David vs. Goliath was a straight-up, even-steven battle compared to what Greg “Curly” Sloan faces every morning when he shows up at the Taylorsville business he’s owned and operated since 2004.

Actually, it’s more than one Goliath; a swarm of them, in fact – almost literally, one on every corner: Domino’s, Little Caesars, the Hut and a pair of Papas – John and Murphy.

According to Zippia (let’s assume we know who they are – and they know what they’re talking about) you and I, Americans, will consume $75 billion worth of pizza in 2026. Sloan and his loyal band of employees at Wasatch Pizza (2250 W. 5400 South) are pleased any time they watch 100 pies go out their door in a day ($1,500 to $2,500).

“I’m not sure how we survive, to be honest,” Sloan confesses. “We make a superior pizza. We fresh cut all of our pie toppings every day. We know our regular customers – many of them, by name. Word-of-mouth is the best advertising there is. We just make it work, year after year.”

The Wasatch Pizza owner has one more secret ingredient: his Taylorsville store manager of 20 years, Stephanie Carcamo – the closest thing childless Sloan has to a daughter.

“I actually began working for Wasatch Pizza before Curly bought it – and before the Taylorsville location opened,” Carcamo said. “We’ve already discussed me taking the business over when he decides to retire. Will I buy it? Will he give it to me? We haven’t worked out the details. But I plan to be here another 20 years or more. I love our employees and I love our customers.”

A previous owner first started Wasatch Pizza in 1996. When Sloan bought it, there were five locations: Millcreek (the first), Draper, Fort Union, Salt Lake and Taylorsville. From 2010 to 2018, the other four locations closed. Why?

“I only had one Stephanie,” Sloan said. “Also, I have younger, more reliable employees here. A lot of them were, and have been for 22 years, Taylorsville High School students.”

By the way, that “Curly” nickname was born even before Sloan graduated from Highland High School in 1978.

“At age 15, I worked as a janitor at the airport,” Sloan explained. “I was on a three-man crew. One of the guys was actually named Larry; I had long, curly hair at the time. Before long, we were ‘Larry, Curly and Moe.’ It just stuck.”

If you don’t know who Larry, Curly and Moe are, ask Grampa.

Carcamo attended Kearns High for a couple of years but finished up school somewhere else. She’s got three kids.

“My oldest worked at Wasatch Pizza for a time; and my middle kid spent entire summers here with me, as I watch him while managing the store,” she said. “But my youngest, age 10, doesn’t have anything to do with the place. She’s the only kid in America who doesn’t like pizza.”

The rest of Sloan’s staff are mostly high schoolers.

“Pizza places are supposed to be a kid’s first job, I believe,” he said. “We’ve been very lucky here. The Taylorsville kids are dependable and work hard.”

Two of them at the moment are Serenity Williams and Clover Ellis. A Taylorsville High School junior, Serenity is now Sloan’s longest-tenured employee after Carcamo. She started at Wasatch Pizza two years ago. Clover is just a freshman. She lives walking distance from the Taylorsville store – but actually attends Skyline High, all the way across the Salt Lake Valley.

“I started working for Curly because I was trying to raise money for a choir tour to the United Kingdom, France, Austria, Switzerland and Germany,” Serenity said. “After making that trip, I’ve stayed at Wasatch Pizza because everyone I work with is so amazing. They are hard workers. I have a younger sister in fifth grade. She’s already talking about wanting to work here someday.”

As for Clover, the youngest of four siblings, her parents have driven her and her three older brothers across the valley to school all the way from K through 12. Mom Susan Ellis says they once thought they’d be moving to the east side – and once her kids started attending schools over there, they just kept making the drive.

“We’ve lived in Taylorsville 30 years now, and we love it,” Susan Ellis said. “But driving the kids across the valley just became a habit we’ve never broken.”

Clover says she knew Curly Sloan before she hired on at age 15.

“He used to deliver pizza to our house; and our family had at least one Wasatch Pizza per month the entire time I was growing up – we still do,” Clover said. “Greg and Stephanie are both such good managers. They expect us to work hard – but also give us lots of freedom to have fun. I started here last June and would love to be here three more years before college. One of my best friends works here with me. She also attends Skyline High.”

Over his 20+ years owning Wasatch Pizza, Sloan has built a rapport with the police department, city hall employees and many different Taylorsville High School teams. They routinely deliver hot pies throughout the city.

Meantime, Carcamo reports, a large software company south of Taylorsville loves Wasatch Pizza so much, they order 100 pies, PER MONTH, for large staff gatherings.

Finally, Sloan has also developed a relationship with the Granite School District’s Hartvigsen School for severely disabled students, located east of Taylorsville High, on the same property. The school’s student transition specialist and community liaison is Deb Armstrong.

“One day a week – since long before I started here at Hartvigsen in 2022 – four to six of our students have been taken over to Wasatch Pizza to fold their pizza boxes so they are ready to use. Each box requires lots of folds – more than you’d think. For an hour, every Wednesday, our students fold them into shape – or glue advertising slips onto the box lids. It is such good experience for them. Getting out into the community is so important for our kids as they prepare to work beyond their school years. It’s a wonderful opportunity Wasatch Pizza has provided our students since about 2015. We’re very grateful to them.”

Sloan is proud to provide this opportunity for the Hartvigsen students. He’s also pleased and proud of his high school-age employees. And he’s grateful for his manager / “almost daughter” Carcamo. But he also believes none of those things would be in place if his pies were “only” as good as the Hut, Caesars or the Papas.

“How do we stay in business? How do we compete? Those are good questions,” Sloan concludes. “Our product stands by itself. Our pizza is better than most. We get the freshest, highest quality toppings and ingredients we can – and then price our pies as competitively as we can. My staff is good to the customers. Somehow it all works.”

Wasatch Pizza store hours, menu and prices are all available at saltlakesbestpizza.com. You may also find details about their $3.14 large pizza available on “Pie Day” (March 14). And their even deeper discount each New Year’s Day.