WAYNESBORO - Big slices of pizza are finally going to be available in Waynesboro.

The locally-owned restaurant Benny's Pizza is set to open on Pi Day — March 14.

The Waynesboro location is called Benny Stivale's. Each Benny's restaurant has a different last name for each location. Harrisonburg's is Benny Sorrentino's, Benny Deluca's is Charlottesville, Winchester's is Benny Meleto's and so on.

This marks the 19th location — the 13th in Virginia — for the pizza place. Other states that have Benny's include North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The pizza joint was founded by Zach Toth and Chris Brown in Blacksburg in 2012, where they currently have two locations. Each new Benny's brings on different partners for Toth and Brown to be co-owners. Jon Durham, Benny's regional manager and co-owner of the Waynesboro store, said those brought on as partners are usually people Toth and Brown know personally so they can keep it in the family, so to say.

Toth and Brown purchased the Waynesboro building, which previously housed the Valley Framing Studio on Main Street. Construction and renovations started this past fall.

They've even tied in some of the framing studio's touches, like the front sign decals can still be seen in the window and the hanging sign is hung up in the back.

"We're paying homage to them. It's a respect thing and it's a cool feature to have," he said.

The place was entirely gutted and transformed. Durham kept some of the industrial touches to give it a more modern feel.

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Durham is part owner in five Virginia locations, including Harrisonburg, Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Winchester and now Waynesboro. Durham will also be part owner in a new location coming to Richmond. Durham receives a percentage from each of the locations he co-owns.

Durham is a Waynesboro native and grew up with Benny's co-founder Toth. Durham wanted to bring some of the Benny's goodness back to his hometown for a family-friendly restaurant, but still have that same cool, hip vibe the pizza place has.

"We wanted to create a more family-friendly environment that you can still feel comfortable taking your kids with you and have a beer," Durham said. "We're really trying (that) family friendly environment here."

He's also trying to help revitalize downtown Waynesboro.

"You look at how Basic City Beer thrives and I think there just needs to be more of that," Durham said. "We need to bring some life back downtown."

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This is the first Benny's that has a bar, which features a variety of local craft beer. They also have murals painted by Andre Shank, whose artwork has been features at other Benny's locations.

Durham said there is also a private event room that can be rented out, which was designed by Queen City Salvage and has old car doors and other industrial touches. He wants it to be available for sports teams to rent out or birthday parties that involve the whole family.

"Back when I was growing up you weren't cool unless you had your birthday party at the Pizza Hut," he said. "That's what we're trying to recreate."

The restaurant is known for its 28-inch thin sliced pizzas. They keep is simple — cheese, pepperoni, sausage and rotating meat and vegetable specials. A 28-inch cheese pizza costs $30 and pizza by the slice is also available.

"The size of our pizza is like a novelty thing, but we use top of line ingredients for our pizza and everything is made in house. So, it's an excellent product on top of the sheer size," Durham said. "Then there's the atmosphere we create that is so laid back and very fun. I mean where else can you go and get lunch, a drink and a slice of pizza for $5."

Durham has brought on two store managers — Lucas Bergmann and Harmony Proffitt. Bergmann has been working for Benny's Pizza since 2013 and started at the Blacksburg location.

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Bergmann recently came back to the area from Colorado, but is originally from Lexington. He's happy to be back in the area and near family, but is also going to be able to finish his college degree in business management through online courses at Radford University.

He's excited to see more movement in Waynesboro.

"It has more life to it but it's also quiet," he said.

Proffitt, who is Durham's niece, is ready for the place to be shown to the public.

"I'm excited seeing something that I helped put together come to life," she said. "Everybody in Waynesboro knows about it."

The story is, Benedito “Benny” was raised in Brooklyn and worked for two decades under Italian chefs, according to the restaurant's website,

According to the history, Benny left the city and ended up on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. He began making pizza for his neighbors out of a brick oven he built off his back porch.

"Three decades later and Benny continues to serve his community with his signature 28-inch pies," the history said. "He has been an inspiration to us here at Benny’s and a driving force behind our restaurant’s personality as well as recipes. His anonymity is important to him which is why every Benny’s represents a different side of him and is given a different name."

Benny Stivale's is located at 328 W. Main St. in Waynesboro. For more information go to its Facebook page. Hours include: Sunday through Thursdays 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Fridays through Saturdays 11 a.m. to midnight.

Follow Laura Peters@peterslaura. You can reach her at lpeters@newsleader.com.