Sacramento's Chipotle-ization of slices and pies continues

Better than frozen: I hate on Pieology as much as the next person. But that doesn’t mean I think a Chipotle of pizza business model can’t work, just that Pieology is lame.

Enter Sacramento Pizza Co. (2700 East Bidwell Street, Suite 500, in Folsom), a local business capitalizing on what has become a very popular concept nationwide: customizable, made-to-order personal pizzas. Choose crust, sauce, cheese, toppings, then wait a few minutes and eat.

Sacramento Pizza Co. softly opened a couple of weekends ago. Though they’re not available just yet, gluten-free crusts are expected. A 10-inch pizza with unlimited extras costs $8.

Coming to Oak Park: Hotshot Bay Area restaurateur Tom Schnetz plans to open an upscale taqueria at 3501 Third Avenue in Oak Park early next year, according to the Sacramento Bee. It’ll be modeled off Tacubaya, his successful taqueria serving a variety of $4 tacos in Berkeley. He’s proven skills with Mexican cuisine before at Oakland’s Dona Tomas. His other popular restaurants are Flora, Fauna and Xolo. Schnetz is a Sacramento native and recently helped open the Cinders bar on Auburn Boulevard.

Sabotaged: Blackbird Kitchen + Beer Gallery executive chef Carina Lampkin competed on Food Network’s Cutthroat Kitchen recently, and she joined fellow Sacramento chefs Sacramento chefs Billy Ngo (Kru), Keith Breedlove (Culinerdy Cruizer food truck) and Cecil Rhodes (Cecil’s Taste Food Truck) in finishing second place.

Her final challenge was to bake gingerbread cookies. But she forgot to grab eggs, and then got stuck with using a fireplace as her heat source while wearing so many winter coats she could barely move. She wound up serving raw cookie dough, which the judge actually loved. Sadly, cookie dough doesn’t really count as cookies. Favorite Lampkin line: “The reason I wanna win is, who the fuck wants to lose?”

Moves: Shawarma craving in Davis? Don’t freak out about the darkened Sam’s Mediterranean Cuisine (247 Third Street). The beloved business merely moved next door in late September, taking over the former dessert cafe Ciocolat (301 B Street). Sam’s is keeping its original location though, with plans to eventually reopen it as a falafel-slinging annex. Meanwhile, Ciocolat hasn’t completely died—it’s now a catering business, specializing in cakes for weddings and other special events.