Business

Beer sparks third expansion of Blue Ridge Pizza

By Bill Moss, Published: July 29, 2012

ETOWAH — Beer and pizza go together, and for Tom Sanders, the combination means even bigger crowds at a restaurant that had already shown impressive growth.

Ask anyone what drink goes best with pizza and the reply you're likely to get is not milk, water, coffee, iced tea or even Pepsi and Coke. The beverage most often associated with pizza is beer. And there's the rub, or was. Until recently, anyone ordering pizza at a restaurant in unincorporated Henderson County had to be content with a soft drink to wash it down.
Tom Sanders, with cook Colton ValeThat all changed on May 8 when Henderson County voters approved the sale of alcohol in unincorporated areas of the county. Chain and mom-and-pop stores throughout the county now stock beer and wine. But the new law may not have had any greater immediate impact than at Blue Ridge Pizza Company on Brevard Road in Etowah.
Business at the restaurant has increased steadily since it opened four years ago. The new law has accelerated the growth. Having expanded once already, when the restaurant's reputation for tasty pizza, homemade soups and hearty grinders spread, Sanders is now adding a third room, this one with a full bar, high-top tables and wide-screen TVs, plus patio seating offering a view of the ridge that Sanders adopted as his pizzeria's name.
The barroom addition, which will increase seating from 98 to 150, will require Sanders to add six more employees. The full bar that will offer draft beer, wine and cocktails, from a "Long Island tea to a margarita."
"We don't sell a whole lot of alcohol," he said, "but people do like to have a beer with their pizza. Now they don't have to drive 10 miles from Etowah to get one."
Sydney Owens serves a pizza to Bill Stokes, a customer from Etowah.Sanders moved to Etowah from Memphis five years ago to be close to his granddaughter, Sydney, who was born on Sept. 11, 2001, an emotional day made more so by the traumatic terror attack that shook the country. His granddaughter's birth was especially meaningful because she represented the third generation whose birthday falls on Sept. 11. Sanders, whose middle name is Sidney, and his mother both were born on that date. Sydney is the daughter of Lee and Bill Owens.
Sanders retired at the age of 52 after a successful career in graphic arts, including owning a high-speed printer business that he franchised. It was bought by a larger company in 1995. After that, he and his wife, Linda, traveled the country in an RV for a number of years before moving to Etowah when Sydney was born. His son Tommy sold his printing business in Memphis at the same time and moved to Etowah to pitch in at the family business.
Although he spent his career in a non-culinary pursuit, Sanders had the genes for cooking. His father, Tom Sr., was a respected barbecue cook in Memphis, which is saying something, given the city's barbecue pride.
Blue Ridge Pizza offers a conventional pizza menu — pizza (24 toppings plus eight specialty pies), pasta, calzones and salads — but also burgers, grinders, wings and soups. "Everything," Sanders said, "is made from scratch," including bread, pizza, soups, sauces and the Greek dressing. A house specialty is Linda Sanders' potato soup, which customers have told her is better than Paula Deen's. The kitchen talent has been home-grown too. Sanders praises the work of his head cook, Colton Vale, a 2010 graduate of West Henderson High School. With the six new workers he'll need for the bar, Blue Ridge Pizza will have 24 employees, many of them full-time.
The Etowah restaurant has attracted a loyal base of customers, both for dining in and takeout. During peak times like Friday evenings and after Sunday church services, the parking becomes creative and hungry patrons have to wait for a table. Yet everyone seems to remain in a good mood, in no small part because Sanders, at age 70, is a friendly hands-on manager who knows how to put the customer first. Blue Ridge Pizza had grown popular even before Henderson County voters put the more potent libation on the menu.
"Our success is not all about alcohol," Sanders said, as he stood beside Tommy at the cash register. "It's all about our heart and soul and our fellowship."

Blue Ridge Pizza Company
6336 Brevard Road, Etowah
Phone: 891-5648
Hours
Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.- 8 p.m.
Friday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday, noon-8 p.m.
blueridgepizzacompany.com