A Quick Q&A with Brian Zepsa, co-owner of Zepeddie’s Pizzeria, Charlotte, North Carolina

zepeddies.com
instagram.com/zepeddies/

Concept:

Neighborhood pizza joint focused on high quality ingredients and customer service. Trying to offer something a little elevated from the typical pizza joint.

Pizza Style & Dough:

We offer both a thin crispy crust as well as a thicker Sicilian style crust. We spent over a year working on our dough. We make everything in house as well as our fresh bread for sandwiches, focaccia appetizer and our gluten free option. All our flour is organic and locally sourced in NC.

What prompted you to reopen the restaurant after so many years?

When the family closed the original location, I think we all knew that one day, we would open again. There was a reason we held on to the original neon for so many years. The building we are in was part of the family’s woodworking business throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. As we have seen the neighborhood change and become more of a residential hotspot, we all knew it was time to dust off the old sign and go at it again. 

How were you able re-engage with the community and market to a new customer base?

The community now in this area is very different. What used to be heavy business and commuter traffic at the old restaurant has become young professionals and young families who can literally walk over and grab a pie from us.

How has the restaurant changed since its initial opening?

Charlotte has changed dramatically in the last 25 years.  We used to be a heavy lunch crowd with a pizza buffet and salad bar at lunch for $4.95. Line out the door every day. (Remember the Wendy’s Buffet?) It was the thing to do in the 90s. Now, we are more focused on the craft of making pizza and trying to stand out amongst the ton of competition out there.

What’s on the horizon for Zepeddie’s Pizzeria?

Right now, the sole focus is growing our customer base and providing a consistent, good-quality product and experience to our customers.  After that, who knows? Charlotte is growing, and even though we have only been open a little while, customers are asking when we will open a second location in their “neighborhood.”

Read more Conversations with pizzeria operators from around the U.S. in People & Pizzerias.