Pizza ‘destination’ to open downtown

Impellizzeri’s arriving next summer on Public Square
By Ben Sheroan—The News Enterprise
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Reprinted with permission from The News Enterprise.

 
A destination restaurant known for its unique Louis­ville-style pizza will open next year at 14 Public Square in Elizabethtown.
A fourth location for The Original Impellizzeri’s Pizza — and the first outside Jeffer­son County — will take over a historic building known
as the Stewart Opera House, which more recently served as offices for Hardin County government.
Bruce Besten, primary owner of the restaurant company, predicts the Elizabethtown location will become a flagship store akin to its operation in downtown Louisville across from the KFC Yum! Center. Besten’s vision includes unique decor, including the bar from the defunct Phoenix Hill Tavern, and extensive beer choices on tap.
With 5,500-square feet indoors and extensive outdoor seating, Besten said Impellizzeri’s in E’town will be able to accommodate banquets, corporate gatherings and any large group — including travel baseball teams or swim clubs competing locally.
Besten, who was raised in Louisville, said he’s long been interested in Elizabethtown as a restaurant site. He said he visited frequently when his daughters competed in championship swim meets at E-town Swim & Fitness Center.
The decision was sealed, he said, by the enthusiasm and support he received from Carl Swope, Kevin Addington and Ben LaRue, who recruited him. Their company, Ne
w Era II, acquired the building at auction from county government and signed a long-term lease agreement Friday with Besten.
“They just sold me on E’town,” Besten said. “They were so accommodating and enthusiastic and met all my concerns. This is a partnership.”
The negotiations have been underway for roughly three months and Impellizzeri’s was a target from the outset.
“We really wanted to find something that was a brand name and quality,” LaRue said.
Local investors will be involved in this location, which also was important to Besten.
“We really wanted it to be a unique restaurant experience that people will want to come back to,” LaRue said.
When it opens sometime next summer, he expects Impellizzeri’s to draw customers from beyond Hardin County and sees it as a destination that will further downtown Eliza­bethtown’s business revival.
Besten said employment will depend on sales success, but he expects to hire between 26
and 35 employees with at least 15 of those being full-time jobs. Renov­a­tions and construction are expected to take eight to nine months, depending on permit and approval processes.
LaRue, who also is involved in redevelopment of 69 Public Square and an adjacent building that once was home to J.J. Newberry department store, said negotiations are in the works for a destination restaurant there as well. Both LaRue and Besten said the two businesses will complement each other and further establish downtown Eliza­beth­town as a place to visit.
Besten described Swope, Addington and LaRue as “great ambassadors for the area.” He was impressed by their interest in rebuilding downtown as a focal point of the community.
“They really are doing a service for the town,” he said.
Besten’s involvement with Impellizzeri’s began as a renaissance of its own. The business was born in 1979 on Bards­town Road in the High­lands neighborhood, but at one point closed. Working with founder Benny Impel­lizzeri, Bes­ten helped revive the company in 2007 by providing operational support and necessary business skills.
Impellizzeri continues his involvement as he and family members work in the Louisville restaurants. Besten described him as an icon for the brand and praised Impellizzeri for developing an exceptional product.
The signature dish, which often is called Louis­ville-style pizza, involves two layers of toppings and two layers of cheese. The company also relies on other Impel­liz­zeri family recipes including its lasagna, spaghetti and meatballs and acclaimed bread sticks.
To accommodate a variety of preferences, Besten said the menu includes thin crust, New York-style pizza, a thick, rectangular Sicilian-style pizza and a growing list of gluten-free options.
Besten thinks he will need to educate the market about his
business because new customers often trip over the price before encountering the quality.
“If you are used to a $5 or $10 pizza, that’s not us,” he said. “But our $25 will fill four or five people up and you may have to eat three of those other pizzas.”
Besten said customers of The Original Impellizzeri’s Pizza, including many he has met from Hardin County, are faithful.
“We have a very loyal customer base,” he said. “Once they try it, they stick with us.”
Ben Sheroan can be reached at 270-505-1764 or bsheroan@thenewsenterprise.com.