Five unconventional, maybe even weird Sacramento pizzas

About a month ago, I was in a small Taiwan city looking for some street food. I saw a sign, “Chinese pizza.” Complete bull, of course—it was just a Chinese scallion pancake with red hot sauce on it being marketed as pizza to tourists—but it made me think of all the weird Sacramento pizza creations I've eaten in the past few years. Here are the best ones:

Quiche-za

If you've ever thought “I wish brunch came in pizza form,” then Buffalo Pizza & Ice Cream Co. is the right place for you. This place serves pizzas with egg, cheese and toppings (chorizo-and-jalapeno, mushroom-and-spinach, etc.) that are essentially quiches with pizza crusts. Beware of the limited hours—7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Saturday. 2600 21st Street; (916) 451-6555; www.buffalobreakfastpizza.com.

Impostor salads

Hot Italian's been serving great pizzas since it opened more than five years ago. But its pizza-esque salads are perhaps the best things to happen to salad ever since hipsters made mason-jar salads popular. The menu has four salad options, all of which can be served atop Hot Italian's thin, delicious pizza crust. 1627 16th Street; (916) 444-3000; www.hotitalian.net.

When in Rome

In Italy's capital city, they serve something called pizza al taglio or pizza al trancio (which translates to something like “pizza by the cut”). It's thin-crust pizza sold by weight, then you fold it in half and eat it like a sandwich. The closest thing Sacramento may have is Yellowbill Cafe's foccacia-based version of pizza al taglio, which is a little thick to be folding in half into a sandwich, but still quite tasty with plenty of inventive toppings. 1425 14th Street; (916) 668-7514; www.yellowbill.com.

Go bananas

There's a great Nutella dessert pizza at Il Pizzaiolo. It's an entire flat pizza slathered in Nutella, marscapone cheese and little pieces of banana. 6696 Lonetree Boulevard in Rocklin; www.ilpizzaiolowoodfiredpizza.com.

Tropical pizzazz

Hot City Pizza has some of the weirdest selection of pizza. There's a mojito pizza, and others with Polynesian influences, such as the Hawaii On Fire Pizza (sweet Thai chili sauce, pepperoni, jalapenos, pineapple), a Luau Pizza (marinara sauce, Canadian bacon, pineapple, bacon) and a vegetarian pizza called the Lolo'ono Pizza (sweet Thai chili sauce, onions, peppers, pineapple, tomatoes and cranberries). 5642 J Street; (916) 731-8888; www.hotcity-pizza.com.

—Jonathan Mendick