It was a pretty great New Year’s holiday for Smitty’s Pizza owner Shelly Ward, despite the fact that fireworks meant she had to bring her goat inside and her dog spent several hours cowering in the bathroom.
Ward and her team had managed to overcome the final hurdles to set Smitty’s grand re-opening. The official return of the iconic northwest Louisiana pizza eatery at its new location at 2525 Southside Drive in Shreveport is 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4. Initially, the restaurant will be open Tuesday through Sunday.
The pizza ovens are ready to roar back to life and the employees are more than ready to return to work, she said. The final holdup has been beverages, which Ward believes is a crucial part of the pizza experience.
When Smitty’s Mansfield Road store closed, Coca-Cola picked up their fountain machine.
“It was a perfect machine,” Ward laughed. “I’m a big fountain Coke person.”
When Coke was not able to get a machine to them in time, Ward said they decided to stock up on bottled drinks for opening weekend.
The Smitty’s team is also awaiting approval for their alcohol permits, so until those come through, no draft or bottle beer can be served.
Those problems are small potatoes considering all the little business has been through. After their home of more than 49 years at 9375 Mansfield Road was sold in October, finding a new space turned out to be surprisingly difficult given their requirements for size, cost, immediacy of occupancy, and location.
