-time deal with, if given the selection between one among Fellini’s pies and my precise Thanksgiving dinner, I’d take the pizza with out a second thought.
Fellini’s has been a fixture on Windfall’s historic East Aspect since 1989, turning out strong New York-style pizza most days. The Thanksgiving particular took place 17 years in the past, when proprietor Kristy Knoedler had a quandary acquainted to anybody who celebrates the vacation: what to do with all of the leftovers (after you’ve already made one stunning, excellent leftovers sandwich). So she took them to work, and she or he acquired artistic.
“I had leftovers at my home from Thanksgiving, and I introduced all my leftovers in and made the employees a leftover pizza, and it was unbelievable,” Knoedler instructed The Windfall Journal in 2022. “So we’re like, ‘All proper, we’ve gotta do that,’ and we did it the next 12 months.”
At first, Fellini’s supplied solely 20 or 30 of the Thanksgiving Pizzas, however then phrase acquired round. Now, the pizzeria and its sister location in close by Cranston serve about 2,000 of them, shifting the festivity from a leftovers extravaganza to the day earlier than the vacation. Pies go for $47 every.
Regardless of the excessive price ticket, the pizzas are nearly unimaginable to get. On September 14, Fellini’s laid out the foundations in a Fb publish: “Pizza pre-orders begin Monday, September twenty fifth at 11am. Name or walk-in to position your preorders! We bought out in 4 hours final 12 months, and anticipate comparable outcomes this 12 months. Thanks to your endurance and help with our favourite time of the 12 months! Might the chances be ever in your favor!”
Prospects reported making an attempt to name to order their pies actually a whole lot of instances earlier than getting by means of:
“I known as over 100 instances final 12 months and I assume it simply wasn’t my 12 months to do that pizza…perhaps that is my 12 months,” Mel BC commented.
“Gotta maintain calling,” Jessica Messier responded. “We acquired as much as 250 earlier than we acquired by means of.”
“Yearly I strive…yearly I fail,” Erika Iafrate mentioned. “This can lastly be the 12 months I get one!”
In simply a few hours, pre-order spots have been completely full at each areas. For everybody who missed the window, there’s all the time that line stretching down the block. Fellini’s gives walk-up slices for about $7 every.
Professional tip: Put on snug footwear for the wait. And should you succeed, don’t attempt to decide up and fold your slice. Thanksgiving Pizza is finest loved with a knife and fork.
