In our Lunching in Little Rock blog series, Michael Kirkpatrick will explore and review the best restaurants in Little Rock and its surrounding area – all in time to get back to the office. This week, Michael ate lunch at Iriana’s Pizza.
New, innovative and updated are trendy words for food right now. A lot of times, thinking outside the box is good and change is imperative to any business. But, when you are working with near perfection, why would you change? Iriana’s Pizza on Markham in downtown Little Rock is as near perfection in traditional pizza as I have seen.
Pizza comes in so many ways, and the debate about best kind goes way beyond Chicago Deep Dish or New York Style. We can debate that another time. Iriana’s is what you think of as a perfect traditional pizzeria.

The dining area is small but cozy. Try to get a table near the large Markham street window. I saw several people I knew on the street and even more in the restaurant. Service was quick to take our drink orders and the lunch menu is small enough, but complete with the favorites, that you can make a decision immediately. The problem today was we couldn’t decide between classic pepperoni and the Clean the Floor. The Clean the Floor is hard to resist, loaded with everything you can imagine. Pepperoni, Canadian Bacon, Sausage, Peppers, Onions, Mushrooms, and Black Olives. I’m not even a fan of supreme, but there is something perfectly balanced about these ingredients.  That being said, sometimes the universally loved pepperoni is perfect. The dough is thick and chewy, the pepperoni’s are thick cut and salty and the cheese is fresh and stretches from slice to slice. My wife and I split a small house salad, that comes with a soft warm breadstick and a small pizza and it was more than enough.

Read More: Arkansas Pizza’s We Love.

Change is great, innovation is exciting, but a perfect pepperoni pizza, in a cozy downtown setting, served up on a raised chrome pizza tray is thrilling in a comforting way. Iriana’s Pizza has been doing this for Little Rock and is hard to argue for a better pizza in town. Head down this week for some tradition and amazing pizza.