Big cheese: Giant cheese sticks bring attention and customers to West Allis pizza shop

Big cheese: Giant cheese sticks bring attention and customers to West Allis pizza shop
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WEST ALLIS, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Wisconsin has no shortage of cheese stories and one West Allis pizza shop is carving out their own with a big help from social media.

"It's so busy. I can't even control it," said Timothy Szuta, owner of Alphonso's the Original. The pizza shop he opened on the corner of 92nd and Greenfield sits as a tribute to the 80's and a man who was Szuta's mentor.

"He'd say wow you guys are crazy," said Szuta. "I'm sure he'd be very very proud of us."

Szuta says around here, he's known for his pizza. "We cook it in an old stone oven. We roll it out by hand," said Szuta. "It's made from scratch. I mean, water, flour, sugar, salt, yeast. Nothing to hide in the dough recipe."

But, there's another item on the menu that's caught the attention of people around the world.

"I started fooling around in the kitchen and voila, world famous mozzarella sticks," said Szuta.

Ranging between 11 and 13 inches, and weighing in at roughly one pound of cheese Szuta's Thunder Rod mozzarella sticks have become a viral sensation.

"They're like, did you know you're Tiktok famous? And I'm like tick tock, flip flop, I don't know I'm like a kid from the 80's. I don't know what that stuff is," laughed Szuta.

Videos on the social media sight Tiktok have spread far and wide featuring diners showing off their cheese pulls, leading more and more people to get in line for the cheesy snack.

"It's crazy, because I almost sell out of them every day," said Szuta.

The sticks allowed Szuta to grow his shop. "Let's just say within the first week I already outgrew this place," said Szuta.

But being famous comes with a price.

"I'm trying my hardest to make sure everyone gets their orders in a timely fashion," said Szuta.

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