“When we started we only had two rooms,” Holp said. “We had a kitchen-type area where we make the pizzas and (people) pick them up, then we had a dining room that seated about 34 people.”
The restaurant installed a 40-seat tavern in an adjacent room in 2005, he said.
Ron’s Pizza launched its most recent renovation effort in late 2021, but immediately encountered weeks-long and sometimes months-long delays on various items due to supply chain issues, Holp said.
“First thing we ordered was a walk-in cooler and it was three months to get it,” he said. “We had to take everything in steps, so we were working and the next step was this and we couldn’t get it for two or three weeks and we had to stop.
“It was just the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Part of the current remodel includes installing a new draft beer system at the adjacent Ron’s Tavern with a more expansive selection.
“We went up to 12 taps, where before that we only had five,” he said. “We put a solid oak floor in the dining room and we put new tables and chairs and a couple of booths.”
The restaurant also removed its waitress station and installed a couple of booths there, as well. A small walk-in cooler by the bar has been replaced by the new waitress station.
Ron’s Pizza also installed a wall bench along one wall and remodeled its bathrooms.
Up next will be renovations to the restaurant’s kitchen area. That is planned to include the installation of new awnings to hide the duct work above the ovens, Holp said. It also will include redoing the floor and painting bronze a tin ceiling installed in 1855, he said.
As soon as the weather improves this spring, Ron’s Pizza plans to remodel its 60-seat patio, expanding it draft beer taps from five to about 12. It also will have New Lebanon-based PatioCoversOhio install a new roof over the patio.
“(It will look) like a Venetian blind laying on the side, so we can open it up when the sun’s shining and close it when it rains,” Holp said.
He said he’s happy to be able to spruce up the building.
“Most of us down here want to keep the downtown busy like it is today,” he said. “All of the businesses down here want to keep everything looking good.”
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