OLC Named First-Ever Pizza Battle Winner

Throughout the month of Feb., the community was filled with pizzas from area businesses competing in the first-ever Vermillion Pizza Battle. The winner of the 2026 competition was the Old Lumber Company with their OLC Maverick pizza. 

OLC’s Maverick pizza earned the highest score from the 446 votes casted throughout the month and sold 413 pizzas total. Vermillion residents had the opportunity to pick their favorite pizzas through the LiveVermillion app.

“I think our pizza is super good,” Hailey Thuss, server and bartender at OLC said. “I think winning this will attract a lot more people to come in and try our pizza and try the other food options that we have.” 

Thuss added that she did see an increase of business at OLC during the month of Feb., as many people came in just to try their specialty pizza.

OLC’s pizzas, including dough, are made straight from scratch. The Maverick pizza starts with garlic butter on the crust. From there, sauce and cheese are added to the base. Finally, pepperoni, bacon, jalapeno and cream cheese are topped on the Maverick.

“Our pizzas are always a hit at Old Lumber Company,” Eric Munson, cook at OLC, said. “We are really loving the support from the community coming in and ordering pizzas.

The pizza battle included 14 Vermillion-area businesses. Hummer’s Bar and Grill came in second, and Charcoal Lounge finished in third.

Out of the 1,067 estimated pizzas sold, the community made an economic impact of around $26,000. The sponsors for this event included Dakota Realty & Property Management, as well as Pat Roach and Masaba.