Kathryn Van Alstyne, store manager of the Signal Mountain Pie Slingers pizza restaurant set to open soon, co-owners Jennifer McSpadden and Skip Welsh and daughter Mathilda, 6, clockwise from left, are getting ready for not only the new year, but also their new service area.
Photo by Katie WardPie Slingers pizza aims to make dinnertime a more savory experience, not only with top-quality, fresh ingredients, but also through a focus on family and conversation.
“There are three F’s we believe in at Pie Slingers with all our hearts,” said co-owner Skip Welsh, “food, family and fun. It’s all about the food first and foremost. We knew we wanted to center everything around family.”
Although the new Signal Mountain location is still being renovated in part of the former Signal Mountain Athletic Club building in Ashley Plaza, Welsh’s wife, Jennifer McSpadden, said there will be no TVs. In fact, the new restaurant, due to open soon, will be “a spitting image” of the already successful one they own in Chickamauga, Ga., according to Welsh.
“We wanted to create an environment where families come and actually talk to each other,” McSpadden said.
Family pizza nights will feed creativity as well as family fun, with children creating and making their own pizza.
Whether a child’s culinary experimentation or one of the winning combinations already flying out of the Chickamauga kitchen, the couple says they use only the freshest ingredients.
“We do all fresh veggies,” McSpadden said. “The knife is my best friend. We don’t buy anything frozen. It’s just a labor of love. Still, when we take the day off, we get up at the crack of dawn and make our dough. We make it every day from scratch.”
Tweaks here and there since opening the original Pie Slingers in August have led to doughy perfection, according to her. Her husband gushes about their Italian sausage, which they season and make themselves from regular sausage.
Pizza selections range from vegetarian, like the Kaleidoscope Pizza, to the unusual, like the Not ‘Cho Mama’s Taco Pizza. The most popular is the all-meat Godfather Pizza, of which Welsh “make[s] about a thousand a day.”
For those with a hankering for something particular, pesto, garlic and olive oil, Alfredo and traditional sauce can be topped with asiago, bleu cheese, mozzarella, cheddar and parmesan as well as more than 30 toppings.
The Behemoth Pizza, which “is becoming [their] claim to fame,” according to Welsh, can be quartered into whatever combinations customers choose. A whopping 28 inches, it’s enough to feed two families.
Salads, wings, breadsticks, cheese bread and “To Die For” Lasagna round out the menu. Lasagna and pizzas also come in “take and bake” forms. Dinner can be sweetly ended with a strawberry, apple or s’more dessert pizza or cinnamon sticks.
“We stick to what we do best,” Welsh said. “We don’t experiment with sandwiches and stuff like that.”
They are hoping “their best” will resonate with Signal Mountain, not only in the restaurant but also in the community. Welsh said they want to be a team player and get involved with the schools and athletic programs. It was this kind of inclusive town atmosphere that drew them to the mountain in the first place, said McSpadden.
About 100 seats inside will likely later be augmented by outdoor patio seating, but delivery will also be available. Beer is another likely future addition.
Pie Slingers will be in the Ashley Plaza at 1309 Taft Highway, Suite H.