24 | July 12, 2018 | The New Lenox Patriot NEW LENOX newlenoxpatriot.com Brought to you by THE NEW LENOX PATRIOT
newlenoxpatriot.com DINING OUT the New Lenox Patriot | July 12, 2018 | 25 The Dish Pizza joint rebuilds brand under new owners Jacquelyn Schlabach Assistant Editor He lived down the street from B&V Pizza in Lockport growing up, and now he is running it. Vic Pellicano purchased the pizza joint that has been around for 31 years roughly a month ago with his godmother. The original owners, Bob and Vivian, opened B&V Pizza in 1987, passing the business down to their daughter a few years ago. “I came in here one day and ordered a pizza, and [the daughter] made a comment like, ‘Hey, do you still have that dream of owning a pizza place?’” Pellicano recalls. “Maybe when I was 10 I had that dream, but I don’t remember having that dream recently. And then my godmother who’s running it now with me, she was like, ‘Yeah he wants to own a pizza place.’” It was not so much Pellicano’s dream as it was his father’s, who told him that he would love to own B&V. “We used to order from here all the time, and my dad would always say, ‘Oh, they’re sitting on a gold mine over there; we should buy that place,’ and this and that,” Pellicano said. “But I always rolled my eyes. I was in law school at the time. I didn’t want to buy this thing.” After completing law school at Loyola, Pellicano lived in Chicago for seven years with his wife, Becky, and three children. He moved to Homer Glen twoand-a-half years ago to be back in his hometown. “When it came up, it just felt right,” Pellicano said. “So B&V, Bob and Vivian — my wife’s name is Becky and [my name’s] Vic so that kind of worked out. And my dad wanted to buy it and never had the chance. The owner was motivated to move it to somebody she knew would take care of it and the brand. Everything just seemed to line up. We were at a position where we could do it. It just kind of felt like fate was telling me to do it.” His godmother, Chris Peracki, is the president of B&V. His wife, Becky, is the marketing director. Vic is the CEO. Together, they see a lot of opportunity to spread the word about B&V and draw a bigger crowd. The previous owners never ran an ad or offered coupons in its 31 years of business. All that and more will change for B&V. “The first thing we need to do is rebuild it, right, because it’s just been so underappreciated for so long,” Pellicano said. “So, the first thing we need to do is take the customers, remind them that we’re here, you know, everybody who used to order.” There was a Facebook page run by the previous owners, but Pellicano plans to utilize it more to connect with customers, offering them coupons to those who comment on a post or share one, for example. An Instagram account recently was created that will be used to show customers the food being made and people enjoying it together. “The coolest part is the connection to the community, the way everybody’s engaging with us through Facebook, telling their stories,” Pellicano said. “It’s that kind of connection to the town. I don’t think any Domino’s or Pizza Hut or whatever, they’ll never have that.” In addition to advertising, Pellicano said there will be a B&V Pizza 14508 Archer Ave. in Lockport Hours • 4-9 p.m. Tuesday- Thursday, Sunday • 4-10 p.m. Friday- Saturday For more information ... Web: www.bandvpizza. com Phone: (815) 838-8010 loyalty program. “For us, it’s just so much about marketing the brand and just telling people, ‘Hey you order from us, you spent this much, this year you get this much off,’” Pellicano said. “Just taking care of them, not making them keep track of menus, stuff like that. Just finding ways to make it easier for them to order from us.” By the end of the summer, Pellicano said the business also is to partner with Uber Eats and Grubhub to expand its delivery radius. “We want to make sure we can hit all of Lockport,” he said. “That’s been an issue and challenge in the past.” B&V Pizza is open starting at 4 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. Pellicano said that by the end of the year the business will have a day shift starting at 11 a.m. and be open for the first time on Mondays. As for now, the menu will stay the same as it always has been. Pellicano and his staff will observe which items are selling and which ones are not, and remove ones if necessary. One of their top sellers has been the steak burrito ($8) which comes with beans, steak, cheese, tomato, lettuce and sour cream. “We sell so many burritos, like a Mexican restaurant, and they’re great,” Pellicano said. J.J. Weinert prepares three different pies at B&V Pizza in Lockport. Photos by Thomas Czaja/22nd Century Media The most popular item on the menu at the Lockport spot is the B&V Special (6.50), a sandwich made with homemade beef, melted mozzarella and the option of peppers. There are variations of pizza that customers can order, with toppings including sausage, mushroom, green pepper, Canadian bacon, hot giardiniera and more. “The food taste likes home, just feels like it’s always been here, [and] the food quality has always been amazing after all those years,” Pellicano said.
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