It’s hard to imagine that what’s now being called “the Canyon"—the lines of newly developed condos along the Vancouver/Williams corridor in North Portland—was once a red zone for the major pizza delivery chains, with Dominos and Pizza Hut refusing to insure cars or drivers in the area. Fifteen years ago, Pizza A Go-Go opened as the only option for pizza delivery in the neighborhood. Now, with her Pizza Week slice, Pizza a Go-Go's Jen Lyons acknowledges the change happening in the neighborhood. “We call it ‘the Other Side,’” she says. “After all, this is the new downtown.”

A white pie with an earthy ricotta base, red peppers, a salty splash of green olives, and topped with fresh arugula, the Other Side is a freshy-fresh companion to an IPA on the Pizza A Go-Go patio. Like any neighborhood pizza joint worth its salt, Pizza A Go-Go strikes the right balance between hominess and homeliness—when we talked, Lyons was worrying over whether to paint the patio fence, made of wood from some old barn. A decade and a half ago, it was a money-saving maneuver, but in the meantime, it became Portland chic. Will the newcomers in the condos like it, though? All I can say is that with a tasty slice and a beer in hand, those sparkly new developments can’t outshine the neighborhood kid bouncing a basketball on the patio floor. There’s no “other side”—pizza transcends.

Pizza A Go-Go, 3240 N Williams, pizzago-go.com. Pizza A Go-Go's Pizza Week slice available April 18-24, Sun-Sat 11 am-10 pm. Dine-in or take-out, limit two per customer, whole pies available. For more about Pizza Week, see portlandpizzaweek.com.