Rothesay’s Pomodori Pizzeria Opening Location in Uptown Saint John
SAINT JOHN – An award-winning Neapolitan pizzeria based in Rothesay will be expanding its quick-service woodfire model into the Saint John market this spring.
Pomodori Pizzeria has announced that it will be opening a second location at 34 Canterbury Street in Uptown Saint John. It will be located next door to Picaroons in the complex owned by Historica Developments in the space previously occupied by Locavore Cafe, which closed in December.
The Rothesay Pomodori opened in 2008, and co-owner Janice MacPherson says they always planned to open the second one. Over the last five years, she and business partner Keith Dunphy had been on the hunt for the right location. When 34 Canterbury Street opened up, MacPherson says they knew they found the right place.
“I’m impressed with what’s been happening in the last few years uptown,” says MacPherson. “For uptown and for 34 Canterbury Street specifically, I’m really impressed and appreciate how Historica has transformed some of these beautiful buildings that were not in great shape. In our case, the space we’re going into is actually an old car park and you’d never know it.”
The new Pomodori location will be open seven days a week and will look similar to the Rothesay location in design, but they are also looking to add some new things to take advantage of the location’s unique features.
“We’re looking at a couple of additions, just because it’s a different space and we have Picaroons just next door where we share an indoor doorway, which is cool,” says MacPherson. “We’re just trying to
find ways to actually improve on the technology itself. We come from a tech background, so we’re looking at what’s the latest greatest technology we can use for our customers to make it easier for them to communicate with us and order from us.”
Pomodori specializes in fresh, quick-service Neapolitan pizza.
“I call us ‘slow food, served fast.’ There are a lot of fast food options and there are a lot of full-service dining options. We’re kind of in the middle. You actually go up to a counter … you place your order, the pizzas get made and they get served out to you,” says MacPherson.
“We believe that woodfire pizza is the original fast food. There’s no reason that you’d have to come in and sit down and stay an hour and a half in order to have your meal, because we cook it at 800 degrees in 90 seconds. Customers can have the convenience and get something really good, healthy and tasty compared to other fast-food options.”
She says Pomodori will offer a dining option that’s limited in Uptown Saint John.
“There’s a really great dining scene that’s happening uptown right now. But I don’t think there is anything like Pomodori,” says MacPherson. “I think we meet that middle ground. Really great food, but hopefully in and out much quicker than you would be in a formal dining environment.”
The new Pomodori location is slated to open this spring, hopefully by the end of March says MacPherson. In the meantime, the business is currently looking to hire staff for the new location.
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