Jan/Feb 2017 - Lynchburg Living
Home of the Virginia Slice
Tucked into a cozy block on Main Street, Benny Scarpetta’s is just one of many (more than ten!) for pie shop owners Zach Toth and Chris Brown. With locations in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, I was curious what made them bring their gooey, piping hot, HUGE slices of pizza to our town for their next venture.
Chris and Zach live in Blacksburg and Moneta respectively but really love the history and character of Downtown Lynchburg. Already fans of the “pizza by the slice” shops they had seen in New York City, the guys wanted to bring this concept to Southwest Virginia. But it seems we have another person to thank for getting these gigantic slices to Lynchburg. Chris and Zach received a letter from a boy by the name of Cooper Cook asking them to open a shop here, and they just couldn’t refuse!
The guys tell me, “We really enjoy the excitement surrounding historic downtowns and in terms of landscape, Downtown Lynchburg is our favorite in Virginia. The old Famous building on Main Street presented a perfect location for us where it housed a business that had been part of Lynchburg for almost 100 years.” They also say they have received more support from Lynchburg locals than anywhere else and are so excited to be a part of our downtown.
The menu and concept at Benny’s is simple. No frills, fresh ingredients, delicious pizza, cold drinks. One of the most popular local pies is Buffalo Chicken, but the Classic Pepperoni “trumps all.” The least popular pie was the Hotdog Slice so don’t anticipate seeing that one again. For now, there is no delivery option.
Chris and Zach like the face-to-face interaction and prefer that the phones aren’t ringing constantly.
Bring your kids, bring your friends or pull up a bar stool solo…just get to Benny’s ASAP. The owners are awesome, and the pizza is the best I’ve had in awhile (ever?). Welcome guys—and thanks Cooper Cook for getting them to town!
By Rachel Dalton
