Una pizza is a style of thin, cracker-crust pizza closely associated with Evansville, Indiana, where the term has become a local name for the region’s distinctive version of Midwestern thin-crust pizza.

Typically characterized by an extremely thin and crispy crust, toppings extending toward the edge, meat placed beneath the cheese, and pizza cut into square pieces, Una pizza has been a part of Evansville food culture for generations.

Although similar thin-crust pizzas are found elsewhere in the Midwest, particularly in the broader tradition sometimes called tavern-style pizza, the use of the term “Una pizza” is strongly associated with Evansville and southwestern Indiana.

History

The Evansville Una pizza tradition can be traced to the early 1960s.

Una-Tu Pizza, one of the restaurants most closely associated with the style, was founded by Jim Husk and opened in Evansville in late 1963. The restaurant became known for its thin, crispy pizzas and remains in operation on North Governor Street.

Over the following decades, the word “Una” became associated in the Evansville area with the style of pizza itself rather than solely with one restaurant.

Numerous independently owned pizza restaurants began serving pizzas described as Una-style or incorporating “Una Pizza” into their names.

Despite the shared terminology, these restaurants are not a single chain. Instead, Una became a regional description for a particular type of pizza familiar to generations of Evansville residents.

Characteristics

Una pizza is generally distinguished by its very thin, cracker-like crust.

The dough is rolled or pressed extremely thin before baking, producing a crisp crust with relatively little rise compared with traditional hand-tossed pizza.

A traditional Evansville Una pizza commonly includes:

• A thin, crisp cracker-style crust
• Pizza sauce spread across the crust
• Crumbled or pinched meats placed beneath the cheese
• Sliced rather than shredded cheese in some traditional versions
• Vegetables and other toppings placed above the cheese
• Toppings extending close to the edge of the crust
• Square-cut pieces rather than traditional triangular slices

Individual Evansville restaurants have developed their own recipes and variations, meaning there is no single standardized Una pizza recipe.

Evansville Pizza Tradition

Over time, Una pizza became closely identified with Evansville’s local food culture.

A number of independent restaurants have used the Una name or served pizzas in the style, including Una-Tu Pizza, Steve’s Una Pizza, Spankey’s Una Pizza, Stan’s Una Pizza, Jimmy’s Una Pizza, Covert Una Pizza, Harmes’ Una Pizza, and others.

Other longtime Evansville pizza restaurants, including Turoni’s Pizzery & Brewery, serve similarly thin, cracker-crust pizzas without using “Una” in their names.

The widespread use of the term is unusual outside the Evansville region. Someone ordering an “Una pizza” in Evansville generally understands the term to refer to the local thin-crust style, while the phrase may be unfamiliar to people elsewhere in the United States.

Una-Tu Pizza

Una-Tu Pizza holds an important place in the history of Evansville’s Una tradition.

Founded by Jim Husk in 1963, Una-Tu became one of the city’s early establishments specializing in the thin-crust style. Its name helped establish “Una” as a term that would eventually be adopted by numerous unrelated Evansville-area pizza restaurants.

Una-Tu continues to operate at 709 N. Governor Street in Evansville.

Una Pizza and Tavern-Style Pizza

Una pizza shares several characteristics with the broader Midwestern pizza style commonly called tavern-style pizza, including a very thin crust and square-cut pieces.

The exact historical relationship between Evansville’s Una tradition and other Midwestern thin-crust pizzas is difficult to establish. Spankey’s Una Pizza owner Ryan Huck has described Una pizza as cracker-crust pizza and noted that the style is thought to have roots in suburban Chicago.

What developed in Evansville, however, was its own local terminology and tradition. The word “Una” became recognizable locally as a description of the pizza itself.

As a result, Una pizza can be understood as Evansville’s regional interpretation of the Midwestern cracker-crust pizza tradition.

Cultural Significance

Una pizza is one of the more distinctive elements of Evansville’s local food culture.

While individual residents often have strong preferences for particular restaurants, the larger tradition crosses neighborhood and business lines. West Side, East Side, North Side, and surrounding-area pizza shops have all produced variations of the style.

The continued operation of longtime Una restaurants, along with newer businesses adopting the style, has allowed the tradition to continue across multiple generations.

Today, Una pizza remains strongly associated with Evansville and southwestern Indiana and is sometimes described as Evansville’s signature pizza style.

Notable Evansville-Area Una Pizza Restaurants

Restaurants historically or currently associated with Una-style pizza include:

Una-Tu Pizza — Founded in 1963 and closely associated with the origins of the Una name in Evansville.

Steve’s Una Pizza — Longtime East Side pizza shop that has served Evansville for more than half a century.

Spankey’s Una Pizza — Founded in 2011 on Evansville’s West Side and later expanded into Haynie’s Corner.

Stan’s Una Pizza — Long-running West Side Una restaurant whose recipe has connections to Evansville’s older pizza tradition.

Covert Una Pizza — Neighborhood Una-style pizza shop.

Jimmy’s Una Pizza — Another independent restaurant associated with Evansville’s Una tradition.

Other Evansville restaurants serve similar cracker-thin pizza without specifically using the Una name.

Legacy

More than sixty years after Una-Tu opened, the term Una pizza remains part of the local vocabulary in Evansville.

Rather than representing a single restaurant chain or standardized recipe, Una pizza has become the name for a broader Evansville pizza tradition — one characterized by thin crust, crispy edges, square slices, and generations of locally owned neighborhood pizza shops.

For many Evansville residents, Una pizza is simply what Evansville pizza tastes like.