Perry’s piece of the pie: Restaurateurs opening family-owned, old school pizzeria

Eric Schultz always wanted to own a pizza shop, but when opportunity first knocked, it came in the form of a soda shop and he not only seized it but ran with it.

Schultz is the owner of Schultze’s Old Fashioned Soda Shop. Also, Schultz is a part-owner with Charlie Shimp of Hazard’s on the Green. Both popular restaurants are in downtown Perry.

For more than 15 years, Matthew Howard has owned and operated several pizza shops in Middle Georgia. He currently owns a Stoner’s Pizza Joint in Warner Robins, another foodie favorite.

Howard and Schultz are teaming up to bring an old-school pizzeria to downtown Perry. The new restaurant will be unique to Perry in that it won’t be franchise but family and locally owned and designed to fill a niche in the community.

“Matt came into the restaurant (Schultze’s) one day and we got to talking … and I said, ‘Hey, a pizza shop down here would be great and that’s what I originally wanted to do,’ and he’s been looking to venture out and do his own take on pizza separate from Stoner’s … and one thing led to another,” Schultz said.

“Plus ... my restaurant background is that my family owns pizza shops up in New York.”

In the early planning stages, the new pizzeria is to be located at 742 Main St. in a building that Schultz owns.

The current tenant, Kingdom Boxing and Fitness, expects to relocate by August likely under a new name and at a to-be-determined location, said co-owner Dante Williams.

A remodel

Construction on the building is expected to begin afterward. Schultz said he plans to gut the building and renovate it.

“It’s from the early ‘50s and it hasn’t been updated in a long time,” he said. “We need to put on a whole new roof.

“We have to raise the ceiling, redo the interior and plumbing and everything. We’re going to keep the original walls.”

The one-story, 2,000-square-foot restaurant will include a back patio.

Schultz is responsible for the building, while Howard is responsible for the operation of the pizzeria. Howard is the primary owner, and Schultz is a secondary partner.

Howard is designing the inside. He’s developing the menu. He’ll likely be behind the counter, or in the back making the pizza.

“Matt wants to do it. He wants to run it. He wants to do it every day,” Schultz said.

Howard echoed, “He’s got the building. I’ve got the pizza ideas.”

Old-school pizzeria

The pizzeria will be geared primarily for dine-in.

“We’re going to have carry out and delivery also, but we’re going to really key in on the dine in because I love the downtown area of Perry and I really think the community will really like that,” Howard said.

“We’ll have pizza, wings, a little bit of pasta. It’s not going to be an Italian restaurant. But we want to have some little stuffed shells or a little bit of spaghetti — something like that. It’s in the works.”

The name of the restaurant is still on the drawing board, along with the interior design and menu.

But customers can expect an emphasis on pizza and wings, with some gluten-free and vegan options.

“We’ll probably sell a little pizza and beer,” Howard said. “We’ll probably have a couple of choices for that — not going to get extravagant and all that.”

The pizzeria will likely be open seven days a week, but operating hours have yet to be determined. The restaurant is targeted to open in January 2022.

This story was originally published June 22, 2021 at 2:45 PM.