Neighborhood Pizza Parlor Opens at Winthrop Town Centre

Whether you have an urge for New York-style or deep-dish Chicago-style, you'll be able to satisfy your craving at the area's newest pizzeria, Cappy's.

Now open at 6260 Winthrop Town Centre Drive, the pizzeria offers hand-tossed pizza with fresh ingredients. 

Owners Brian Bates, Ryan Hess and Jeff Powers also own the Cappy's Pizzeria in St. Petersburg. The first Cappy's was founed 15 years ago in South Tampa. The Winthrop location is the fourth Cappy's Pizzeria in the Tampa Bay area. The other two are located in Palma Ceia and Seminole Heights.

"We'd been talking of wanting to get a Cappy's out in this area for a while," said Bates. "Then one day, two or three years ago, I was driving out in this area and found this location in Winthrop completely by accident. I was blown away by the layout of this center."

Back then, the location housed a chicken rotisserie restaurant. When that restaurant vacated the storefront, Bates talked to Winthrop Town Centre developer John Sullivan about moving in.

"It's just the kind of location we like," said Hess. "It fits our idea of a place where you'd have a mom-and-pop type of restaurant, that cozy, down-home feel that fits in with Cappy's philosophy.

"We want to be the neighborhood pizza parlor, a place where we can build a personal relationship with our customers," said Bates. "And we believe this site will allow us to do that."

In the four weeks since the pizzeria opened, about half the customers are new to Cappy's. The other half come in because they've tried one of the other Cappy's locations and liked the pizza and the atmosphere, said Bates who, along with Hess, works behind the counter making pizzas and serving customers.

"A lot of people have been coming in, saying they're really glad we're open," said Hess. 

"The reception has been pretty positive," said Bates. "The weekends have been great."

Both Hess and Bates began their pizzeria careers at the Cappy's in South Tampa.

"I worked at Cappy's through college," said Hess. "Then when I finished college in 1998, I decided my major in speech pathology wasn't the career for me. I liked working in the pizza parlor."

Bates shared a similar story.

"Cappy's is a great place to work," he said. "It just feels right. Everyone who works here are longtime friends, people we've known for years."

The trio of owners decorated the new Cappy's themselves using vintage signs, posters, old license plates and college pennants they collected from family members and purchased at vintage stores.

On one wall hangs a 1939 RCA radio given to Bates by his girlfriend. The center of the restaurant is dominated by a 1952 Admiral Freezer they purchased off ebay and had shipped from Denver. And the open kitchen features a 1970s Roto-Flex pizza oven that can bake 20 to 25 pizzas at a time.

"We got the oven from a supply place in Tampa and nursed it back to health," said Hess.

"You can tell we're into vintage relics," added Bates.

Even the menus have a vintage flair. They're printed on the backs of old laminated album covers.

"I don't think we did too bad a job decorating," said Hess. "Not bad for a bunch of guys."

He said the decor is just a backdrop for the main attraction: the pizza.

Everything from the dough to the sauce is made from scratch, said Bates.

The pizza features toppings such as broccoli, feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, meatballs and artichoke hearts. In addition, the restaurant offers calzones, cheese bread and Greek, Caesar and tossed salads.

Prices range from $8.50 for a small cheese pizza to $19.50 for a large "Cappy," featuring sausage, ham, pepperoni, green peppers, onions and mushrooms.

In addition, the owners have applied for a beer and wine license. set to go before the county March 14. When approved, the trio plans to feature 30 to 40 import and microbrew beers.

Cappy's is open Sunday through Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m.

Call 813-662-4811 for more information.