Meet Joe Stubbe, Arcadia Pizza Company’s Head Baker

Joe Stubbe grew up in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which means he grew up on bratwurst, cheese curds, and weekend road trips to Chicago for pizza. This is the part of the story he tells at least once a week.

The pizza part starts early

Joe’s first job at fifteen was at a corner tavern in Sheboygan that served thin-crust Friday-night pizza alongside fish fries. He swept floors and washed pans. Eventually they let him stretch dough. He’s been chasing that exact crust ever since.

The Allison part starts at a Brewers game

Joe met Allison in Milwaukee in 2014. She was visiting from metro Detroit and made the mistake of saying — within earshot of a Wisconsinite — that Detroit-style pizza was better than Chicago. They argued about it through the whole bottom of the seventh inning. They’ve been together ever since. They still argue about it. They still both win.

How they ended up in Phoenix

Allison’s job took them to Arizona in 2021. Joe spent a year baking out of their home oven trying to recreate the tavern pies of his childhood, and then another year working in two of Phoenix’s better restaurants learning the local food scene. In 2024 they signed the lease at 3236 E Indian School. In 2026 they opened the doors.

What Joe cares about

• The dough. Cold-fermented, hand-stretched, never rushed.

• The cheese. Wisconsin brick on Detroit, Wisconsin low-moisture mozz on Tavern. Same family of cows, basically.

• The neighborhood. Joe wanted a shop that felt like a corner tavern back home — somewhere you’d actually walk to.

What’s next

Joe says the most important thing happening at Arcadia Pizza Company is the dough cooler. Most of the day, it’s the busiest piece of equipment in the building. Everything else flows from what’s in there.

Stop in and say hi. He’s usually the one in the apron behind the line, smiling and sweating in equal measure.