Davenports Pizza Palace Celebrating 49 years in Mountian Brook Village

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(Gallery by Solomon Crenshaw Jr. | screnshawjr@al.com)

MOUNTAIN BROOK, Alabama -- Heather Norris makes sure she leaves the restaurant precisely before 10 a.m. each morning.

“That’s when the employees start to show up,” she said simply.

She will not, under any circumstance, work in the kitchen with anyone else around. That's because, as anyone familiar with Norris' family legacy knows, she has a very special secret to keep: the recipes for the famous Jim Davenport's Pizza Palace staples.

They’re what make the Pizza Palace special—what has kept loyal customers coming back for 49 years.

Those recipes, however famous as they are now, weren’t always as well-known.

When her father, Rex Hollis, opened the pizza joint in May of 1964, no one knew about their sauce, about the soft—yet crispy—thin crust that ever so delicately cradles and supports a light sprinkling of toppings.

Few, in fact, as Norris recalls her father telling her, were even regular consumers of pizza; their only other pizza joint option here in the South was Shakey’s Pizza.

Rex, in turn, saw a need, had a hunch, and took a risk.

It was a little rocky in the beginning, Norris remembers her father saying.

After finally convincing a bank to lend him the start-up cash—a challenge in itself—the real work began.

Rex and his wife, Ardyce, weren’t—couldn’t be—afraid to work. Not if they wanted the restaurant to succeed. They lived right across the street from the pizza shop on Brook Manor Drive, so they were able to stretch out long hours. Often, said Norris, her parents both worked steady 90-hour weeks.

Anything to share that recipe—sprinkled with a dream.

Their early years, said Norris, are full of ever-lasting memories, the kind that speak to the character of the people who lived them.

The image of her father walking up and down the streets to the neighboring houses and businesses—pizza box in hand—is one that comes to mind. It was his way of advertising: share enough to get them curious and have them come back for more. One free pizza to Rex meant the possibility to make a sale later.

And that’s exactly what happened.

Fortunately, the Mountain Brook community took a liking to the pizza pretty quickly. The rest, she said, is history.

Fast-forward to present day, 49 years later, and much remains the same.

The menu holds true to its original form: thin-crust pizza and fresh, crisp garden salads.

Classic arcade games—Pac Man, Donkey Kong, Star Wars Trilogy—still line its walls.

“The adults like to play the games sometimes longer than the kids,” said General Manager Nick Nicholson with a chuckle, “and sometimes, that’s a scary thing. They’ll come in here later in the day, and get a pitcher of beer just so they can play Centipede.”

Of course, there’s also the familiar sight of Dave Simpson. Simpson, who has been tossing dough and handcrafting signature Davenport’s thin-crust pies for more than 30 years, is in his own way, a treasured restaurant staple.

“We have people who come in here and won’t let anyone else make their pizza but him,” said Nicholson.

As always, there’s the question about the restaurant’s name.

To this day, curious customers ask “why did Rex name the restaurant ‘Jim Davenport’s Pizza Palace,’ rather than ‘Rex Hollis’ Pizza Palace?’”

It makes better sense if you think about the name's date of origin: Rex wasn't known then, but Jim "Peanut" Davenport definitely was.

Back then, Davenport was a professional baseball player with the San Francisco Giants, but to Rex, he was still just an old childhood friend, a buddy he grew up with in Siluria, Ala.

When Rex thought about what to name his new shop, he wanted to use a “famous” person’s name from the area in the hopes that folks would give the restaurant a chance, explained Norris. As the Giants had just come off of the losing end of an attempt at the 1962 World Series, Davenport’s was a familiar name in the area.

To this day, the namesake visits the establishment with his family at least once a year.

That’s just how things go at Davenport’s—affectionately nicknamed “The Pizza Palace.”

It’s all about maintaining tradition.

Parents—who grew up frequenting the establishment with their parents--bring their children, who will probably grow up to share its legacy. Couples make sure to stop by once a month—a tribute to the location of their first date or a sweet reminder of where they got engaged.

“I think it says a lot when parents think enough of this place to bring their kids here,” said Nicholson, “who then turn around and bring their own kids here. I think it says a lot about how this place is run.”

When Ardyce passed away in 2000, Norris and her sister, Diane, took over the business.

Because of her familiarity with the restaurant, the transition, said Norris, was “seamless.”

Norris, who grew up as a “booth baby,” watching her mother perfect the secret recipes, tend to loyal customers and guarantee the uniform quality of each batch of dough, said maintaining the tradition and level of quality are fundamental components to the way she runs the business today.

Diane, in a complementary fashion, took on the financial matters, perfectly suited for the job, said Norris, thanks to her “uncanny math skills and type ‘A’ personality of organization and perfection.”

After Rex passed away in 2009, as well as Diane in 2010, Norris made an effort to keep the business in the family. She enlisted the help of her sister’s eldest daughter, Amanda Thames, to take over the accounting duties.

To this day, Norris and Thames continue to man the ship along with Nicholson.

Norris, just like her mother taught her, works behind the scenes to produce the restaurants staples: the homemade sauce, dough and fresh salad dressings—all with extreme secrecy.

“If I walk in the door before 10 o’clock,” said Nicholson, “I get chased out with a spoon,” he said with a laugh. “It is definitely secret, there’s no doubt about that. But it’s what kept people coming back for 49 years.”

Thames ensures the finances are in order, protecting the family’s legacy.

“I think that’s one of the things people really like about Davenport’s,” said Thames, “that we’ve kept things traditional and in the family, that things really haven’t changed.”

Nicholson, in his own regard, works to keep things running smoothly—keeping their loyal generations of customers happy is crucial to their success.

“When we talk to our new employees,” said Norris, “we have to remind them that anything they do or say is very important here because I personally know at least half of our customers.”

Today, the hard work (both present and past) of its founding family has helped ensure that in Mountain Brook, the Pizza Palace remains an institution.

Any change, no matter how small, is carefully mulled over, considered from every perspective.

“There hasn’t been any pressure to change drastically,” said Norris. “We decided to be successful with just pizza and salad and haven’t had any reason to turn to sandwiches, pasta or calzones.”

Subtle changes, however, that were deemed necessary to help the restaurant improve, have occurred over the years.

“Yes, there have been a few changes,” said Nicholson. “Yes, we have gone through some growing pains with some expansion, but in the end, it’s the tradition that keeps them coming back. Why fix what’s not broken?”

This past November, the restaurant tore down a couple of its walls—a major commitment to a place where tradition is the norm. The restaurants surging popularity meant busy weekends and longer-than-usual turnover times. The Pizza Palace, said Norris, could no longer resist expanding and decided to purchase another oven.

It sits there today with a shiny new façade, in contrast to the time-worn staples that surround it. A tangible reminder that the present must always at some point, meet the past.

In similar, progressive-minded fashion, the menu now also offers Good People Brewing products—a tribute the growing popularity of locally-brewed craft.

There are still more changes to come, agreed Nicholson, Thames and Norris. But, despite the changes, said Norris, the heart of the institution will always remain the same. Trying to dilute ones fundamentals, she said, will only hurt a company.

“We strive to do one thing,” she said, “and do it well.”

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