Today’s topic is strippers, and as far as we’re concerned, it’s perfectly OK to giggle.

The owners of Ruscelli’s, a pizza joint in Birmingham, feel exactly the same way, fielding jokes about the most popular item on their menu. Customers go crazy for Ruscell’s pizza strippers, which are rectangular pies cut into strips instead of triangles or squares.

“Calling it a pizza stripper catches people’s eye,” said Ralph Chester, who owns Ruscelli’s along with his son, Eric Chester, the restaurant’s chef. Diners enjoy having fun with the concept, tossing out quips when they’re ordering a pie.

“We hear lots of jokes,” Eric Chester told AL.com. “I always like to joke and say it’s the most satisfied you’ll be from a stripper. Men will come up with their wives: ‘Me and my wife would like to share a stripper.’ I was kind of worried naming it that, but it worked out pretty good.”

Ruscelli’s (pronounced “Roo-SHELL-ees”) is a casual late-night spot, located inside Mojo Pub at 2801 Seventh Ave. South in Birmingham’s Lakeview neighborhood. Ruscelli’s is a separate business from Mojo Pub — the Chesters say they rent the space there — but the two benefit from close proximity, as beer and pizza go hand-in-hand. The Chesters also operate a Ruscelli’s food truck, which can be found at Birmingham Legion soccer games, concerts, special events, weddings, parties and the like.

Although the folks at Ruscelli’s are proud of everything they serve, they point to pizza strippers — and especially the Brisket Stripper — as a favorite among customers. Let’s take a closer look.

WHAT’S A BRISKET STRIPPER?

The Brisket Stripper is a 12-inch rectangular pizza, cut into 12 strips. The crust, which Eric describes as “medium” on the thickness scale, is made with high-gluten flour and topped with homemade Alfredo sauce, shredded beef brisket, brisket sauce, mozzarella and parmesan cheese. The brisket is braised overnight, for about 16 hours.

“We cook it with tomatoes, onions, garlic, celery, all of the good stuff,” Eric said. “Then I puree all the pan drippings and the vegetables and make a sauce of it, and pour that on top of it.” The crust, he said, is “crispy and chewy, bread-y. Our base sauces for all of our pizzas is Alfredo, instead of marinara, so it’s more cheesy and garlicky.” The pizza is served with two dipping sauces, marinara and ranch. Price for the dish: $15.

WHAT DOES IT TASTE LIKE?

“It’s like a good pot roast, with real melty meat and all the pot roast flavors you like,” Eric said. “It’s a real good comfort food.”

WHERE DOES THE RECIPE COME FROM?

Everything on the menu at Ruscelli’s comes from Eric’s creative mind, and he enjoys making dishes from scratch. The Brisket Stripper, Eric said, “was just one of the things I was playing around with, and it was so good, it landed on the menu.”

Eric trained as a chef at Culinard, the former culinary school in Birmingham, and received on-the-job training at area restaurants such as On Tap Sports Cafe, Mafiaoza’s Pizza & Neighborhood Pub and Bellini’s Ristorante & Bar. “The very first place I learned how to make pizza was a place called Brick Oven in Auburn,” Eric said. Just in case you’re wondering, he knows how to toss and twirl pizza dough, and has done that in his previous jobs. However, the chef said his rectangular pies at Ruscelli’s don’t require aerial flamboyance.

FOOD PHILOSOPHY

“I like to keep it weird,” Eric said. “People always ask me, can you make a regular pizza? Can you make a normal pizza? But if you make a pizza that’s like another restaurant, then you get compared to those other restaurants. … Mostly, I like to just cook what I eat. I feel like I know how to do the best for me, and I like to do it for other people, too.”

FAMILY AFFAIR

“His brisket is like none that I’ve ever tasted,” Ralph Chester said. “It’s just got so much flavor, because of the way he prepares it, and it’s so tender, it just melts in your mouth. If I go more than a week or two without a brisket stripper, I’m hurtin.’ I have to make a special trip.”

Ralph is such a brisket fan, in fact, that the Brisket Stripper initially was named after him. “The original name of the brisket pizza was the Babbo’s Brisket, babbo meaning father,” Eric said. “Well, I named it that eight years ago, and now my kids call my dad ‘Babbo’ as his grandfather name.” Eric and his wife, Kayla Chester, have two young daughters, Isabelle and Eliza. (The girls’ favorite pizza stripper is made with goat cheese, roasted red pepper, honey and meatball, Eric said.)

CUSTOMIZED STRIPPER

The Brisket Stripper can be amped up by adding other toppings, and Ralph has a few preferences in that regard. “My dad eats it with mushrooms and spinach and goat cheese, and he’s hooked on that,” Eric said. “That’s all he eats. There’s another friend who eats it with mushrooms, pineapple and jalapeño. We call it the Sleepin’ John Elrod; it’s on the menu. Because every time he eats it, he gets a little sleepy.”

HOW POPULAR IS IT?

The Chesters said it’s difficult to pin down weekly or monthly numbers for the Brisket Stripper, because their business fluctuates. “There are some nights where 75 percent of the orders are something with brisket on them,” Eric said. “And we’ll go a night where we don’t sell any brisket.” But the Brisket Stripper is a clear star on the menu, they said, and has been served at Ruscelli’s since the restaurant was founded in 2015. For its first three years, Ruscelli’s was located at the food court in the Regions Harbert Center, then moved to Mojo Pub in 2018.

WHAT MAKES THE BRISKET STRIPPER SPECIAL?

“You won’t find it anywhere else,” Ralph said. “It may exist, but we haven’t found it. It’s kind of our marquee.”

HOW LATE CAN I ORDER IT?

Ruscelli’s is open 9 p.m. until 2 a.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and 5 p.m. until 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. The restaurant is closed on Sundays and Mondays. Food can be ordered to dine in or take out. “Our busiest time of the night is 2 in the morning, right when we’re closing,” Eric said. “Everyone’s like, ‘I’m about to go home; I forgot; I need food.’ All of the bars let out, and they all flock to us to get food to take home.”

WHAT ELSE DO THEY SERVE?

Ruscelli’s is known for its pizza strippers, but the menu features several other dishes fusing Italian and Mexican cuisine. That means pastas, pizza tacos, pizza rittos (pizzas rolled into burritos), pizzadillas (pizza quesadillas), pizza nachos, snacks, salads and more. “We do a cookie dough bacon pizza for dessert that’s real popular,” Eric said. If that’s not enough, Ruscelli’s also has a separate “ghost kitchen” called Pink Balloon, offering rice bowls, frittatas and sandwiches.