We’ve all been watching 
the transformation of what was once an old ugly paint store on Patterson across from Grismer Tire become transformed into Old Scratch Pizza.
Stephanie Soller shared that her husband Eric drove by the building every day for years from his job at Hobart on his way home to their home in Oakwood and about a year ago they decided that it would be the home of their beer and pizza joint. The couple, who meet in culinary school had always dreamed of opening a restaurant together.
The 6000 sq foot restaurant has a casual feel, where you’ll order at the counter, then head into the dining room, which seats about 150 at communal tables or at one of the 20 seats at the bar. There’s even a private room that will seat about 30. Weather permitting the patio adds another 40 seats.
The pizza they’ll be serving is Neopolitan-style pizza – a very thin crispy crust, cooked quickly in two wood-fired pizza ovens that at 800-1000 degrees will cook a pizza in just a couple of minutes. Soller says getting used to the ovens has been a big learning experience for him and the staff. A Chicago pizza expert Gianni Gallucci of Associazione Pizzaiuoli Napoletani (aka the Pizza Police) was brought in to assist in training them all on the style of pizza they will be producing.
Stephanie Soller
MostMetro.com was lucky enough to get an invite to one of the practice dining sessions, where we were greeted with great hospitality by Stephanie, who seemed very cool and collected, a great sign for management of the new eatery. She gave us a quick overview of the menu and it was hard to decide where to begin. Vegetarian {V}, Vegan{VG} and Gluten Free{GF} items were clearly marked, a welcome detail for many. The pizza’s are about 11 inches around- a big meal for one or perfect to share. We tried the meatballs- and they were quite tasty- can’t wait to go back for a meatball sandwich.
The Pizza Menu is divided into REDS:
Angry Beekeeper hand-crushed tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, spicy soppressata, hot honey, olive oil
We tried the Dayton on our first visit!
WHITES:
Shroom {V} olive oil, wood-roasted forest mushrooms, fresh mozzarella, roasted
Roasted Cauliflower to share!
garlic, thyme, white truffle oil .50
There’s also a build your own option, salads, sharable appetizers like the whole roasted cauliflower, meatballs, cold cuts and buratta & proscuitto. Eric also shared that they’ll add a brunch pizza down the road.
