Where Smoked Meat Meets Wisconsin Cheese: Shorty’s Dynamite Meat-Lovers Pizza
“I’m from Wisconsin. I like cheese. That’s a lot of cheese.”
When Guy Fieri rolled into Superior, Wisconsin—right over the bridge from Duluth, Minnesota and about as far north as you can get before hitting Canada—he found a joint where Canadian smoked meat tradition collides with Wisconsin’s cheese obsession. The result? A meat-lovers pizza that had even Guy searching for the right words.
A Canadian Twist on American Comfort
Brian Noel opened Shorty’s Pizza and Smoked Meats in 2013, bringing something special from his hometown of Ottawa, Canada. As he explained to Guy, “Smoked meat is kind of like the American version of a hamburger” up there, so he decided to bring that technique to the shores of Lake Superior. He handed off the smoking duties to restaurant veteran and chef David Ender, and together they’ve created something the locals can’t stop talking about.
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The restaurant’s name? A mystery that apparently even the staff can’t solve. Guy pressed on it: “No one has been able to answer where did shorties come from. You’re far from short. The building is enormous.” The answer? Brian just wanted “a fun simple easy name to remember.”
The Dynamite Meat-Lovers Pizza
This isn’t your standard pizzeria fare. The meat-lovers pizza at Shorty’s layers their signature smoked meat alongside bacon and sausage on what Guy described as a crust that’s both “crispy” and “chewy.” The sausage adds what he called “tons of flavor,” while the smoked meat brings herbal notes that set it apart from typical pizza toppings.
Local customers couldn’t contain their enthusiasm. One declared the pizza simply “fantastic,” while another summed up the smoked meat experience: “The smoked meat with the bacon, the sausage, it is just to die for.” If you appreciate spots that put real craft into their meat, you might also enjoy reading about how and G. Garvin Eat Pastrami at a Jewish D.
The Hunter’s Chicken Sandwich
Guy didn’t stop at pizza. He also tackled the hunter’s chicken sandwich, which he called “unbelievably good” with “really really moist chicken.” What impressed him most was the layering of components—the hunter sauce, the crisp on the chicken, cut on the bias for easier eating. “If any one component of this sandwich wasn’t there, this would be a pretty basic sandwich,” Guy noted. “You took it to a variety of different levels.”
His verdict? “I was cruising down boring avenue, hooked a right onto delicious boulevard. You navigated this into a really dynamite sandwich.” One customer added that the combination of chicken, cheese, and mushrooms “just melts in your mouth.” For another spot that elevates comfort food with unexpected techniques, check out Kelly O’s Haluski Has Hallucinating 🌀.
More Than Just Pizza
The menu at Shorty’s goes well beyond their namesake pies. Locals mentioned the Santa Fe dishes, pepper burgers, and a hot turkey sandwich with coleslaw that one regular said makes it “the only restaurant that I know in Superior” serving that particular combination of smoked meats. As one customer put it, “It’s a very unique place—it’s a blend of old and new, just the best food in town.”
Guy’s final take? “It’s a great place. Great pizza. Scratch made food. Good times food.”
Looking for more Triple D stops in the Upper Midwest or craving other spots where international techniques meet American comfort food like Korean Pork Tacos? Browse our complete restaurant directory to plan your next Flavortown adventure.