Pizza Hotline
What: Restaurant sells pizza, hoagies and salads
Where: 767 Central Ave., Carlisle
Phone: (937) 746-0030
Owner: Angie Smith
Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. weekdays, and 8:30 a.m. to midnight weekends
CARLISLE — Pizza Hotline has reached a crust in its existence, marking 20 years today.
The pizza shop first opened in 1990 on Dayton-Oxford Road, but business tripled when it moved to Central Avenue in Carlisle three years later, said owner Angie Smith. The location at one of the city’s main crossroads near Carlisle Local Schools has been a key to business over the years.
Pizza Hotline will celebrate its anniversary today by offering specials — two 16-inch pepperoni pizzas for $20 and a 12-inch mushroom or Italian steak sandwich for $4.75.
Smith said she didn’t think the pizza restaurant would make it 20 years. She and her ex-husband Tim bought Riverboat Pizza from her stepfather Nace Brady, using some of her stepfather’s recipes to open Pizza Hotline. The day after the opening, she gave birth to her son Kory.
But flash forward 20 years and Kory is now a manager. There are five to six part-time workers, including her son, and she says her daughter Abby is next.
Smith said what keeps customers coming back is the good food and consistency of the food.
Pizza Hotline serves sandwiches, salads and pizza. The local competition includes pizza chains Cassano’s in Carlisle and Domino’s in Franklin.
Top sellers at Pizza Hotline are the Ham Grinder sub sandwich, mushroom steak sandwich and California Chicken pizza, Smith said.
Sub sandwiches are a favorite of Ben Fultz of Middletown, who said while waiting for his order Tuesday that he’s been a customer for about two years.
Smith said, “I take a lot of pride in how good the food is.”
Twenty years from now, she hopes to see multiple Pizza Hotline locations. Most recently, the restaurant started serving sausage gravy and biscuits and breakfast pizza for breakfast in October.
“I’d like to grow bigger,” Smith said.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2551 or clevingston@coxohio.com.
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