Pizza Inn still an original

Hoke Greiner slides another pie into the famous brick oven at Pizza Inn in Gaffney. After 35 years, the local restaurant has refused to change from its original recipe and preparation. Ledger photo by SCOTT BAUGHMAN There's no substitute for the real thing. And after 35 years of operation, Pizza Inn of Gaffney is still an original.

"We're still in our original building," said Trish Greiner, owner and operator of the Pizza Inn. "Those are our original brick-bottom ovens. We still boil our tea on the stove instead of making it in a machine. Our dough is made fresh six times a day and we make our original recipe sauce twice a day. We even have a full-time salad bar attendant to keep our vegetables fresh."

The restaurant was started in 1971 by Greiner's great uncle Paul Turner.

"This was his third location," she said. "He has two more in Spartanburg that are run by his daughters today. My father, Donnie Sparks, ran the restaurant for a few years and we took over in 1995. Our goal is to be very consistent in what we do and keep things the way they have been pretty much since the business began."

Christie Ledford, Trish Greiner and Linda Pierce prepare the salad bar at Pizza Inn in Gaffney for a busy Friday night. Greiner, who has been owner and operator since 1995, credits the restaurant's 35 years of success to loyal employees like Pierce and Ledford. The menu items haven't changed much, although there are a few dishes that are unique to the area.

"We're the only restaurant that has our famous dessert pizza," Greiner added. "Others have tried it and it just doesn't work out for them. It's probably one of our signature items and almost as popular as the pizza itself. Another big seller is our beef and onion pizza with a side of Thousand Island dressing. In fact, we're pretty big on beef as a topping. It sells almost as well as our Pizza Inn special. And people just love our sweet tea."

Putting together all those pies takes a host of ingredients. Each week the restaurant uses an average 800 pounds of cheese, 320 pounds of beef, and 1,000 pounds of dough. It takes about 400 pounds of sugar to make the approximately 200 gallons of tea sold each week.

"I think another key to our success has been our faithful employees," Greiner said. "Almost half of our staff has been here for more than five years and some have been here for more than 20 years. The rest we've been fortunate enough to fill those positions with some very wonderful high school kids. I'm going to be very sad when they graduate."

Pizza Inn is almost a high school tradition now, and for some a family tradition.

"I've met people that tell me they came here on dates as teenagers," Greiner said. "And they come back and bring their children and grandchildren. That's pretty special if you ask me."

Family ties don't end with customers, though. Longtime server Linda Pierce has worked at the eatery for 24 years and her daughter Christie Ledford was hired last August.

"I've stayed for all these years because of the people I work for and the customers," Pierce said. "Everyone here is just like family."

And what's a family without some gifts?

"Starting this week, we're going to have our 'free pizza for a year' contest," Greiner said. "You can enter for a chance to win coupons for 52 large, two-topping pizzas. People love our restaurant because of the quality you can taste in our food. We haven't caved to demands or trends to make it faster. After all these years our goal is just to keep making it better."