PHOTO BY JULIE KAHLBAUGH / COURTESY OF ALBERTA’S PIZZA

It’s Monday afternoon and Beau Mitall is sore from the weekend launch of Alberta’s Pizza, a popular food truck that now has a permanent home on the North Side.

Instead of occupying his usual station in front of the enormous, cherry-wood-fired oven, the self-confessed quality control freak let his kitchen staff take the pizza-making reins while he ran food, bussed tables and mingled with guests.

The Western Avenue spot on the North Side was packed on Saturday night. My girlfriend and I managed to snag two seats at the bar, which is a long slab of white marble adorned with small bouquets of flowers every few feet. Soft, warm lighting makes the room glow.

This isn’t a take-out pizza joint; it’s elegantly chill.

To start, we nibbled on Cuban-style tostones (fried plantains) and highly addictive edamame seasoned with spiced salt. After much discussion about what type of pizza to order (I’m a longtime Alberta’s fan and think they’re all pretty darn amazing), we went with the spicy Hot Sopp. It had a thin and foldable crust that was sturdy enough to sustain the weight of tomato sauce, housemade mozzarella, hot soppressata, pecorino chili oil and chili flakes. We sucked it down faster than the soybeans.

On the road since 2016, Mitall was basically a one-man operation, guaranteeing that each pizza sold met his high standards. The food doesn’t just have to taste good, it has to look a certain way.

Now he’s assembled a 12-member team of employees, including his 19-year-old daughter, Nandi Mitall, who are just as passionate about food and brand that’s named after his late-grandmother. The truck will still be out and about, but will mostly be used for catering jobs.

In addition to Neapolitian-inspired pizza (Alberta’s bake is a bit longer than the traditional 60 to 90 seconds), there are salads, seafood such as oysters on the half-shell and small plates that can stand on their own but won’t fill you up if your meal plan also includes pizza and dessert.

Sunday brunch will soon be offered. While he didn’t get into menu specifics, Mitall says folks can expect espresso, mimosas, Bloody Marys, breakfast pizzas, pastries and omelets that are as pleasing to the eyes as they are to the palate.

“The menu has to reflect me and my experiences,” says Mitall, an Edgewood native who’s lived in New York City and South Africa and has a deep love for Caribbean fare. “I don’t have a food philosophy other than less is more.”

You can’t go wrong with a pizza and a cold beer.

If you’re a fan of local brews, you’re probably familiar with Alberta’s pizza. Since 2016, Mitall’s been making the brewery rounds, with frequent stops at Sharpsburg’s Dancing Gnome and Four Points Brewing Co. The latter, which is named after the four-pointed stars on the American Iron and Steel Institute’s logo, is based in Charleroi. In 2021, the company opened a cool taproom in the former Shamrock Inn on the North Side.

Alberta’s is located next door to that site. The businesses share more than a wall. Four Points brews Olde Pitz, a crisp, refreshing Italian pilsner, exclusively for the pizzeria.

“Beau is a really good friend of ours and I think he makes the best pizza in the city,” owner Dave Barbe says. “I think we did a really good job with the first batch, so we’ll keep it on tap over there.”

The folks at Four Points are beefing up their events calendar to draw more people to the neighborhood, which is home to a number of great eateries, including Wise County Biscuits & Cafe on Galveston Street, one of Pittsburgh Magazine’s Best Restaurants.

Dancing Gnome also created a liquid tribute to Alberta’s grand opening, a farmhouse ale called Lievito, the Italian word for “yeast.”

“He was looking for something that could be served in bottles,” explains Dancing Gnome’s Andrew Witchey, “so I suggested a dry-hopped table beer, and that was that. It’s relatively simple in its construction but utilizes a complex Belgian farmhouse yeast strain that works quite well with the Motueka hops that were used.”

Mitall believes Lievito, which is currently available in 750-milliliter bottles, is one of the best DG offerings to date. After trying one sip, my non-beer-drinking girlfriend decided to skip her usual Old Fashioned cocktail and split the bottle with me.

The artist-turned-pizza chef says he owes his culinary career to breweries, which is ironic considering the Edgewood native didn’t even drink alcohol until he moved to South Africa in 2004, and fell in love with the local wine and culture.

After meeting his future wife, Duduzile, in New York City the couple moved to Cape Town, where she opened a restaurant called Dudu’s. In 2007, they returned to the Big Apple. (I’d love to write a profile on Duduzile, a costumer whose resume includes numerous Hollywood blockbusters and Broadway hits.

Mitall, deprived of good pizza while living abroad, developed a deeper appreciation for New York-style pies and taught himself how to make them, right down to the hand-mixed, unrefrigerated dough.

He wanted Pittburghers to get a taste. At his wife’s behest, he launched Alberta’s here in 2016.

Since then, many little yinzers have cut their teeth on Alberta’s pizza, including the best-selling Margherita. Mitall says he wants parents to sign a guest book commemorating their infant’s culinary milestone.

The California-made Forno Bravo pizza oven, a three-ton behemoth that dominates the open kitchen, gave birth to hundreds of pies during opening weekend.

I can’t wait to go back to try the white pizza with jalapenos and red onions — it’s called the Cry Baby.

North Side: 917 Western Ave. Hours are 4:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 3 to 9 p.m. Saturday.