THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 20, 1996 TAG: 9606180122
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: On The Town
SOURCE: Sam Martinette
LENGTH: 83 lines
YOU HAVE TO admire Robert Bryson for taking on the big guys with his sub and pizza delivery business, Willoughby's Soup-Or Subs & Pizza.
Bryson is operating out of a very small building at 12th View and West Ocean View Avenue on Willoughby Spit.
With no prior food background other than two years of running a festival concession that he owns - Tea-Rific - and using his grandmother's recipes for some of the homemade soups he sells, this 28-year-old entrepreneur admits even he is surprised at how successful his fledgling takeout and delivery business has been.
He has survived early opposition from neighbors who worried about what he was building in the former hair salon. Bureaucratic red tape slowed him down but didn't stop him. In fact, it was an application for a hot-dog vending license that got him into the business to start with, he says.
``They told me I had to be backed by a restaurant, so I decided to build one rather than pay someone for the use of their commissary,'' Bryson recalls.
He even survived opening during last year's Labor Day holiday, when his food delivery didn't come until late afternoon, and orders for subs and pizza were backing up.
``I knew Robert was opening that day, and I live in Willoughby, so I stopped by after work to see how things were going,'' recalls Betty Kenner, who met Bryson through his work as head of security for the Ocean View Beach Festival, which she co-chairs. ``The food had come late, the phone was ringing off the hook, and the place was a zoo. So I reached over and picked up the phone and took an order. Then I took another, and 45 minutes later, I still had on a dress, stockings and earrings - I decided to run home and change. I ended up working three hours.''
Even today, Bryson's crew has to hustle to keep up with the orders during the evening rush.
``We make all of our own pizza dough and our sauces, and grate fresh mozzarella cheese each day,'' he says. ``All the vegetables are cut fresh daily. The only things out of a can are the jalapenos and the olives. And we've been so busy that sometimes in the evening we have to tell people that they'll have to wait a little bit for delivery.''
Willoughby's delivers east to 3rd Bay and inland to around Leicester Avenue in Pamlico, but Bryson says fully 75 percent of his deliveries are to Willoughby Spit, where he and all 11 of his full- and part-time employees live.
``And 90 percent of the deliveries are to repeat customers,'' he says.
In addition to the homemade soups (chicken and rice, cream of potato, a rich New England-style clam chowder and others), Willoughby's delivers 12- and 16-inch pizzas, from a small cheese ($4.99) to a pie with unlimited toppings ($11.99). The Greek has provolone cheese, green peppers, black olives, chunks of tomato and feta cheese ($8.49/$10.99), while the Meat Maximizer ($8.59/$10.99) is piled with pepperoni, ham, bacon, sausage and ground beef.
A vegetarian pie comes with green peppers, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, black olives, jalapenos and extra cheese ($7.79/$9.99), and the White Pizza is lightly brushed with garlic, seasoned olive oil and herbs, covered with mozzarella and your choice of a topping ($5.99/$8.49). We added chunks of tomato to one last week and enjoyed its zippy taste.
Willoughby's also delivers calzones, a sort of baked, stuffed pizza resembling a huge turnover (three cheese, $5.28; or the deluxe, with mozzarella, pepperoni, salami, green peppers, onions and mushrooms, $8.49).
As for subs, they use 6- or 12-inch loaves, and a sample of prices includes a half-sub with ham and turkey ($2.79) or Italian sausage, meatball or chicken Parmesan ($2.99). A 12-inch Philly steak sub with green peppers, provolone and onions or a bacon cheeseburger sub is $5.39. A 12-inch Italian sub (pepperoni, ham and salami) or a combo (roast beef, turkey and ham) will cost $4.29. The whole French Dip is $4.29.
Willoughby's also serves buffalo wings, salads, including a Greek and a Caesar, and side orders such as garlic bread and cheese bread sticks, as well as bread pudding for dessert. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by SAM MARTINETTE
``We make all of our own pizza dough and our sauces,'' says Robert
Bryson, owner of Willoughby's Soup-Or Subs & Pizza.
AT A GLANCE
Willoughby's Soup-or Subs & Pizza: 1205 W. Ocean View Ave.,
583-3333.
Food: Take-out or delivery only.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 1
a.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday.
Prices: pizza, $4.99-$11.99; subs, $2.79-$5.39. by CNB