By Kady Cramer
When Erik Borger opened Pizza Tascio’s seventh location in Waldo on July 7, he didn’t expect to have to close down early due to an overwhelming response from locals.
“Waldo took us by storm,” says Borger. “For the first time in my life I had to make the call to close the doors early on opening night with close to 100 impending orders. As 5 pm rolled around, the oven was recovering slower and slower. We literally thought it was broken but upon inspection from our oven expert we realized, after 150 pizzas, the oven simply no longer could keep up. That’s when we realized just how many orders came through in one hour.”
Pizza Tascio, located at 409 W Gregory Blvd, is a New York style pizzeria selling pizza by the slice as well as whole pies. Family owned; it pays homage to Borger’s late father. Originally from New York, Borger moved to the St. Joseph area while in high school. His father was following a job opportunity there.
In 2009 Borger’s father was diagnosed with cancer.
“We’re from New York so he really missed pizza,” says Borger. “I just started trying to make pizza for him.”
Pursuing a masters degree in Exercise Physiology at the time, Borger started buying commercial ovens trying to recreate a New York style pizza for his father.
“I kind of went down a rabbit hole with it,” says Borger. “He [Borger’s father] ended up passing away in 2012 and I opened my first pizzeria in 2013 called Il Lazzarone, loosely translating to ‘bum’ – as in a ‘bunch of pizza bums’.
Located in St. Joseph, Missouri, Il Lazzarone became the first pizzeria in the Midwest to receive the Vera Pizza Napoletana certification. Flying inspectors in from Naples, Italy, the certification recognizes an “excellent product of Neapolitan tradition,” according to the international AVPN disciplinary.
“I never really thought I perfected the New York style that my dad loved. So, I took a year off in 2019 and I just dedicated it to making the crust of Pizza Tascio.”
Borger packed up his wife and two kids to travel to Palermo, Italy.
“I really had an affinity for Italy and my family genealogy is heavy Italian,” says Borger. “We traveled the whole country south of Rome by car for three months.”
A few additional pizzeria ventures later, Borger opened his first Pizza Tascio location in St. Joseph in 2020. In January of 2021, he opened his second in North Kansas City. Since then, he’s opened five additional locations, the latest being Waldo.
Pizza Tascio’s sauce is made from Bianco’s organic tomatoes in Southern California and Italian sausage is specially made by local meat locker Paradise Meats in Trimble, MO.
“When I started this venue, I wanted not only to be the best pizza in the area but to be the best pizza in America,” says Borger. “We just want to buy the best [ingredients] for people.”
Tascio Pizza’s Waldo location is open Sunday through Thursday 11am-9pm and Friday through Saturday 11am-10pm. For more information or to order online, visit pizzatascio.com.