Village Pizza is recently under new ownership by New Paltz couple Mike Katz and Lara Alicandro, and the two have made some interesting changes.
Village Pizza has been a staple in the Village of New Paltz since the 1950s when it rose from the Jewett Family Farm’s JD Dairy Stand. Katz and Alicandro hope to maintain a retro feel, but also continue to better their restaurant in the modern day.
Katz, is also the propietor of Carry Out Kings, a restaurant delivery service. This service delivers food from any of New Paltz’s eateries to anywhere in the Village or Town of New Paltz, including locations as far as Highland and Rosendale. The connections made through this service led to their snag of Village Pizza.
“I am the proprietor of Carry Out Kings, so I have been doing deliveries for Village Pizza as well as 19 other restaurants in town for the last five years,” Katz said. “That’s how when the previous owner was looking to move on, she brought it up to me first before going public with it– I said ‘Yeah, that sounds like it could be a good idea.’”
This pizza and ice cream shop had booths throughout the floor, however, only seating around two to four people. To improve the seating arrangements, Katz and Alicandro added dining tables which can be pushed together for parties of larger numbers. In addition, a six-seat counter was added in place of the pinball machine, which was moved to the back of the restaurant.
In correspondence with eateries beside them, Katz and Alicandro contacted Los Jalapeños for their tomatillo sauce to compliment their Mexican pizza, made up of grilled chicken, caramelized onions and pepper jack cheese. “Personal pies will very soon be finding their way on to our menu, not just the signature pies but for all options,” Katz said.
To add to the already pivotal renovations, Katz and Alicandro took them a step further and added coffee services to the menu. With this addition, the drive-thru window is also operational for your pizza, coffee and ice cream needs. However, ignore the sign that says “Pizza Only.”
“The sign says ‘Pizza Only,’ and the reason it said that was because the past owners didn’t want to serve ice cream out the window,” Katz said. “I think it’s very misleading as we offer so much more than just pizza, so we’ll be covering that up in the near future.”
New Paltz resident Patrick Hynes and SUNY New Paltz graduate from 2017 grew up in Brooklyn, but loves Village Pizza.
“It has better customer service than most places in the city,” Hynes said. “I feel like it provides a family friendly environment, they serve ice cream too and during summers a lot of children go and love it.”
Katz and Alicandro met at SUNY New Paltz in 2005 and decided to stay. Katz majored in communications, and he explains that the experience he gained helped him now, as he “communicates everyday.”
Village Pizza is open daily and this weekend, their ice cream stand is open to the public with soft serve, handmade hard ice cream, milkshakes and more.
