The Forge Artisan Pizza

The Forge Artisan Pizza sits on Pine Street between 3rd and 4th, in downtown Sandpoint, turning out naturally leavened pizza from a wood-fired Acunto oven built in Naples — as they put it, "the Acunto family has set the standard for pizza ovens for almost as long as the Margherita pizza has existed."

The food

Everything is sourdough. The wood-fired pizzas use flour imported from a small family-run mill between Rome and Naples; the breads and Detroit-style pizzas use local organic whole wheat alongside bread flour from that same Italian mill.

They source pasture-raised and hormone-free meat where they can get it, use organic produce as much as possible, and keep gluten-free and vegan options on the menu.

Alongside the pizza there's pasta, salads and a wine list.

How it started

The Forge began in 2020 as Panhandle Pizza Kitchen, an all-organic sourdough pizza pop-up at a local Sandpoint wine bar. It grew popular enough to justify a permanent home, and after a few years of planning — much of it spent working out how to source the ingredients they wanted — the brick-and-mortar restaurant opened.

Visiting

306 Pine Street, between 3rd and 4th. The public parking lot is two blocks away, and there's street parking directly across from the restaurant.

Open Monday and Thursday through Sunday, 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

Call 208-252-9433.