MERIDIAN, IDAHO — As convenient as it is to get pizza delivered to your home, sometimes your hunger tells you that waiting for it just isn't an option. In this week's Made in Idaho,we go to a place where a drive-thru and pizza joint join forces.
If you only think burgers or sandwiches when you think of drive-thru joints, a two-year old restaurant in Meridian wants you to think differently.
"We wanted to bring pizza to the drive-thru world because it really hasn't been seen," said Johnny Bronx Owner Judah Devilbiss.
And that's how Johnny Bronx was born, the drive-thru spot serving up fresh, New York style pizza and other delicious homemade Italian dishes. Though it opened in October of 2018, the journey started almost two years before that.
"It was working out of my kitchen at my house for, like I said, the first year and a half with so many different recipes and how we wanted our dough to taste and the feel of it and things like that. Lots of trials and errors before we got to where we're at now," laughed Devilbiss.
They don't claim to have New York style pizza just for fun.
"We actually use a filtered New York water to mimic New York's water system which kind of helps us give us our flavor and dough consistency that we have right now," said Devilbiss.
Of course you can find the usual pizza suspects like cheese, pepperoni, and sausage, but they also do a special slice that they offer every two weeks.
"It gives me a chance to bring the creativeness that you can get at other places out, and still gives someone the option to get that uniqueness in the drive-thru experience," said Devilbiss.
Unlike many businesses trying to survive the Covid-19 pandemic, Johnny Bronx found an advantage in already being a take-home restaurant.
"We didn't really have to change much to adjust to this which was kind of nice. All we've done is taken more precautions now and made i that much safer for not only our employees but our customers," said Devilbiss.
Despite having traveled around the country, Devilbiss loves the Treasure Valley and wanted to make sure that Johnny Bronx...was made in Idaho.
"To have the customers that we have and the base, I mean here in the Treasure Valley cause people come from all over the valley to eat here, that means a lot to use that we never expected and I appreciate that a ton because most people go in, if they're gonna venture into their own business it's a gamble. You're rolling the dice and that's where this has paid off and it's basically to the valley, we can't thank them enough for the support for that," boasted Devilbiss.
To help the community, Johnny Bronx says they sponsor several school sports teams and small businesses around the Treasure Valley, and in case you're wondering what this week's special pizza is, it's called the Granny Smith, which has Mozzarella, sharp cheddar, brie cheese, bacon, green apples, caramelized onions, blue cheese and cilantro.
