Checkerboard Pizza

I'm not the biggest fan of New York style pizza for one big reason, usually just lacking flavor. This pizza was good, cooked properly with a crispy undercarriage but overall just lacking flavor in the crust, sauce and cheese. I had a higher expectation since this was from Ken Forkish.

Update: grabbed a full pepperoni pie today. Gorgeous. Delicious. NYC style with great ingredients. Some of the best pizza in the whole region. * * * Cheese slice I had straight up slapped. I imagine the negative reviews here have very little to do with the pizza (except those whining bc their delivery order showed up cold - this isn’t f-ing pizza hut). My slice was $4. It’s 2024 and that seems normal and maybe even affordable for food you want to put in your body. Crust was great, cheese was salty but not too, good balance of sauce and cheese. Good chew. What more do you want?!?

Lots of places to sit outdoors and indoors at the Brewery. This pizza is amazing! 6 different kinds on display. The pizza has a wonderful thin crust with the perfect chew. Not many places around with this thin new york style slice, or ones that do pizza by the slice in general. I would recommend this pizza to anyone!

That’s Delicious! I ordered a pepperoni and sausage 18” pizza and an icy cola. The pie was thin and crispy with a thoughtful ratio of ingredients. The pizza was cooked in a fancy oven that the baker was generous enough to give me a tour of. He was also very patient with all of my questions. Cooked to perfection with the wonder of modern technology! I will be making a point of stopping anytime I’m on my way to the mountain or up to the Gorge for a show. I’m glad that I saved some room for a cone from the ice cream place next door. They have their own homemade recipe soft serve that was super creamy.

Super bummed ordered for the first time a take out order to find our pizza missing basil topping was pretty bland not sure if that was just cause of missing ingredient? Crust was a little soggy as well hoping it was just a bad day and maybe we’ll try eating in next time

I've never seen my New York born & raised husband so excited about a pizza (sorry, "a good slice of pie") since we moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2007, including the PDX area (since 2017). He proclaims it "real, NY style, 2-handed pizza" and I have no reason to doubt him. For my part, I can simply confirm the "Brooklyn" is incredibly, incredibly tasty. Combined score: 10 out of 5 stars (not sure if because it's 2x as good as the best, nostalgia value, or he's tallying points for both of us - but it's good pizza and if you are in Troutdale and hungry for good pizza, and especially NY -style pizza, you should definitely check it out.

We ordered a slice of all 6 pizzas in the window which was an awesome way to try several types. The first couple bites are NY style, then you eat toward the crust and it approaches a more Neapolitan style: quite unique. Loved the pie overall. I didn’t know the story of Checkerboard (might need to be fact checked but: originally founded by Ken Forkish, shut down in 2020 and now back?!?) but I’m very thankful to have tried it. Bonus that there is beer and a couple food carts in the complex. Kid/animal/family friendly setup with impressive views. Definitely worth checking out!

We ordered 5 pizzas for a party upstairs at Wayfinder. Clint at Checkerboard responded quickly to my email questions about ordering and gave great advice on how many pies to order for our amount of guests - it was the perfect amount. Our friends loved the pizza and the atmosphere of the Highlands, especially on a sunny day, is hard to beat. Thanks Clint!