Jordan Beck | Daily Press Cameron Delaney, owner of Rapid River pizza restaurant The Reel Pizza Co., holds up a pan used to make 30-inch pizzas at his restaurant. According to Delaney, these are perhaps the largest pizzas sold in the Upper Peninsula.

RAPID RIVER — Business has been increasing for recently-established Rapid River pizza restaurant The Reel Pizza Co. — and its owner, Cameron Delaney, has been looking at expansion opportunities.

Delaney said he came to the Upper Peninsula after getting out of the Navy in 1990. At this time, he worked as a cook at multiple local establishments, including the Swedish Pantry, the Dells Supper Club, and what is now known as the Island Resort and Casino.

“(I’d) been around the area, cooking at … various restaurants,” he said.

In the mid-’90s, Delaney went to Ohio on vacation. There, he saw an advertisement for a management job with Alexander’s the Great Pizza.

“They offered me a job as a store manager,” he said. He accepted, and worked with the chain through 1998.

In November 2012, Delaney returned to the U.P. after being away for about 18 years.

“I took a job as an electrical engineer at Pisces (Fish Machinery, Inc.),” he said. While he was working there, he saved money towards achieving his dream — opening a restaurant of his own.

Delaney and his wife Susan Delaney officially took ownership of a building located on U.S. 2 — which, at one point, was home to Rapid River’s A&W — last year.

“We closed on it May 1 of ’17 … and started renovating it very shortly after,” Delaney said. The Reel Pizza Co. opened on October 10, 2017.

Owning this restaurant has allowed Delaney to combine his knowledge of managing pizza restaurants with what he had learned as a chef over the years, he said.

“I took all of that experience … and brought it into here,” he said. Delaney makes his own dough, smokes his own pork, and broils fresh chicken which he seasons with a Tuscan rub.

Several unique specialty pizzas are offered at The Reel Pizza Co.

“My wife’s favorite is our chicken fajita (pizza) — it’s phenomenal,” Delaney said. Other specialty pizzas sold at the restaurant include smoked pulled pork pizza and Mediterranean pizza.

The Reel Pizza Co. has another claim to fame in the area, Delaney said.

“We offer the largest pizza in the U.P. — I’m pretty positive of that,” he said. The restaurant’s largest pizza has a diameter of 30 inches, and a thin-crust pizza of this size with one topping weighs about 10 pounds.

According to Delaney, business was slow during The Reel Pizza Co.’s first winter. However, it has picked up since then.

“Now, the business is starting to return and bustle,” he said.

Delaney also said he hopes to expand soon.

“I am looking at a second location … in Gladstone,” he said, noting that he is aiming to close on a deal and attain this location this year.

Since the building he is looking at does not have a limited kitchen, Delaney said a larger menu could be offered at his Gladstone location.

“It’ll be pizza and more,” Delaney said. This location may be operated under a different name because of this.

For more information on The Reel Pizza Co., find them on Facebook or call (906) 474-6540.