The Lovely Day at Cutie Pie Pizzeria. | Ben Coleman/Eater Portland Personal pizzas were something of a novelty back in the day, but Portland has seen a wave of pizzerias focusing on small pies, following on from the high-profile success of small-batch farm-to-table shops like Lovely’s Fift y Fifty and a renewed interest in Neapolitan-style pies. But for every Otto or Turning Peel, there are plenty of soggy strip-mall slabs or high-concept “innovations” that lose the plot on what makes pizza, well, pizza. Thankfully, Cutie Pie Pizzeria on NW Fremont absolutely understands the assignment, and its 10-inch pizzas feature a dense distribution of high-quality toppings and the structural integrity to keep them off your lap. What to order Pepperoni may be pizza’s default topping, but not all pepperoni pizzas are in the same league. The Pep in Your Step ($10) is a masterpiece of shaved charcuterie, with the pepperoni cups correctly small and the chunks of Romano cheese correctly large. For more adventurous palates, the Lovely Day ($11) is something of a house specialty. The lightly charred banana peppers will have you wondering why more places don’t offer lightly charred banana peppers, and they provide a sweet counterbalance to Italian sausage and onions. The Evergreen ($11) is a garden unto itself, with thick slices of mushrooms competing for space with gooey roasted garlic and roasted cherry tomatoes. It comes vegan by default, but you can add mozzarella ($1.50) for a vegetarian. The vibe The Cutie Pie half of the building is a pretty paint-by-numbers neighborhood restaurant: track lighting, laminate wood flooring, and a row of two-person cafe tables along one wall. But it abuts Mad Hanna, which happens to be one of the city’s best dive bars, and a great spot to wolf down half a pie and some cold beer. Insider tip If the 10-inch pizza format isn’t for you, don’t despair. Every menu item can be transmogrified into a sandwich, calzone, or piadina (sort of a gluten-free flatbread wrap) for an extra $2. ...read more read less