When will House of Pizza reopen? We have news (at last)

Forget the fancy four-star places: What food fans in Charlotte really want to know is this: Will House of Pizza on Central Avenue ever reopen?

Ever since we reported last fall on the family-owned favorite's temporary closing, we've gotten calls, emails and desperate messages from fans of the 1960s-era restaurant at 3640 Central Ave. After repeated attempts to get an update, Maria Psilopoulos, who co-owns House of Pizza with her sister, Helen Mitsios and their brother, Nick Kakavitsas, called Monday to share the news: After closing for renovations last July, House of Pizza should reopen by the end of May.

"We're hoping — hoping," she said. The reason it's been difficult to reach members of the family is that the renovation has taken so much longer than they expected that they've been working other jobs. Psilopoulos has been working at two other restaurants, The Mad Greek and Skyland Family Restaurant.

"This thing has been drawn out so much," she says. "We have to survive."

The reason behind the long renovation of the building is an issue that's playing out in a lot of older restaurants in Charlotte right now: A new regulation in the N.C. food code goes into effect in January 2019, lowering the holding temperature for cold foods from the old 45 degrees to a new standard of 41 degrees. The 41-degree requirement was added in 2012, but because it's expensive to replace or update equipment, restaurants were given until January 2019.

Now that deadline is approaching and many restaurants are hurrying to update or adjust equipment. In some cases, walk-in coolers have had to be completely replaced, an investment that can cost $12,000 or up.

In the case of House of Pizza, Psilopoulos says, the family decided to do a complete renovation, moving the walk-in to the back of the kitchen to make more room, updating the dining room and making other building-code changes, such as adding handicapped-accessible bathrooms.

The finished work still needs a final inspection, but they've posted a "grand opening soon" sign, she says. And she's relieved that most of their 16 or so employees will be able to return. The family held a meeting for employees at the restaurant Sunday.

"They all showed up," she said. "It's wonderful."

This story was originally published April 30, 2018 at 3:07 PM with the headline "When will House of Pizza reopen? We have news (at last)."