SALISBURY — Another place to grab a slice is open in downtown Salisbury, and it’s out of this world.
The Pizza Dip at 121 East Innes Street opened its doors for its soft opening on Oct. 15. Cory and Richard Smith started welcoming customers to their first restaurant endeavors.
Richard has been in business operations including food franchises for most of his career, but he and Cory always wanted to start a pizza restaurant of their own. With one two-year old and another on the way, the couple started looking for a place to open up their place.
After looking at locations in Charlotte and around the area, they finally saw the Salisbury location and knew it would fit their goals. Even after recently giving birth to their second child, Cory said they have welcomed a third baby, the Pizza Dip.
“The community has been very welcoming, so we’re really excited. Everyone has reacted pretty well,” Richard said.
Starting with a scribbled logo in her planner, Cory has been the creative director of the business, crafting many of the pizza and dip flavors. The menu includes classics and also specialty pizzas like the Pickle Pluto, an alfredo-based pie covered in pickles, dill and ranch, and the loaded baked potato pizza, a marinara-based pizza with a deconstructed loaded baked potato on top.
“For the pickle pizza, I was pregnant when I was coming up with the menu, but then we made it and everybody liked it,” Cory said.
The Pizza Dip name comes from their dip bar at the back of the restaurant featuring over 20 different dips from common pizza pairs to new flavors to try. One of the most popular has been a carmelized balsamic onion jam. The Smiths are taking recommendations or ideas for dips to add to the bar.
Beyond pizza, the restaurant offers wings, breadsticks and a variety of desserts. They also have lunch specials which pair pizzas, salads, breadsticks and wings for under $13.
“I love wings. I won’t say we have the best in the world, but wing to wing, we have wings I would put up against a lot of places here,” Richard said.
As self-proclaimed nerds, the Smiths embraced a space theme for the restaurant, featuring some fan favorite science fiction movie posters around the walls. They plan to continue decorating and making the restaurant a family-friendly environment.
As the restaurant is in the former Sergeant Pepper’s location, the pair hopes to honor the history of the establishment but also create their own legacy. Looking ahead, they do not plan to open the restaurant up as a bar but want to work with the neighboring bars and entertainment to be part of downtown.
The Pizza Dip has dine-in, carry out and grab-and-go and are now on multiple delivery apps. They are open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and until 12 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. The restaurant will host an official grand opening on Nov. 6, but they are open for business now.
