In this interview, Tucson real‑estate broker Tony Ray Baker visits Anello Pizzeria and talks with chef‑owner Scott Girod about his path from office work to pizza making, the restaurant’s focus on authentic, rustic pizza made with sourdough crusts and wood‑fired ovens, and the use of locally sourced Arizona produce. Girod explains that the oven is a century‑old Stefano Ferrara wood‑fire model, emphasizing a return to historic cooking methods. He shares the story behind the name “Anello,” describing it as a ring symbolizing promises, family support, and community connection. Practical details are provided: Anello is located at 222 East 6th Street, next to Crooked Tooth Brewery, open Tuesday‑Saturday from noon to 9 pm, with online ordering via anello.space, walk‑ins welcome, and reservations via hello@anello.space.
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Hi everybody, I'm at one of my absolute favorite pizza places in town and it's right off of 4th Avenue and, and, uh, are we at 5th or 6th? This is 6th. That's Scott in the back, the amazing pizza maker. Oh wait, he's in the back that way. And I'm gonna talk to Scott in just a second and you gotta find Anello. It's just amazing and it's about as authentic as it gets. So let's go talk to Scott. So Scott, how'd you get into all this?
I've been cooking pizza for, geez, over Man, over 10 years now.
Yeah. What was the drive?
What was the drive?
Like, how did you know you were gonna do pizza? Well, I didn't.
That's life. Life takes you through a journey. I kind of— at my point, I didn't want to do office work anymore, and I always loved working in kitchens, so I went back to kitchen after leaving the offices. Um, and I wanted to pursue the true pizza, and that led me to Chris Bianco and Pizzeria Bianco. And he showed me a better way, or not a better way, a new way to bake real food. So yeah, we just love cooking sourdough natural pizza and using the produce around Arizona. So all organic and locally sourced place.
That's awesome. Would you say, so is this like really authentic Italian or how would you describe it?
I would describe it as a Tucson restaurant. We're using Tucson produce. We use all sourdough as our bread, so we're in a sense, yeah, we're a restaurant, but our main thing is good sourdough baked pizza.
And the method of it, you know, it feels like to me you've gone back in history with this.
I mean, I mean, we're using, we're using the source from old, old ovens. This maker who made this, Stefano Ferrara, has been around for over 100 years. Like, his family making these wood-fired ovens.
Yeah, it's beautiful.
It's very rustic. Yeah, you know, live fire. And with like all our cooking, it'll be coal roasted or burnt and things like that. But you know, sort of simple. We try to like refine a little bit, clean it up, even though it's a little bit— can be a little messy.
Yeah, it's beautiful oven.
Yeah, return to an old way of cooking, but up, you know, up to now.
Yeah, it's beautiful. It feels— it just feels so rustic and authentic in here too. Um, yeah.
All day.
Yeah. So, uh, Scott, tell us your address.
Uh, 222 East 6th Street, uh, and 6th Avenue, right next to Crooked Tooth Brewery on Arizona Ave. Yeah. And how's it right here?
Nice. Um, and how'd you come up with the name Anello?
Anello is a ring, it's a promise, a chain. So lots of little connotations. Promise to my family because, you know, they helped me do this, they helped support me on this journey to make this place and believed in me, um, to provide for my little boys and everybody. And, you know, we're all part of a chain too. This is— we're a community place. Yeah, our food from Tucson in Arizona. So it's all just a rank and chain together.
Dude, that's making me teary-eyed right now. Like, that's the most awesome story ever. I love the name Anello now. Now I get it. I never got that piece, but wow, that's amazing. Um, All right, and is there a phone number to call if they want to call in for like to pick up pizza or bread ahead of time?
Uh, our website, just go to anello.space. You can order online for pickup later if you want, or, uh, yeah, you can go to the shop and basically order online when you want to pick it up.
Okay.
Or, you know, walk in. Walk-ins are fine. Or for reservations, just email us at the website address, hello@anello.space.
Perfect. And, uh, hours, you're open Monday through Sunday, or what do you like? What day?
Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 9.
Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 9. Perfect. All right, well dude, we're really happy for you. This is a great place. You need more, but there's only one of you, so I get it. Let's duplicate. For sure. Okay, thanks for doing this.
