A new restaurant wants to establish itself in the already-saturated pizza market of downtown Chapel Hill, North Carolina, bringing a journalism theme and a focus on unique craft beer offerings to separate itself from the crowd.
The Pizza Press, a franchise of Anaheim, California-based RMS Franchise Group, opened July 26 on Franklin Street, a hub for activity in the Triangle-area.
The restaurant emphasizes a theme of 1920s-era newspapers. Black-and-white pictures of old paper presses and newspaper salesmen line the walls, and the menu includes signature pizzas named “The Herald,” “The Times,” “The Chronicle” and more.
“It creates a narrative for the customer,” franchisee and owner Stuart Pannill said. “You don’t just build your own pizza, you ‘publish’ your own pizza. Our employees are ‘editors.’ It’s all kind of a fun play on words.”
The Chapel Hill opening is a large move for the restaurant from a geographic perspective. It is the first Pizza Press location in North Carolina, with only one other location on the East Coast, in Celebration, Florida. In contrast, The Pizza Press has 20 locations in California alone.
Pannill, who graduated from The Art Institute of Raleigh-Durham with a hospitality and restaurant management degree, wanted to find a location that provided a high-quality experience with the quickness of fast food, looking to juggernauts like Chipotle and Panera Bread for inspiration. He came upon The Pizza Press for the uniqueness he saw in it.
“I really liked the branding,” Pannill said. “I loved the fact that they incorporated craft beer as a big part of the business.”
He said The Pizza Press views itself as two separate businesses: the pizza and the beer.
The dough used for each pizza is flattened with a pizza press modeled after a 1920s-era paper press. With a build-your-own pizza line extending across the right-side of the restaurant, customers have a plethora of protein and veggie toppings to choose from.
Beside the line, an 8-foot, 400-pound tap tower holds 21 craft beers and one craft cider option, with two wine choices also offered. Pannill said he was excited to show off a diverse selection of craft beers from across North Carolina that many Chapel Hill residents. One beer The Pizza Press currently offers, the Black Mountain Chocolate Stout from Fiddlin’ Fish Brewing Co., is not available anywhere further east of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The Pizza Press is entering an area that already has a variety of pizza options. Just a short walk away is Lotsa Stone Fire Pizza, a similarly-styled build-your-own location that opened April 2017. Across the street from that is MidiCi Italian Kitchen, which opened at the start of the summer and looks to provide a more refined Italian food experience. Other Franklin Street pizza restaurants include Benny Cappella’s, I Love NY Pizza and Italian Pizzeria III.
“People weren’t shy about stopping in while we were under construction and reminding us that there’s a lot of pizza around here,” Pannill said.
The key to standing out for Pannill is providing a different experience than anyone else. He said that the craft beer offerings, which will soon include packaged to-go beer, will be central to that, along with the restaurant’s lounge and patio areas.
The Pizza Press will have a “grand opening” Aug. 16 in preparation for the influx of returning UNC-Chapel Hill students. Customers can go to the link http://www.thepizzapress.com/gpg/ to register and receive a free pizza at the Chapel Hill location on that date.
