A video of Mr. T greets clients at Grandma Piie in Sindorim Station. Courtesy of Emerald Gao
Seoul has quite a lot of nice pizzerias, lots of which have been highlighted on this Restaurant of the Week column, however one of the vital distinctive must be Grandma Piie in Sindorim Station. “The additional i is for further taste,” says a Reddit reviewer.
For individuals who cross via Sindorim as a part of their each day commute, it’s broadly thought-about one of many worst stations on the Seoul Metro map. Nobody could be faulted for having low expectations for a pizza place proper right here. However this little focaccia bakery defies all preconceptions.
Grandma Piie in Sindorim Station on Seoul Metro Line 1’s platform heading north, Sept. 12, 2025 / Korea Instances picture by Jon Dunbar
Whenever you stroll in, proper off the platform for Line 1 trains headed north into town, there’s an armada of focaccia pizzas beneath a show case.
The pizza toppings vary from conventional — the three-cheese Grandma Piie, the Meat Bonkers! which is principally a meat lover’s, a tasty mushroom medley — to barely extra creative. There is a bacon, egg and cheese breakfast selection, a creamy spinach alfredo, and a jalapeno Hawaiian pizza that includes an virtually delicate relish-style pepper topping and a beneficiant smear of Grandma’s marinara sauce. For the dip and drizzle fans, you will get a beneficiant quantity of chipotle ranch or sriracha mayo for nominal further price.
There are normally a few thin-crust choices out there within the show case, however why trouble? Grandma Piie’s high-rise dough is the star of the present, particularly of their thick and fluffy East Coast-inspired slices. The store inside is plastered with posters — many that includes copy that’s unprintable right here — extolling the virtues of that exact same dough, and so they’re proper.
The restaurant additionally sells a small number of canned items, selfmade focaccia bread in quite a lot of flavors each savory and candy and fountain drinks equivalent to a tangy-sweet lemonade and a Hong Kong iced tea — a dense and refreshing inexperienced tea slush with a robust peach kick. Each pair nicely with the savory, toothsome pizzas.
A tv display over-the-counter performs Mr. T movies the entire time, with made-up subtitles praising the store’s choices. (Just like the posters, they’re proper.) There’s room to take a seat and eat, and even people-watch for those who’re so inclined, nevertheless it’s additionally fairly rattling handy for those who simply desire a takeout order in your method downtown.
Grandma Piie jalapeno Hawaiian pizza and lemonade / Korea Instances picture by Emerald Gao
Grandma Piie opens each weekday at 7 a.m. and closes at 10 p.m. On Saturdays it is open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is closed on Sundays. Comply with @grandmapiie on Instagram for extra data.
