Charlotte pizzeria explores untapped market: Pies that get you high
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Mike Libretto says he came up with the slogan "Eat pizza. Feel groovy." while eating the pizza one night. Photo: McKenzie Rankin/Axios
A New York-style pizzeria in Ballantyne has launched a side business out of its kitchen for a hot-in-demand product: A take and "bake" pizza.
Why it matters: Mike Libretto of Libretto's Pizzeria has done what the Einsteins, Newtons and greatest scientists of all time couldn't. He created an infinite loop:
- Eat good pizza, get high, want more pizza, get high again.
The patent-pending product is called Spinello's. That's Italian slang for "joint."
- It's a 10-inch personal frozen pizza, infused with hemp-derived THC. You can find it in your neighborhood freezer, like Common Market's or Tip Top's, or order online for pickup for $21.99.
- Of course, you bake it at 420°.
- "I've had people tell me, infusion aside, 'This is the best frozen pizza I've ever eaten,'" Libretto says.
I know you're thinking, "Why didn't I think of that?" But you probably couldn't have invented it, anyway.
- See, Libretto knows pizza. He learned the art of making great 'za in New York City two decades ago. He says this "groovy" pizza has been an idea for a while, but he got serious over a year ago.
- He started infusing oils and baking pizzas. Then, he'd send them for lab testing, make adjustments to perfect the potency and sometimes test the pies himself ("the fun part," he tells me).
- After a months-long process, he had come up with a 40-milligram pizza, with five milligrams per slice. The packaging suggests eight slices so you know what you're getting into, and the experience should be relatively consistent every time.
My thought bubble: I cautiously ate two slices over about an hour and a half at the pizzeria. I'd describe my feeling at the restaurant as "chillin'."
- Popped a third in my mouth on the way out. By the time I got home, I was zooted.
Zoom out: To justify why I needed to get high in the middle of the workday, I told my editors this was both a business and a political story, so let's get into that:
- So, how is this legal? In 2018 the federal government stopped classifying hemp as a controlled substance, so long as the product contains less than .3% of the psychoactive component of marijuana, Delta-9 THC. (Libretto tells me he's well below that threshold.)
- In 2022 North Carolina lawmakers brought the state in line with federal regulations, thus opening the door for the influx of Delta-9 products you see on shelves today — and now, even in freezers.
Yes, but: The industry is a bit uncertain. State lawmakers have tried to better regulate hemp products but haven't passed anything yet.
- For small business owners like Libretto, that begs some reluctance to dive head-first into the business with considerable investments. But he's still confident about the market's future. He also says he's careful with the wording on his packaging.
- "It needs to be regulated," he says of the industry. "I'm just trying to keep ahead of it and do it the right way."
Libretto has only sold Spinello's for a few months, and they're already available at Rhino Market, Crowntown Cannabis Dispensary, Apotheca, Common Market and Tip Top.
- To meet demand, he's now offering an 80-milligram pizza. He's looking at other locations and cities to expand.
