Where should you get pizza downtown tonight? In Tempe, the answer now depends more on the hour than on the crust. Five pizza places sit within a few blocks of Mill Avenue. Two opened this fall, one opened in June, one has been there since August 2025, and one is a sit-down Roman dining room that opened in August. Each one covers a different part of the day.
The clock separates them clearly. One takes reservations and serves wood-fired Roman flatbreads with a cocktail lounge inside. One pours 20 taps and closes at 10 on weeknights. Two sell slices until 11 or close to midnight. One stays open until 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Phoenix New Times put it plainly in August: today's Mill Avenue "is not your parents' Mill Avenue." The pizza on it now fills nearly the whole day.
11 a.m.: the slice lunch
Late morning is the busiest overlap downtown. Goat & Ram, Ciao Pizza Co. and Prince Street Pizza all open at 11 a.m., and Russo's New York Pizzeria follows at 11:30 on weekdays.
Russo's is built most clearly around a midday visit. The new shop at 521 S. College Ave., Suite 109, offers pizza-by-the-slice lunch combos. The style is New York, with oversized slices, and the menu includes a Doppio Pepperoni, a Margherita and a Truffle Burrata & Prosciutto pie. Local franchisees Kristina and Christian Alvarez own and run it, according to Russo's announcement of the Tempe opening. The same announcement mentions a 28-inch Giant Party Pizza, which makes Russo's the place to order for an office lunch or a game-day crowd.
A couple of blocks west, Ciao Pizza Co. at 115 W. 6th St., #106, has been open since June 2026. Tempe Tourism describes it as a casual space with house-made dough, thin crust, whole pies, slices, sandwiches and wings. Prices are easy to find. Its online menu lists a cheese pie at $12.99 and the White and Margherita pies at $13.99 each.
6 p.m.: dinner with a reservation
Only one of the five is a sit-down dinner. Roman God of Fire sits at the northeast corner of Mill Avenue and Rio Salado Parkway. Its own site gives the address as 52 E. Rio Salado Pkwy. It is the first ground-up build from Pretty Decent Concepts, with a menu developed by chef Scott Conant. Phoenix New Times reported that the restaurant took limited reservations from July 31 through Aug. 5 and held its grand opening Aug. 7.
Pizza is one section of a larger menu built on regional dishes from ancient Rome, alongside handmade pasta and steaks. The pizzas are Roman-style flatbreads from the wood fire. Pizza Bianca comes with whipped ricotta and honey, and the Lingua di Pizza alla Romana comes with tomato, pecorino and guanciale. The beverage menu includes a local lager, an amber and an Italian pilsner, along with cocktails.
After dinner, you don't have to leave the building. Mia Culpa, the cocktail lounge inside Roman God of Fire, is open and taking bookings through its own site. Pretty Decent Concepts co-founder Teddy Myers, an ASU alum, described the pairing to Phoenix New Times as virtue and vice. The restaurant is the virtue and the lounge is the vice.
7 p.m.: pizza and a pint
The newest arrival fills the gap between a formal dinner and a slice on the go. Goat & Ram opened Oct. 8 inside Phantom Fox Beer Co. at 525 S. Mill Ave. Phoenix New Times reported the opening date and named the people behind it. Eric Cady and Trent Smith founded Phantom Fox, and Dan and Morgan Medlen run Goat & Ram.
The brewery side has 20 taps of Phantom Fox beer and Cider Corps pours, plus cocktails. According to Goat & Ram's Tempe page, the kitchen makes artisan 12-inch pies, including a Pepperoni + Sausage, a 3 C's and a Broccoli Ricotta, with rotating specials. It also sells NY slices, so a solo stop after work doesn't require a whole pie. New Times reported that the Tempe menu would also carry wings and loaded fries.
The hours put Goat & Ram firmly in the evening slot. The kitchen runs 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. It suits a 7 p.m. meetup better than a midnight craving.
Friday night, in order of closing time
On a Friday, these are the posted pizza hours downtown, from the earliest close to the latest:
- Goat & Ram at Phantom Fox, 525 S. Mill Ave.: kitchen closes at 11 p.m.
- Russo's New York Pizzeria, 521 S. College Ave.: closes at 11 p.m.
- Ciao Pizza Co., 115 W. 6th St.: pickup until 11:59 p.m.
- Prince Street Pizza, 680 S. Mill Ave.: open until 3 a.m.
Three of the four end within an hour of each other. The fourth runs three hours past the rest.
After midnight on Mill
Once Ciao stops taking pickup orders, Prince Street Pizza is the only one of the five still serving. Its posted hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, until midnight on Thursday and until 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Prince Street opened at 680 S. Mill Ave. in late August 2025, which makes it the longest-running of the group. Phoenix New Times' opening coverage described a New York slice-shop menu with Sicilian "SoHo" square pies alongside Neapolitan pies. It singled out the Spicy Spring, the Spicy Vodka and the Oakey Smokey as orders to know. The paper reported that the shop opened without indoor tables. Its current location page lists in-location dining, so call ahead if a seat matters at 2 a.m. This summer it also ran collaboration pies with Avenged Sevenfold and Good Charlotte, AZFamily reported.
Sunday runs on a different schedule
The pattern shifts at the start of the week. On Sunday, Prince Street opens earliest, at 10 a.m., and closes at 10 p.m. Russo's opens late, at 2 p.m., and closes at 9. Goat & Ram keeps its usual 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Ciao's ordering page shows delivery from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. but no pickup on Sunday.
So for a Sunday-morning slice downtown, Prince Street is the option. For a Sunday team order, Russo's 28-inch pie only becomes available after 2 p.m.
Matching the fall calendar to the clock
The downtown event calendar for the rest of 2026 brings crowds to Mill Avenue at different times of day, which makes these hours more useful.
2nd Sundays on Mill returns Sunday, Nov. 8, with local makers, food vendors, performances and family activities, per the Downtown Tempe Authority. On a Sunday, that points to Prince Street or Goat & Ram for an early bite, with Russo's opening at 2.
The Veterans Day Parade on Wednesday, Nov. 11, starts at ASU Gammage and moves up Mill Avenue to Tempe Beach Park, according to Downtown Tempe's fall event list. It's a weekday, so all four slice counters keep their regular hours.
ASU Homecoming Week runs Nov. 15–21 and includes the ASU–Oklahoma State game. Prince Street's 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday close is the one that matters for a late night.
The Fantasy of Lights Street Parade and tree lighting falls on Saturday, Nov. 28, in downtown Tempe. The Fantasy of Lights Boat Parade follows Saturday, Dec. 12, at Tempe Beach Park, with a holiday market and fireworks listed on the Downtown Tempe events calendar. Both are Saturdays, when every pizza counter in this guide is open at least until 11 p.m.
The Tempe Festival of the Arts takes over Mill Avenue Dec. 4–6 with 350-plus artist booths, food, entertainment and beer-and-wine gardens. That runs Friday through Sunday. Saturday is the easiest day for pizza, and the festival Sunday has the narrowest options, with Russo's not opening until 2 p.m. Roman God of Fire is the one sit-down choice for a reservation at the end of a festival day.
Hours in this guide are the ones each business posted this fall, and holiday weeks can change them. Check before you walk over.
Pizza delivery range is a real consideration for people choosing where to live, and the five spots in this guide cluster in the few blocks around Mill Avenue. If you're weighing what being in walking distance of downtown Tempe's restaurants would mean day to day, Nick Steffes can walk you through the streets and buildings around them. Let's Connect.
