Riggatti’s Wood Fired Pizza

Fred Murray started Riggatti’s by bolting a wood-fired oven into the bed of a 1940s Ford pickup truck, painting it cherry red, and parking it in St. George. The KUTV coverage that documented the operation referenced Murray running the truck for several years before opening a brick-and-mortar — the cart format gave him a way to test demand for serious wood-fired pizza in a market that, at the time, didn’t have much of it outside the Pizza Factory chain footprint. The truck became a storefront; the storefront became multiple storefronts.

A Cherry-Red Ford and a Wood Oven

The mobile-oven origin is the part of the story that gets retold most often, and there’s a reason: it’s the kind of specifically Southern Utah small-business move that doesn’t translate well to other markets. A 1940s Ford with a wood oven in the bed could only really work in a place where the codes are flexible, the parking is plentiful, and the customers will stand outside in the heat or the cold to eat a slice. Murray ran the truck long enough to figure out what Riggatti’s was supposed to be, then opened doors. The brand surfaces at multiple St. George addresses — 1091 N Bluff Street and 974 W Sunset Boulevard show up in different directories — though whether both are currently active or one is a prior address is one of the gaps in the public record.

Bluff Street, Sunset Boulevard, and Springville

The Riggatti’s expansion north to Springville moved the brand into the Wasatch Front orbit, which is unusual — most Southern Utah independents that grow do so within Washington County rather than crossing the I-15 corridor up. Whether the Springville location is operated under the same entity as the St. George stores or licensed to a separate operator isn’t itemized publicly. The pizzas across all locations are still wood-fired, the dough is still made in house, and the brand has held a consistent place on St. George “best pizza” lists for more than a decade.

Riggatti’s in the 435

For a register of locally rooted Southern Utah businesses, Riggatti’s is a homegrown St. George multi-location independent with a clean founder story and a recognizable origin moment that traces back to a literal pickup truck. Murray’s last name is shared with Jason and Cindy Murray of The Pizza Cart in Cedar City — no public connection between the two operators is documented, just a coincidence of surname between two of the corridor’s better-known wood-fired pizza brands. The register’s job here is to confirm location count and operating entity; the founder narrative is already in good shape.