Home of the famous Monster Slice, a 25-inch pie big enough to make a New Yorker nod in approval, and a house-made Viper Sauce that customers drive across the Duke City specifically to experience — Richie B’s Pizza is the kind of Albuquerque institution that earns its loyal following one gloriously oversized, thin-crusted slice at a time.
Authentic New York-style pizza, Boar’s Head quality meats, and a couple-owned story full of heart — this is the little pizza shop on Montgomery Boulevard that has been quietly outclassing every chain in town since 2015. 🍕
How Richie B’s Pizzeria Won Albuquerque’s Hearts
The origin story of Richie B’s in Albuquerque begins not in New York — but in Dothan, Alabama, where an Albuquerque native named Preston Smith was working as a contractor at Fort Rucker when he stumbled into the original Richie B’s and tasted what he called the best pizza he’d ever had in his life. 🍕
The owner of that original Dothan shop was a colorful entrepreneur whose career path included a ten-year stint portraying Conan the Barbarian at Universal Studios — and before Preston headed back to Albuquerque, he struck a deal to purchase the naming rights and original recipes, determined to bring that magic back to New Mexico.
Richie B’s opened in Albuquerque in 2015 and immediately turned heads — not just for its genuinely enormous slices but for a crust that food writers described as the rare New York-style pizza that actually required the fold hold to eat properly.
Then in April 2019, Chuck and Leah Ruiz — a husband-and-wife team with deep roots in Albuquerque’s food community — purchased Richie B’s and transformed it into something even more personal. 🤝
Chuck had started his pizza career at just 14 years old at a popular pizza chain, worked his way up through management over six years, and quietly carried a dream of owning his own pizzeria the entire time.
What he didn’t know was that the person who would eventually share that dream with him would walk through the door of the very pizza shop where he worked.
That person was Leah — and after years of building a life together, the two formed Mom and Pop Pizza Shop, LLC and took the leap of a lifetime, purchasing Richie B’s and making it entirely their own.
They kept the beloved original recipes that made Richie B’s famous, added local New Mexico ingredients and green chile to honor their roots, and doubled down on the quality standards — Boar’s Head meats, fresh-made sauces, and hand-stretched dough — that Chuck had believed in since his very first day in the pizza business.
The Monster Slice — a single slice cut from a 25-inch pie — went viral locally and beyond, with food challenge enthusiasts from across New Mexico making pilgrimages to the little shop on Montgomery Boulevard just to attempt finishing one. 🏆
For anyone searching for the best New York-style pizza in Albuquerque, Richie B’s has been the answer since before most locals even knew it existed.
Food Highlights 🍕
- Supreme Pizza: One of the most popular specialty builds and a perennial crowd-pleaser — pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, black olives, roasted red peppers, onions, and mozzarella cheese.
- Veggie Pizza: The go-to for plant-forward pizza lovers — mushrooms, black olives, roasted red peppers, onions, and mozzarella over house sauce. 🌿
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The Monster Slice: The crown jewel of the entire menu and the item that put Richie B’s on the map — a single slice cut from a 25-inch pie with a thin, perfectly browned New York-style crust, house-made pizza sauce, and a generous blanket of fresh mozzarella.🗽
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Green Chile Pizza: The New Mexico soul of the entire menu 🌶️ — Richie B’s signature house pizza sauce and mozzarella topped with locally sourced roasted green chile.
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Pepperoni & Pineapple Pizza: A boldly unapologetic fan-favorite — classic pepperoni and sweet pineapple layered over house sauce and fresh mozzarella on a perfectly thin crust. 🍍
- Cattleman’s Special Pizza: A steakhouse-meets-pizzeria masterpiece and one of the most talked-about specialty pies — grilled top sirloin, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, onions, and mozzarella on Richie B’s signature crust. 🥩
Atmosphere
Richie B’s is proudly, perfectly casual — a neighborhood pizza counter on Montgomery Boulevard where the focus is entirely on what’s coming out of the oven, the warmth of the staff, and the oversized slices landing on your table. 🧱
The space is clean, relaxed, and welcoming — the kind of place where Chuck or Leah might be working the counter themselves, greeting regulars by name and walking first-timers through the menu with genuine enthusiasm.
It’s a no-frills, all-flavor dining room — the kind of honest, community-rooted pizza shop that the Albuquerque food scene is lucky to have, and that regulars will defend fiercely to anyone who hasn’t tried it yet. 🍕
Bottom Line
Reasons Richie B’s Pizza belongs on every Albuquerque food lover’s must-visit list: a genuinely authentic New York-style crust that actually requires the fold hold; the legendary Monster Slice built from a 25-inch pie that no other shop in New Mexico can match; house-made Viper Sauce that customers return for specifically; and locally sourced green chile that gives the menu a distinctly New Mexico soul. 🍕🏆
Address:
7200 Montgomery Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109
📞 (505) 881-8226
🕔 Open Mon–Sat, 11 AM–8 PM (closed Sunday)