Rexburg pizzeria owner named member of World Pizza Champion team

The following is an excerpt from a news release by Righteous Slice.

REXBURG – A local pizza shop owner is joining the ranks of the world’s top pizza chefs.

Bill Crawford, owner of Righteous Slice, 175 West 200 South No. 100 in Rexburg, has accepted an invitation to join the World Pizza Champion team.

The WPC team promotes pizza making as a respected craft and viable career option through international competitions, educational outreach, public demonstrations, and community-based services.

“Ever since I first started making pizza, I’ve admired WPC’s commitment to elevating pizza as a craft and a profession. It’s an incredible honor to be part of the team. We hope to bless their lives by providing support, encouragement and experiences,” Crawford says.

You need to invite people to join your team. Membership is based on skills, personality, compatibility and “selfless efforts on behalf of the industry.”

“We do not accept new members based on external inquiries,” the WPC website states. “Team members are carefully selected from a pool of world champion competitors and recognized industry leaders.”

Bill has been competing internationally in recent years, including winning first place among all Americans in the classic category at the 2022 World Pizza Championship in Parma, Italy. She also won the Grand Championship at the Real California Pizza Contest in 2023.

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“My pizzeria strategy is to delight our customers with quality pizza and true hospitality. I push myself and my team to constantly learn and improve. This is why I compete – to win Not to win, but to learn. Winning is nice, but winning is not the point. I’m here to make friends, learn, and help others do their best. Especially when it means a win, because for me, gaining new friends and knowledge is a win. Being a member of the WPC supports this strategy.”

Crawford isn’t the only Righteous Slice pizza maker competing on the world stage.

Last week, his team had four people compete in the International Pizza Challenge in Las Vegas. Owen Gentry, 18, of Rexburg, placed ninth out of 50 contestants in the World’s Best Cheese Slicing Contest. Crawford won first place in the Northwest region in the traditional category for its New York-style pepperoni and sausage pizza.

Bill and Sheryl Crawford, along with their six children, started their Neapolitan pizzeria in 2013 with a wood-fired pizza oven in a trailer. They then opened a permanent store in 2018. We recently added an oven to provide a more familiar New York style. Pizza and original Italian style pizza.