She Said: Pine’s Old County Inn offers some of best pizza in Arizona

Need a break from the heat? Well, lucky for you, I’ve stumbled across an awesome restaurant in the Rim Country that is not only serving up some of the best pizza in the state but gives you a break from the sweltering temps in the Valley.

The name doesn’t prepare you for the shabby cabin atmosphere you walk into. Old County Inn is a quaint restaurant that sits right off of State Route 87 just 15 miles north of Payson in a cute little town called Pine.

This small northern town has always had its fair share of smaller restaurants but Old County Inn has raised the bar with its handcrafted pizzas and craft cocktails. Taking extra steps like using local ingredients and preparing their cocktail mixers in-house lured me to the restaurant even more.

After some Instagram stalking of Old County Inn, I already had some dishes in mind I wanted to try. We decided to start with the buffalo chips. Homemade delicious crispy chips with sides of buffalo sauce and bleu cheese which you can choose to pour over the entire chip mound or dip individually. I give it a thumbs up as a perfect starter.

Now, onto the handcrafted pizza. We got the signature “meat pie” and in short, this pizza blew me away. I was stunned that I was consuming such a stellar pizza in the middle of the woods. The wood fired pizza is topped with house made sausage and bacon, smoked pepperoni, mozzarella and Grana Padano cheese. Bite-by-bite you can taste the work that was put into this pie. Quality and flavorful ingredients on a mouthwatering crust!

My Instagram post peaked so much interest that a couple from the Valley made the two-hour drive the next day to try it for themselves, and they loved it too. The main restaurant has great outside patio but there is also a separate bar called the Tap Room that sits adjacent that also serves up food and drink. Cornhole and other games sit between the two structures and appeal to families and larger groups.

I’ve always loved the little town of Pine but this restaurant addition has me making the two-hour drive a little more often.

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