9th Slice Pizza Co., a new Hales Corners pizza shop, is now open at 5620 S. 108th St. and made about 200 pizzas during its Nov. 6 grand opening.
The fast-casual restaurant, open daily for lunch and dinner, bakes specialty and make-your-own pizzas in an Italian-imported Italforni oven– the only one in Wisconsin.
The oven uses narrowly-cut stone slats on a conveyor to cook any-sized pizza in less than three minutes. The automatic conveyor feature eliminates the need for an employee to manually handle the pizza as it bakes, co-owner Gary Plassmeyer said.
“It is such a unique pizza,” Plassmeyer said. “No one else is doing this.”
Plassmeyer and Andrew Baer, former owners of Milwaukee-based Jake’s Deli, co-own and operate 9th Slice. They first designed the concept about three years ago after attending a pizza convention in Las Vegas.
They officially launched the business at the end of last year and hope to eventually sell 9th Slice franchises around the midwest.
Plassmeyer and Baer owned Jake’s Deli from 2009 to 2015, before it was purchased in 2016 by Stand Eat Drink Hospitality Group.
9th Slice offers carry-out or dine-in options and will eventually offer delivery service and an app, Plassmeyer said.
Besides pies, 9th Slice’s menu offers a selection of both Italian and American-style appetizers, soups, salads, entrees, and desserts. Its full bar is available to dine-in customers.
The Nov. 6 opening follows an eight-month build-out and remodeling project on an already-existing strip mall building that now– post-expansion– is 3,200 square feet. Renovations to the corner space included a concrete floor, new walls and windows, and bar and kitchen installations. The exterior construction is still in its final stages.
Plassmeyer said the restaurant’s construction and opening took longer than expected but he and Baer are excited to now be open.
