Alpine Pizza Served Up Again in Historic McMillan Building

Alpine Pizza, established by the Rich brothers in 1973, baked its pies for nearly a half century in the 1887 McMillan Building before closing a few years back.

Now, what’s old is new again, with Alpine Pizza reopening as a new combo with its neighbor, The McMillan Bar and Kitchen.

Scottsdale-based Genuine Concepts remodeled its McMillan Building space to connect The McMillan with the Alpine Pizza parlor. The new-old digs will take on the Alpine Pizza name.

“It’s a chance for us to kind of re-concept by resurrecting a beloved old brand,” said Tucker Woodbury, co-founder of Genuine Concepts and an Arizona bar and restaurant owner since 1991. Anyone remember Rockin’ Horse Saloon in Scottsdale?

The new Alpine Pizza opened in mid-December with its vintage neon sign relit on the Leroux Street side of the building.

Genuine’s pizza partner for Alpine is Greg Ziegler, owner of Sedona’s Hideaway House. He’s been making pies for 40 years, Woodbury said.

Genuine operated The McMillan, named for pioneer sheep rancher Thomas McMillan, for 12 years on the Route 66 side of the historic building.

“You can’t have a cooler address than 2 W. Route 66,” Woodbury said.

The combined restaurants will have 4,700-square-feet under roof plus a new 1,800-square-foot patio on the west side of the building.

Genuine operates a number of restaurant-bar brands in metro Phoenix, including Night Owl Pizza, The Womack and five locations of The Vig.

The company remodeled the McMillan Building before it opened The McMillan in 2013, to take advantage of its stonework and other vintage details covered up with drywall and drop ceilings.

Genuine has also been diligent in remodeling the Alpine Pizza space, Woodbury said.

“We went above and beyond to preserve the soul — if walls could talk! — the vibe Alpine Pizza had. We spent a lot of time and effort to make sure nothing went away.”

The McMillan Building originally housed a bank, hotel and opera house. It was the terminus for the Grand Canyon stagecoach in the 1890s. A second story veranda was removed circa 1950.

Businesses in the early Alpine Pizza era included Branding Iron Western Wear, Berger’s Card and Camera Corral, and later, the Naked Eye photo studio.

Danny and John Rich, brothers from Long Beach, California, opened Alpine after attending Northern Arizona University.

“Danny worked to live,” said Woodbury, adding that he would take off to ski, float a river or go on another adventure. Alpine became a gathering spot for like-minded adventurers.

Arizona native and writer Tom Zoellner described the Alpine Pizza scene in his 2017 story for Phoenix New Times in which he named the “Ten Iconic Arizona Restaurants Worth Traveling For.”

“In addition to the river guides, ski bums, red rock hounds, and other fleece-covered locals who make the place an après-adventure tradition, look for the wooden booths tattooed with generations of carved in names.”

Over the years, patrons etched their names all over Alpine’s walls, benches and woodwork. That upset Danny. He put up signs warning patrons not to do it – to no avail, Woodbury said.

Now, those etchings have been preserved.

Photographs and other memorabilia from Alpine are displayed to honor the Rich brothers. Danny died in 2024 at age 75. He was survived by his brother, John.

Woodbury said he found old paperwork in Danny Rich’s basement office at Alpine that included Alpine’s double entendre marketing slogan: “The Highest Pizza Joint in Arizona.”

“That is so Danny. I wish he was here to tell all his stories. I hope old customers will come in to spin some yarns.”

The new Alpine Pizza menu has classic cheese and pepperoni pies along with signature pizzas, oven-baked wings, garlic knots, a Cobb salad and Jalapeño Caesar salad. A double-stacked smashburger and a crispy chicken sandwich are among the entrees.

For entertainment, Alpine has indoor and outdoor stages for live music. A game room features pinball machines, a pool table and arcade games.

“Hopefully we can create some buzz,” Woodbury said.

“We certainly are counting on the Flagstaff community to support us and I think when they come in, it’ll be nostalgic as (heck).” FBN

By Peter Corbett, FBN

Photo by Austin Corbett: The new Alpine Pizza opened last month with its vintage neon sign relit on the Leroux Street side of the building.