It's Reno, when it Sizzles.

An outpost of Sizzle Pie, the acclaimed Portland, Ore., pizzeria, opened Jan. 4 on South Center Street in downtown Reno, according to the company.

Sizzle Pie joins See See Motor Coffee Co. (opened November 2016) and Pine State Biscuits (debuted September 2018) — both PDX transplants — on a stretch of Pine Street at South Center that some folks have started calling Little Portland.

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SIZZLE PIE

Address: 190 S. Center St., at Pine Street

On the web: This way to the pies

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Now, a certain slice of Reno goes gaga every time a food and drink spot from Portland arrives (or is rumored to be arriving), but in the case of Sizzle Pie, it's not all hype.

The pizzeria is consistently ranked among the best in Portland and the Pacific Northwest, praised for slices and pies that unite Northeast-inspired fundamentals like scratch sauce and thin, eminently foldable crust with a West Coast openness to new ingredients and combinations.

Vegans and pentagrams

And then there's the Sizzle Pie vibe, cheeky and a little 'zine-ish, with its no-prisoners tagline ("Death to False Pizza"), metal aesthetic, and punny (or insidery) pizza names.

Like the Always Sunny in Portland (shaved beef, green peppers) or the Napalm Breath (amply provisioned with pepperoni, onions, jalapeños and double crushed garlic for maximum halitosis).

Even a Canadian bacon and pineapple pizza, otherwise an abomination, can be forgiven because of its name: 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

In its hometown of Portland, where even napkins are vegan, Sizzle Pie still stands out for vegan pizzas like the Spiral Tap (caramelized onion, a spiral of red sauce, a flurry of nutritional yeast) and the Vegan Angel of Doom starring vegan "cheese", jalapeños and cilantro.

All this 'za is making the trip south to Reno, along with seasonal pies, DIY pies, and vegetarian options like the Slaughter of the Soil (spinach, tomato, artichoke hearts). On the thaumaturgical tip, Sizzle Pie will drizzle sauces in the shape of a pentagram atop any pizza.

Bewitching.

Part of the boom

Sizzle Pie, founded in 2011, has five Portland pizzerias and one each in Eugene, Ore., and Seattle. Two restaurants in Brooklyn opened and closed in 2017.

The Reno shop occupies a renovated (gutted, really) former liquor store at 190 S. Center St., next door to Patagonia and across the street from the Center & Pine Lofts. It's among the 15 or so pizza places that have opened in the last two years in the Biggest Little city.

Although the Reno restaurant sports some Sizzle signatures — a slice zooming on a hot rod, a marquee-inspired font, deranged grinning pies dripping red sauce — the interior is less exuberantly styled than the Portland locations (at least for now).

What's next from the Portland food and drink invasion? Forget donuts (you know the ones). Pray for Pok Pok instead.

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Johnathan L. Wright is the food and drink editor of RGJ Media, part of the USA Today Network. Join @RGJTaste on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.