Omaha pizzeria offering venison as a topping during deer season

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Move over, pumpkin spice. There's a new fall flavor to talk about.

Longtime Omaha establishment Zio's Pizzeria is planning to offer venison as a topping on three special menu items ahead of deer-hunting season.

Starting Oct. 17, Zio's will be taking orders on three venison-topped pizzas:

Deer Season Supreme will be a marinara-topped pizza with venison, roasted red peppers and jalapeno peppers.

Buck Hunter's Combo will have venison, bacon, mushrooms, and onions on top of an alfredo-sauced pizza.

will have marinara sauce topped with venison, pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, and onions.

The deer season pizzas will be available through the end of the year.

If you're feeling a little leery about deer meat pizza, you're not alone.

"I'll admit I was a little skeptical at first," Steve Johnson, co-owner of Zio's, said in a Monday news release. "Historically, I haven't eaten a lot of venison, but the pizzas are actually very good!"

Johnson said they've actually had some requests for venison as a topping.

"Many of our customers over the years have expressed an interest in venison, and it's a pizza offering that we have never seen before in Omaha, or anywhere else for that matter," he said. "So this year during deer season, we thought we would have some fun with it and see what our customers think."

Johnson said Zio's has seen success with its other specialty pizzas in the past, including the Reuben Pizza available around St. Patrick's Day; and the Crew Creations line, "which were a series of special pizza combinations created by Zio's pizza chefs."

Zio's, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year, has four locations in the Omaha-metro: the original location at 78th and Dodge; the second location, at 129th Street and West Center Road; downtown at 11th and Howard streets; and in West Omaha near 181st Street and West Center Road.