Tucked into a cozy corner of Riverside’s Midtown neighborhood on Sunnyside Drive, The Outpost is the kind of pizza place that makes you feel like you’ve wandered into a warm, wooded retreat rather than a strip of Southern California storefronts. 🌲🍕
This Italian-inspired artisan pizza spot — themed around a walk in the woods — serves a tightly curated menu of handcrafted pizzas, fresh seasonal salads, and a thoughtfully selected lineup of beer and wine that has quietly made it one of the most talked-about new hidden gem restaurants in Riverside, CA.
It’s small, it’s intentional, and it is absolutely packed with people who know. ✨
How The Outpost Won Riverside’s Hearts
Owner Ryan Condron — already beloved in Riverside’s coffee scene through his popular Condron Coffee shop just two doors down — spent nearly two years navigating planning, permitting, and construction to get The Outpost off the ground, a labor of love that locals noticed immediately when the doors finally swung open in April 2025.
Rather than overwhelming guests with a 30-item list, Condron designed The Outpost’s menu around precision — six artisan pizzas, five fresh salads, and six desserts — a lean, confident approach that signals a kitchen that knows exactly what it does well and refuses to stretch thin for the sake of variety. 🎯
The centerpiece of the kitchen is a stunning Italian domed pizza oven that quickly became the talk of Midtown — lending every pizza a blistered, airy crust and a smokiness that a conventional oven simply cannot replicate.
Riverside City Councilmember Steven Robillard took notice too, featuring The Outpost as the premiere episode of RiversideTV’s In Good Company series — a spotlight on the standout businesses defining Riverside’s Midtown neighborhood.
Thoughtful design details — real plants, a floor-to-ceiling ficus, natural wood tones, and warm lighting — give the space the nature-inspired, elegant-but-unpretentious aesthetic that the Condron brand has made its signature, transforming a simple pizza order into an experience that feels genuinely special. 🌿
That combination of artisan pizza Riverside locals couldn’t find anywhere else, a philosophy-driven owner, and an atmosphere that invites you to linger — that’s the formula that turned The Outpost from a curious new arrival into a Midtown institution almost overnight. ✨
Food Highlights 🍕
- Truffle Pizza: A white pizza anchored by truffle — guests rave that “the truffle and honey worked together really well” and the dough itself is “really tasty.” 🍄
- Pepperoni Calabrese: The restaurant’s self-described most popular pizza — topped with extra hot Neapolitan salami and finished with spicy truffle honey. 🔥🍯
- Margherita Pizza: Hand-crafted and flavorful — classic fresh dough fired in the Italian domed oven, topped with tomato sauce and mozzarella.
- Avocado Pizza: A California-inspired pie featuring fresh avocado — a lighter, produce-forward option that reflects the season-first approach of The Outpost’s kitchen. 🥑
- Casa Tra I Rami: Translating to “house among the branches” — a name that perfectly captures The Outpost’s woodland-inspired identity.
- Sausage and Peppers Pizza: A hearty, Italian-rooted classic — savory sausage and sweet peppers layered over artisan dough and fired in the Italian domed oven.
Atmosphere
The Outpost is themed around a walk in the woods — and that concept permeates every detail of the space, from the floor-to-ceiling ficus and real plants throughout the room to the warm, natural wood tones and soft lighting that make the dining room feel like a quiet clearing in a forest. 🌲
It’s intimate, elegant, and completely unhurried — an atmosphere that invites you to slow down, share a pizza, and enjoy a glass of wine without anyone rushing you along.
The Italian domed pizza oven anchors the room both visually and aromatically, filling the space with the irresistible scent of blistered crust and wood-fired toppings from the moment you walk in.
For a Midtown Riverside dining spot that seats a modest crowd at counter-serve style seating, the atmosphere at The Outpost punches well above its size — comfortable, creative, and genuinely memorable. 🍷
Bottom Line
The Outpost is Riverside’s most exciting artisan pizza spot — a philosophy-driven, owner-operated gem with an Italian domed oven, a razor-focused menu, and an atmosphere that makes every visit feel like an escape.
From the legendary Pepperoni Calabrese to the cult-favorite Fried Olives, this is the pizza place Riverside didn’t know it needed. 🍕🌲
Address:
3692 Sunnyside Dr, Riverside, CA 92506
📞 (951) 900-0316
🕔 Daily: 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM