New location for pizzeria lets more enjoy the food
The relocation was short — exactly two storefronts east — but it made all the difference in the world to Vick’s Gourmet Pizza.
The 56-year-old Reynoldsburg pizza shop recently relocated to the old Connell Hardware space in the suburb’s historic downtown district.
“The move has been absolutely wonderful — a little bit of chaos but definitely a lot better for us,” said Charlotte Vickers, who owns the business with her husband, Doug.
The store has more than doubled its seating capacity to nearly 50 — a much-needed increase, Charlotte Vickers said.
Doug Vickers’ parents, Hollis and Louise, opened the original Vick’s location in 1961. Doug and Charlotte Vickers took it over 36 years ago. Meanwhile, the couple is renovating the former store, which will serve as a specialevents space.
The Vickerses pride themselves on their scratch cooking.
“Everything done here is homemade,” Charlotte Vickers said. “We don’t ship dough in on a truck, and we don’t have pizza sauce out of a can. It’s cooked with nine different herbs and spices.”
The hand-tossed dough and slightly sweet sauce are the foundation for one of the shop’s most popular pies: the “all the way” —topped with cheese, green peppers, pepperoni, mushrooms, onion and sausage made from locally sourced ground pork from nearby Holly Hill Farms.
The “extreme pep” is another customer favorite, with two types of pepperoni — spicy “pepato” pepperoni coupled with a larger, milder pepperoni.
“It just gives it that extreme, layered look,” she said.
Of the “gourmet” variety of pizzas, the steak and portobello uses thinly sliced ribeye, mushrooms, a mozzarella-provolone blend and basil. Vickers calls it a “trendy pizza” that gets a topping of garlic butter to elevate the flavor.
Build-your-own pizzas also are available.
Specialty pizzas range from $11.95 for a 10-inch pie to $33.75 for a 21-inch pie; gourmet pizzas cost $12.70 for a 10-inch pie to $37.25 for a 21-inch behemoth.
The restaurant’s spaghetti and meatball ($8.75) has become something of a legend, Charlotte Vickers said. She would only disclose a few secrets, such as the meatballs contain applesauce for moistness and the sauce — a variation of the pizza sauce — is cooked with the sausage.
“It’s got a lot of flavor,” she said.
A hefty serving of lasagna ($9.95) is built in a familiar fashion, with layers of ground beef and sausage, pasta, cottage cheese, Parmesan and plenty of garlic.
“It is really hearty,” she said.