Nothing plain about a cheese pizza

By Lethbridge Herald on September 5, 2025.

Joe Manio
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

In a world where both pizza “size and toppings” matter, is there a place for the humble cheese pizza? National Cheese Pizza Day on September 5 answers with a resounding “yes.” It celebrates the classic and foundational cheese pizza, recognizing its status as a staple and a standard by which other pizzas are judged. 

It encourages people to enjoy a slice (or two) of this simple yet delicious dish, appreciating the essential combination of tomato sauce, seasonings, and cheese without the distraction of other toppings. 

“Over time, people have learned to experiment with us and try our new features and some of our crazier pizzas,” says Two Guys and a Pizza Place owner Cory Med. “Cheese is (still) up there because of kids, and because of people that maybe aren’t willing to experiment. It’s probably in the top 10 for sure.”

Three demographics come to mind when it comes to cheese pizza, children, vegetarians and practicing Catholics during Lent (the period between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, where Catholics abstain from eating anything with meat in it on Fridays). 

“I don’t think there is a typical cheese pizza customer,” says Top Pizza and Spaghetti House owner and operator Mitchell Casson. “But I know for kids it is the gateway to becoming a lover of pizza.”

While there is no historical record of the very first “pizza” (as it is known today), there is a strong argument for cheese pizza leading the way. Cheese was a common topping for ancient flatbreads in pizza-like foods of their period.

Ancient civilizations in the Mediterranean, such as the ancient Greeks and Persians, ate flatbreads topped with cheese and other ingredients like herbs and dates. 

This makes cheese-topped flatbreads a strong contender for one of the earliest forms of pizza-like food, predating the 18th-century invention of modern pizza with tomatoes and mozzarella in Naples.

Top Pizza and Spaghetti House (the oldest pizzeria in Lethbridge) has a “plain” 4-cheese pizza on their menu, and another thin-crust “Margherita” pizza made of fresh mozzarella cheese, basil, and light tomato sauce; a nod to the original cheese pizzas.

There is certainly still a place for the simple, classic cheese pizza,” says owner Mitchell Casson. “The original pizza, the Margherita Napoli style pizza, is perfect and simple. 

Whatever the topping, a proper pizza must have cheese, says Casson.

“Without cheese, it’s just bread.”

The ancient Greeks ate a flatbread called plakous (also known as placentae), which was seasoned with toppings such as garlic, onion, herbs, and cheese. 

In the Persian Empire, soldiers serving Darius the Great in the 6th century BC would bake flatbread on their shields and add cheese and dates as toppings. 

The Roman historian Cato the Elder wrote about flatbreads topped with olive oil and herbs. The ancient Romans also had moretum, a paste of cheese, herbs, garlic, and olive oil, and even developed a dish resembling “pizza” with olive oil and cheese on matzah during the Passover holiday.

For people with dietary restrictions around cheese, Two Guys’s Cory Medd says they can accommodate almost every dietary restriction.

“For celiacs, we have gluten-free,” says Medd. “We have a really nice gluten-free crust that’s made in Calgary. We have dairy-free cheese as well that people love. Some people actually buy the bags of cheese off of me. We can accommodate almost any dietary restrictions.”