Nine LivesPie Co. · Buffalo NY

Elmwood Village, Buffalo NY · est. 1977

Thick crust.Charred edges.Nine lives.

Pan-baked Buffalo pizza with sweet red sauce, cup-and-char pepperoni and blue cheese on everything. Family-run since the Blizzard of '77 - and yes, that is a cat on your menu.

the short version of a long winter

The nine lives
of Nine Lives.

A cat walked into a pizzeria during the worst blizzard in Buffalo history and never left. Everything else is details. Nine of them, to be exact.

  1. 1

    January 1977

    Life one: the blizzard

    Dolores Marchetti opened the doors in the middle of the Blizzard of '77, because the oven was already hot and the delivery guy was already stuck. A stray ginger tabby walked in with the snow, climbed onto the register and stayed. That's Big Sal. He's in the logo.

  2. 2

    1979

    Life two: the char

    A pan got shoved back into the oven and forgotten. The cheese crawled up the sides and burned into crisp lace. Sal was blamed. We've been doing it on purpose ever since.

  3. 3

    1984

    Life three: cup and char

    Switched to small-diameter pepperoni that curls up in the heat and holds a spoonful of spicy grease. The health inspector wrote “inadvisable” on the form, then ordered a second slice.

  4. 4

    1991

    Life four: Tuesday wings

    Wings are Buffalo's, we just moved them next to the pizza. Celery, blue cheese, one napkin per finger. Tuesday is now the loudest night of the week.

  5. 5

    1996

    Life five: the ranch ban

    Ranch removed from the tables after a formal vote. Cats voted 7 to 0, with one abstention (asleep). It is still available with a signed waiver.

  6. 6

    October 2006

    Life six: October surprise

    Two feet of wet snow landed on trees that still had their leaves. The power went out for days. We baked on the gas oven and sold pies by lantern to half the neighborhood.

  7. 7

    November 2014

    Life seven: Snowvember

    Seven feet in three days. Deliveries went out by snowmobile, sled, and one very determined nephew. Nobody ever ate a cold pie.

  8. 8

    2019

    Life eight: the Weck & Roll

    Beef on weck, but a pizza. Purists complained loudly all week and came back on Friday. It now outsells everything except the Cup & Char.

  9. 9

    Today

    Life nine: you

    Come in out of the cold. Order a pie, grab a napkin, and try to read the menu with a cat sitting on it. We can't help with that part.

said with their mouths full

The regulars
would like a word.

★★★★★
“A cat sat on my garlic knots for eleven minutes. I'd have been angrier if the char on this pie wasn't the reason I was crying.”
Marie K. · Kenmore
★★★★★
“Crust like a good winter coat: thick, sturdy, and built to survive a blizzard. Cup-and-char is the only pepperoni now.”
Dave R. · Cheektowaga
★★★★★
“Asked for ranch. Was handed a waiver and a pen. Signed it. Deep respect for the confidence.”
Priya S. · North Buffalo

hungry yet?

Order in.
Or come in.

We take orders by phone, the old way, so a person who knows the menu can tell you honestly what's good tonight. It's the pie.

The secret menu item

shoo nine cats off the menu and see what happens.

Nine cats shooed. Tell us the code and a free order of garlic knots rides along with any pie.

SHOO9

Come on in

482 Elmwood Ave, Buffalo, NY 14222
(716) 555-0199
  • MonClosed (the cats run it)
  • Tue11am - 10pm
  • Wed11am - 10pm
  • Thu11am - 10pm
  • Fri11am - midnight
  • Sat11am - midnight
  • Sun12pm - 9pm
0 cats shooed