click to enlarge
Douglas Trattner
Boom's Pizza at Van Aken District in Shaker Hts. opening soon.
Ben Bebenroth, Jonathan Bennett, and the rest of the Boom’s Pizza team are putting the finishing touches on the new Shaker Heights restaurant. Located in the former home of Michael’s Genuine, the colorful, casual and attractive space shares plenty of DNA with the Lakewood original, which opened a year and a half ago. Following a weekend of private events, the restaurant will open to the public sometime next week.
The second location for any restaurant group comes with a large dose of wisdom, experience and awareness. Having 18 months of service under their belts to go on, Bennett and Bebenroth are much better equipped to anticipate the next few weeks and months in Shaker. The expectation, they say, is to see numbers more than double those out west.
For starters, the dining room at Van Aken District is twice as large as the one in Lakewood, accommodating 86 guests versus 40. A spacious patio on the edge of the central park offers carry-out customers an alfresco option. Shaker Heights will also be open seven nights per week as opposed to six – and will be adding weekend lunch hours, while staying open until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
“You walk around here on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday and it’s mobbed,” says Bennett.
Combined, the two shops will be flying through approximately 3,500 pies per week, Bennett estimates. In advance of the opening, management centralized dough production at Spice HQ in Detroit Shoreway. The dough will be delivered fresh to both shops throughout the week.
“We just want to make excellent pizza,” says Bennett. “We knew that consistency of dough would be our biggest hurdle – and we found that we were right. But we also found that our dough is a little more durable than we thought it was.”
As for the food, flow and process, diners can expect the same efficient fast-casual operation. Dine-in guests order, pay, grab their beverages and any salads or appetizers, if they ordered them, and find a seat. When the pies are ready, they’ll receive a text message.
The menus are identical east and west save for the beverages. Shaker has four draft beers, four draft co*cktails, wines by the glass and a small selection of self-serve bottled beverages. Van Aken District is a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area – or DORA – meaning that customers can take their beer, wine or co*cktails with them when they walk out the door.
One departure out east: Boom’s in Shaker will sell slices during lunch service Fridays through Sundays.
Bebenroth and Bennett could not be more pleased with their new environment.
“The ownership and management group here do a phenomenal job keeping this district lively and local and clean and niche,” says Bennett. “They have something they want to curate and they have a vision and they’re doing a great job of executing that vision.”
click to enlarge
Douglas Trattner
Boom's Pizza at Van Aken District in Shaker Hts. opening soon.
click to enlarge
Douglas Trattner
Boom's Pizza at Van Aken District in Shaker Hts. opening soon.
click to enlarge
Douglas Trattner
Boom's Pizza at Van Aken District in Shaker Hts. opening soon.
click to enlarge
Douglas Trattner
Boom's Pizza at Van Aken District in Shaker Hts. opening soon.
click to enlarge
Douglas Trattner
Boom's Pizza at Van Aken District in Shaker Hts. opening soon.
click to enlarge
Douglas Trattner
Boom's Pizza at Van Aken District in Shaker Hts. opening soon.
click to enlarge
Douglas Trattner
Boom's Pizza owners: Jonathan Bennett (left) and Ben Bebenroth
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