If you’re a fan of Mexican food and you live anywhere along the Wasatch Front, you know about Mi Ranchito. The Armenta Family has expanded their empire of traditional Mexican dishes into five locations all over the valley. I noticed that their South Jordan location recently expanded into the space left behind by a defunct Godfather’s Pizza, making way for Lulu’s Hot Oven. It’s a slight departure from the Mi Ranchito brand, but their concept is Mexican fusion pizza with a solid menu of traditional tortas. What’s not to love?

Before we get to the tasty ways Lulu’s Hot Oven is experimenting with their pizza, let’s take a moment to talk about their tortas, shall we? Their current menu offers four options stuffed with all kinds of savory delights. I can happily recommend the Torta Cubana ($14.99) all day; it’s a bit of a departure from the traditional Cubano sandwich, but it’s spectacular nonetheless. It’s the torta that packs the biggest wallop from a “how much meat can we fit in there” perspective. By my count, there are around six varieties of meats—everything from sliced ham to chorizo to pork carnitas are along for the ride.

Sometimes such a grand gathering of meats can cause some balance issues when it comes to the dish as a whole, but I thought each of this torta’s components contributed to a successful whole. Part of this success comes from the creamy mozzarella cheese and mayo paired with the tomato and avocado. These fresh strokes of flavor and texture help cut through the savory-on-savory innards of this torta, allowing you to fully appreciate each meat for its individual contribution. The chorizo is crumbly and spicy, the ham is salty and the carnitas melt in your mouth.

Lulu’s also offers a traditional Torta Milanesa ($12.99) with thin slices of fried chicken breast and a Torta del Chavo ($10.99) which goes all in on ham. The Torta Tradicional ($11.99) is a build-your-own option that lets you add your very own mix of Lulu’s bounteous proteins to your torta. You can’t really go wrong with any of these options if you’re a fan of traditional tortas—all of them hit that perfect balance between flavor and texture.

Okay, let’s talk about Lulu’s pizza. The foundational elements of a good pizza joint are there with your basic cheese pizza ($9.99) and an option to choose your own toppings. When you dig into the menu a bit, you start seeing items like the Haidi ($10.99), with its blend of pepperoni and sliced jalapeños, or the Hugo ($13.99), which adds carne asada to a traditional meat-lovers pizza. It’s not long before you notice that Lulu’s offers birra ($13.99) and mole ($12.99) pizzas as well, at which point you might be questioning how you got so lucky.

The basic roster at Lulu’s is great—crispy crust, even cheese distribution, balanced red sauce and they get a plus for using fresh pineapple on their Hawaiian ($10.99). But I am here to tell you that the birria and mole versions are insane. As you may have guessed, the mole pizza swaps out traditional red sauce with Lulu’s homemade mole, topped with lots of shredded chicken and their house blend of cheeses. Essentially, you’re getting a kind of deconstructed enchilada de mole, with a delivery system that is thicker and crispier than a traditional tortilla. The mole is rich, smoky and offers just a hint of sweetness that complements the shredded chicken nicely. Overall, it’s an excellent innovation in the field of pizza technology.

Even moreso, in my humble opinion, is the birria pizza. Saucy, melty birria tacos with a side of beef consommé are a hot foodie trend at the moment, but this glorious pie is the one we need to be talking about. It starts with the traditional pizza build of crust, sauce and cheese before a liberal dose of thinly sliced onion, cilantro and heaps of tender beef birria. It arrives at the table with a side of luscious beef consommé, and once you take your first dip, the true genius of this dish starts to hit you. If you fold each slice up New York-style, you’ve got a platter of delicious birria tacos that absolutely nail the flavor fusion that takes place when tender roast beef collides with onion and cilantro. Though you can put pretty much anything on pizza and get a decent result, the birria pizza at Lulu’s is in a league of its own.

As a longtime fan of Mi Ranchito, it’s fun to see the owners go off the rails a bit and get experimental with their craft. In this case, I think Lulu’s is already a success. Mexican fusion pizza is something I didn’t know I needed until I gave it a try.