Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
- Cheese Pie (tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, whole milk mozzarella, parmesan, basil and EVOO)
- Pepperoni Pie (tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, whole milk mozzarella, parmesan, pepperoni and basil)
- White Pie “The Carm” (caramelized onion puree, fresh mozzarella, whole milk mozzarella, whipped lemon ricotta and lemon basil oil)
Red Bird Pizza will also have chocolate chip cookies and chocolate chip banana bread muffins with a cookie butter center.
“Our team is small,” said Christian Clothier, who owns the pizza shop with his neighbor, Ife Olaore. “We want to be protective over the energy that we have, so if that means we make 50 pizzas at night until we find the right person, then that’s what we’ll do. Hopefully people can understand that our goal is ultimately quality and doing something special.”
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Clothier is a pizza connoisseur who is originally from New Jersey. Before he moved to the region in 2012, he worked at Carpe Diem Pub and Restaurant in New Jersey for four years.
“While I was working there I always was kind of dreaming of my own place,” Clothier said. “Pizza, I’ve been obsessed since I was a kid. My grandmother would always take me for a slice.”
He was planning to open a pizzeria in 2012, but plans were put on hold. In 2020 when Clothier moved to his current home, Olaore introduced himself as a neighbor and soon after they became close friends.
Olaore recalled finding out about Clothier’s dream to open a pizzeria and his experience of trying a slice for the first time. He said it was the best pizza he’s had in his entire life and remembered asking, “Why hasn’t the world experienced this pizza?”
Fast forward two years, they asked the former owners of the property at 18 N. Second St. if they were interested in selling. The couple was ready to retire and closed Dour Printing in June 2023. Since then, Clothier and Olaore have been hashing out the business plan and making the pizzeria dream into a reality. Olaore was the one that “lit the fire” and convinced Clothier it was time to make it happen.
“I’m thinking about where our second location (will be),” Olaore said. “For me, I always knew that this was going to be successful based on how my first bite of pizza was five years ago.”
Red Bird Pizza is a tribute to Clothier’s grandmothers. Their names are etched in the counter of the pizza shop.
The name of the pizzeria comes from his late grandmother, Betty Livingston, who was obsessed with cardinals. Clothier said she had a dream to open a bed and breakfast called the Red Bird Inn.
His 94-year-old grandmother, Daphne Clothier, is reflected through the pizza itself. He recalled several memories of enjoying pizza with his grandmother and her obsession with pizza. If she didn’t live in New Jersey, Clothier said Red Bird Pizza would be her go-to spot.
MORE DETAILS
Next week’s hours will be posted on social media sometime over the weekend. As their team becomes more efficient, they will begin adding additional pizzas to the menu, as well as other items like meatballs and salads.
Red Bird Pizza will eventually have a bar with cocktails. They hope to hire a craft bartender in the next month or so.
For more information and updates, visit redbird.pizza or the pizza shop’s Facebook or Instagram (@redbird_pizza) pages.
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