Viking Pizza Company, the brand new family-owned gourmet pizza parlor in Spring Hill, thought they would have a quiet soft-opening on Tuesday to get ready for their upcoming official opening.
It was a nice thought, but things don’t always go as planned.
The restaurant, at 3525 Kedron Road, was so busy that within their first two hours of opening they sold 100 pizzas and practically ran out of everything. They’ve decided to close for two days to prepare to re-open this weekend, for another “soft” opening run.
“Turnout was so huge that we ran out of ingredients,” Kelly Jones, who runs the restaurant with her husband Brandon, said. “It was crazy, we did not expect that much of a turnout. We had tried to keep it just kind of on the down-low, and everybody just showed up. We started telling people we don’t have this and that, and said we just shut down.”
The Jones’ used Wednesday and Thursday to train new staff and stock up on extra ingredients.
They will be open for dinner on Friday, and hopefully Saturday. Sunday is up in the air. Mondays they will be closed. Hours are not set yet, as they work out the kinks and seek customer feedback for their true grand opening, set for October 7.
By far, their most popular pizza is The Viking, which is an “ultimate meat lovers” pie. It is a “feast of pepperoni, sausage, gyro meat, grilled chicken, bacon, fresh basil, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, black olives, mozzarella and garnished with pepperoncini and a swirl of ranch dressing.”
Viking Pizza Company features wood-fired cooked pizza and specializes in locally brewed beer.
At least 80 percent of the menu is cooked or finished in the wood-fired oven, the pizzas are hand tossed and made from scratch, including the dough.
The Jones’ wanted to “introduce Spring Hill and the surrounding areas to a new kind of pizza experience.”
They trained with World Pizza Champion Leo Spizzirri at his test kitchen in Chicago. Spizzirri will be at their grand opening.
“We are making pizzas as well as sandwiches and other dishes that can be finished in the oven,” Kelly said. “And we will have salads, and a wide variety of desserts.”
“Most of all we are trying to keep it family friendly, one of the challenges is that we are taking over the old location of The Office, which was a bar, so we really want to get the word out that this is no longer a bar, we are a family ourselves with five children and focus on making everyone happy and entertained when they are eating.”
