A rebuild is being done on the corner of the Thompson Building that will be occupied by Stokes Wood Fired Pizza. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

EAST LIVERPOOL — Jason and Megan Stokes, the owners of Stokes Wood Fired Pizza, are stoked to expand from their food truck to a brick-and-mortar restaurant in the Thompson Building.

The Stokes opened their business with some uncertainty and a small food truck and one oven shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic ended. It was only four or five months later that they ended up getting a larger truck and another oven because they were that busy. They have been growing ever since.

The decision to expand from food truck to a brick-and-mortar business came about after Stu Wallace from the East Liverpool Community Revitalization Program (ELCPR) approached them with the idea of putting a restaurant in the Thompson Building.

Megan said the ELCPR has been asking the couple for two years if they would consider a restaurant downtown, but at the time they were happy with being mobile. Then Wallace told them the ELCPR was interested in putting them in on the first floor of the Thompson Building

“We both have loved that building for a long time and it’s a beautiful building and that kind of sparked our interest there a little bit, going into that building, so we agreed to meet with them and it just kind of went from there,” Megan said. “The excitement kept building.”

Wallace said he had been searching for different places for a restaurant for Stokes Wood Fired Pizza as he is a believer in their product and had been talking to them for some time about opening a restaurant.

Wallace also said that even before he became involved downtown, he was telling Jason and Megan that because of their huge following they could bring people downtown.

Wallace also noted that he went to Bellefontaine, Ohio and saw their downtown which had a pizza shop which does the numbers and draws people from all over for their pizza as the anchor to their revitalization and he told Jason, his pizza could do the same thing for East Liverpool.

Craig Cozza, developer for the Thompson Building, said this is exciting, and he has been talking to the Stokes for a while about getting them from the food truck to a restaurant.

“We are really excited about that. His pizza’s amazing and pretty famous in the area so it’s going to be awesome, especially in the Historic Thompson Building,” Cozza said. “It’s going to be neat. Wood fired is kind of an old school thing, and it will be in a building with exposed brick and hardwood floors, and the outdoor eating area we are really excited about that. It’s a great use for the space.”

Jason said the way downtown is starting to go and revive, he and Megan really want to be a part of bringing downtown East Liverpool back.

“That’s our big drive, to be able to give back,” Jason said. “We have so many people that follow us to come get pizza and they are always asking us where your brick and mortar is, are you going to get a brick and mortar, you should get a brick and mortar. When they presented that building to us, that was a done deal for us because we have absolutely loved that building from day one.”

Once opened, the restaurant will be an indoor dining restaurant with an outdoor cafe area.

Jason said the location is awesome because Chef Ray’s Diamond Grill is right there as well and the two restaurants will complement each other with the outdoor cafe and the Diamond Grill having an outdoor area it will give so many people variety.

Wood-fired pizzas are a small niche in the downtown area, with only one other restaurant, The Vault, offering them.

There will be some expansion to what is currently offered through the food truck, such as a wider variety of pizzas including 14 to 16 pizzas and maybe 10-inch pizzas through lunch. They will have wings, focaccia, baguettes, and salads. They make their own fresh mozzarella, so they will also offer fresh mozzarella balls for purchase daily.

“We are going to keep our menu simple. Our main thing is pizza,” Jason said. “We don’t want to get out there and try doing things that we are not good at.”

He noted they don’t want to detract from what they are known for.

The Stokes plan to continue operating the food truck after the restaurant for catering and limited events so they can continue to serve customers who can’t make it to the restaurant.

Jason said they would love to be opened in late summer, but opening will probably happen in the fall. He said they definitely want to be open for the Christmas Parade.

“It’s funny how we started real small in a little food truck and it has grown from one food truck to a bigger food truck to the restaurant. It’s a blessing,” Megan said. “We are excited to see how the community embraces us. I really feel that we can make a difference there and it will bring in other businesses because, like I always say, business brings business and I really feel we can get other high end restaurants to come in there. Hopefully they will see that we are going to make it and then they are going to take that chance and know that they are going to make it, too.”

Jason also said it’s not this group or that group or this business or that business it’s all about community and bringing everybody together .

“It’s really growing,” he said, with Megan saying it’s exciting to see

“We are really excited; we are stoked,” Jason said. “We prayed on this.”

Cozza noted that the work on the Thompson has taken longer than anticipated because they uncovered a lot of things they didn’t know were wrong with the building and it is needing more work than anticipated. But the corner of the building where the restaurant will be is currently being rebuilt now and from their they will be able to do the interior and continue with the other work needed without it affecting Stokes Wood Fired Pizza once they open.

Cozza also noted that with Stokes Wood Fired Pizza and an unnamed office user going in on the first floor and Buckeye Online School for Success (BOSS) being the anchor business on the second floor and four to five apartments, depending on the designs on the third and fourth floors, as of now the building is all spoken for.

Even with the discovery of a few more problems such as rotted floor joist, work is still

“It’s a beautiful building and it’s going to be really great when we are done. It’s just taken us a little longer due to all the unforeseen, but we will get it,” Cozza said. “We are excited. I can’t wait to taste Stokes Wood Fire Pizza in there.”

kgarabrandt@mojonews.com