St. George restaurant offers authentic Italian food with a healthy twist – St George News

St. George restaurant offers authentic Italian food with a healthy twist – St George News

FOOD Amine 0

st. George —Love carbs but hate bloating and regret?

Photo by Richard Doerr and Marie Perez Jessie Bunn, co-owners of Bella Marie’s Pizzeria in St. George, Utah, December 14, 2022, St. George News

Supported by an experienced chef and nurse, the restaurant offers authentic Italian cuisine and pizza, completely redesigned with your health in mind.

“Our menu is extensive,” says Perez. “It’s not just Italian, it’s pizza. In fact, we’re the only Italian he restaurant in town that serves both authentic New York thin-crust brick-oven pizza and homemade Italian.”

Originally from New Jersey and ready for a healthier climate, Marie Perez and her partner Richard Doerr moved to St. George in 2008. What are typically considered contrasting careers, Perez was a registered nurse and Doerr was a chef, but they were all perfect to eventually start a business called Bella Marie’s Pizzeria and Restaurant.

Doerr, whose mother is Sicilian, said he got his first job as a pizza maker in 1981 at an Italian pizzeria. As a registered nurse, Perez said Seeing many health issues such as cancer, along with her own reactions to preservatives and MSG, made her “very picky” about her food.

The original location of Bella Marie's Pizzeria is shown in August 2016 in St. George, Utah.Photo credit: Marie Perez, St. George News
The original location of Bella Marie’s Pizzeria is shown in August 2016 in St. George, Utah.Photo credit: Marie Perez, St. George News

Combining their careers and knowledge, the couple decided to open an East Coast-inspired Italian restaurant on South Silicon Way in 2009, but on one condition. That was Perez’s take on Sicilian family recipes and focus on alternative, health-conscious ingredients. Now with a healthier twist.

“You may be the richest person, but what do you do with your money when you’re sick? Health is priceless,” Perez said.

At Bella Marie’s Pizzeria, all meals are made from scratch with only the freshest ingredients to order. Focusing primarily on garlic peppers and Italian spices, Perez makes all of his spice blends himself, removing the need for preservatives and MSG.

Bella Marie’s Pizzeria, who handcrafts all their pizza dough, uses only naturally processed, unbleached flour. That means it’s exposed to air, not chemicals. This will eliminate potassium bromate. It’s a possible human carcinogen found in most flours, and the ingredient she said is in the top five carcinogens.

Handcrafted margarita pizzas are displayed at Bella Marie's Pizzeria, St. George, Utah, December 14, 2022 | Photo by Jesse Bunn, St. George News
Handcrafted margarita pizzas are displayed at Bella Marie’s Pizzeria, St. George, Utah, December 14, 2022 | Photo by Jesse Bunn, St. George News

“You can get flour for $10 a bag,” Doerr said. “Or you can get flour for $22 a bag. We’ll spend a little more money to make quality food, and that’s where nurses come in.”

We continue to make authentic East Coast Italian style pizzas, where our pizza dough is hand stretched and cooked in our ‘old fashioned’ New York/New Jersey brick oven.

“The difference in quality is the homemade food available at home,” says Doerr. “And that’s what we’re doing here.”

Bella Marie’s Pizzeria has been in business for over 13 years, but its first location was closed for six months during store renovations. new restaurant location Open in April. To maintain food quality, the couple said one of them always oversees the cooking or process at the restaurant.

In the future, we plan to renovate another space within the restaurant to offer private fine dining by appointment.

“This is the perfect place, the perfect place to do what we want to do,” said Doerr. “It’s a journey. So now we want everyone to know we’re here.”

Bella Marie’s Pizzeria and Restaurant is located at 720 E. 700 South in St. George. For more information, website Also Facebook.

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Born and raised in Utah, Jessi Bang is passionate about nature and the great outdoors. She graduated from Kaplan University in California, where she earned a degree in Criminal Justice. She has extensive experience in marketing, content creation, photography and copywriting. You can find her sharing her outdoor adventures on her blog, The Rambling Raccoon. In her free time, she enjoys climbing mountains, running her trails, working out, and cuddling her two adorable puppies.