Local pizza favorite celebrates 20 years

KYLE — When Billy Bonham, then 18, began his summer job at Kyle Pizza Co., formerly know as Pizza Classics, in 2004, he never expected that he would both one day own it and be celebrating 20 years in the business.

The original restaurant began where current day Centerfield Sports Bar and Grill is, explained Billy, but after the building was bought, the storefront moved to 118 S. Front St., where it resides to this day. Although the spot seemed great at the time, the lack of visibility caused the restaurant to suffer a financial loss. To manage, the previous owner approached Billy and presented three options: they receive an investment from a third-party source, the store closes or Billy could invest and become co-owner.

The process happened very quickly, according to Billy. In 2004, he was hired as a delivery driver, was promoted to manager in 2007, became co-owner in 2009 and in 2011 — when his old boss was tired of the South Austin commute — he purchased the other share, becoming the full owner of the restaurant.

“I had just graduated college and I had just started dating this girl,” he recalled. “The job offers [for my degree in music education] were kind of far away and she would be taking some classes in Austin to further her education and I was like, ‘I guess I could take over ownership at the shop.’”

He laughed after, stating that this decision was a good one, as the girl he mentioned was his now wife.

“My wife, Mariah, is an integral part of my success here. She not only handles some of the back-end stuff, including bookkeeping and some marketing, things like that, but she also is a delivery driver at times. She answers the phone; she helps in the kitchen,” said Billy. “She also has a full-time job and when she’s not working there, she helps out here as much as possible.”

Having worked at the restaurant for 20 years, he has seen the change that has occurred over the years — something that he believes was for the better.

One such change was the recently updated name: "With the name change to Kyle Pizza Co., when you see that name, you know there's no doubt that we are the local mom and pop pizza shop," Billy said.

“Over the years, we’ve kind of tightened up. We used to offer an unlimited topping deal, where you could buy any pizza you wanted for a certain price and that was not advantageous to keep the store open. We were losing money on that, so I had to change that. And that was a hard decision because customers liked it, but at the end of the day, the idea is to stay open and to be able to continue to serve the community,” stressed the owner.

Part of this change also included sourcing higher quality products, refining the recipes to the homemade dough and sauce, as well as making sure to hand-cut all produce and toppings.

Still, Kyle Pizza Co. sticks to its roots, with its classic New York style. A recent trip to New York left Billy and his wife satisfied when they realized that not one of the 20 pizza restaurants they visited were cooking on anything other than stone, just as they do. He said that this is what allows their shop to stand out amongst others in the area.

Among the classics, such as pepperoni, supreme and cheese, there are also a number of specialties, like employee favorite the Pizza Zen, as well as seasonal pizzas that typically come after Billy and Mariah spend time experimenting. These differing pies are due to the never-ending search to continue to create a superior experience for both the customers and their tastebuds: “[My wife and I] continue our education. So, we focus on continuing our education and try new pizza places. [Asking ourselves], ‘What’s trending? What’s not? What’s the new hot thing?’ … We try places in and around town and travel all around to try to see what people have and what we can offer our community here.”

One of the ideas that has come out of this is the new Sweet Heat pizza that will be available in the coming days, consisting of pepperoni, jalapeno, pineapple, basil and hot honey.

When asked if he regrets not entering the education field as was once planned, Billy stated that every day he is grateful for his job. There is not one day, he reveals, that he dreads coming into work, labeling it as “very fulfilling.”

Part of this experience is due to the customers that have continued to support the restaurant over the years.

“We have people who have been coming here for longer than I’ve worked here, so for over 20 years, and the community really supports us,” he said. “Once they try us, they realize that our quality is heads and shoulders above, especially, the national chains in town. Once they find us, they become our regular customers and they shop with us for years.”

“Not a lot of 38-year-olds have 20 years of experience in their career, so it feels great,” said Billy. “I look forward to the next 20 years of continuing to expand our offerings here and improve our product and continue to serve the community the great, award-winning pizza that we’ve been serving for 20 years.”

To view the menu and find more information, visit www.kylepizzaco.com.