Business Spotlight

Capone’s Pizza—The Best Pizza the Law Will Allow

Story by Sam Calhoun

Forget Domino’s Noid or Pizza Hut Pete, another pizza mascot is on the rise in Boone and he is untouchable, if you will. It’s Capone—Al Capone—and he is the mascot for Capone’s Pizza at 454-B West King Street.

This March, Capone’s Pizza turns three years old, thriving in a location that was unlucky at best for its previous tenants.

So how is Capone’s Pizza thriving in a location where others could not? Easy answer—they serve the best pizza in the High Country, according to co-owner Pete Shurba, and also have the cheapest beer in the state.

But the answer doesn’t stop there. Add the idea of “big.” Capone’s pizzas are big. In fact, the restaurant’s medium is as big as a Domino’s large. Moreover, Capone’s 12-inch mediums are actually 13 inches, falling off the plate, and the restaurant’s slices—served until 5:00 p.m. daily—are cut from a 19-inch large pizza. Capone’s also serves subs, calzones, wings, strombolis, salads, appetizers, pastas and a wide selection of homemade desserts.

“We’re more pizza than Italian,” explained Shurba, who co-owns Capone’s with Chris Staggs.

And then there are the specials. Heralded by ASU students and downtown workers as one of the cheapest places to get lunch and dinner, Capone’s offers a $5—including tax—lunch special that includes a 7-inch Chicago-style one-topping pizza, side salad with dressing and a large soda. Capone’s $20—not including tax—dinner combo for four includes an 18-inch New York-style pizza, four side salads with dressing and four large sodas.

The best part? All of the food comes from one of the cleanest kitchens in the High Country, according to Shurba, and the restaurant has never received below a 95 health inspection rating. The bathrooms, tables and restaurant are spick and span as well. Even the menus are clean because they are between a glass tabletop and a tablecloth.

Don’t believe the kitchen is clean? Well, you can see for yourself. Shurba designed the layout of the kitchen himself so people on the street and customers in the restaurant can see everything—from the cooks making the made-from-scratch dough every day to the pizzas coming in and out of the oven. You can see it all.

“The kitchen is wide open. You can see everything in the kitchen that goes on,” said Shurba.

All of this excellence didn’t happen by accident. Years of experience in the food and beverage industry culminated in the creation of Capone’s.

Shurba is from England where he worked as an account manager and then owned a fish and chips restaurant before relocating to Wilkesboro roughly a decade ago. In 2004, Shurba graduated from the management program at the Burlington Cracker Barrel. Staggs also calls Wilkesboro home and, at various times in his life, worked at an Italian restaurant and at Wilkesboro’s Jersey’s, where he first met Shurba. At Jersey’s, Staggs was the head cook and Shurba was the general manager.

“We decided on the second day of working together that we were going to do something together one day,” said Shurba.

That day came three years ago when Shurba was driving through Boone. He drove past the current location of Capone’s and saw a “For Rent” sign. At the time, the restaurant’s walls were painted pink and purple.

“We took six months to open and we’ve never looked back,” said Shurba.

Shurba and Staggs painted the restaurant, added faux brick to the walls, purchased four retro video game machines, designed the kitchen, installed 46 seats—mostly booths—and, recently, added loads of Al Capone memorabilia.

“When trying to think of the menu, we decided we wanted a pizza restaurant that sells beer—not the other way around,” said Shurba. “Our beer prices are the cheapest in North Carolina, but we wanted the focus to be on our food.”

When devising the name of the restaurant, Staggs was set on Leaning Tower of Pizza, but Shurba didn’t like it. One night, Shurba awoke from a dead sleep with a different proposition—how about naming it Capone’s? The name stuck.

Thinking back to the success and longevity question, there’s no question in Shurba’s mind about what brings prosperity to his restaurant—employees.

“Without workers, we don’t have anything. They are the backbone of this and any business,” said Shurba, who added that Staggs mostly cooks and he works the front of the house, hiring and getting to know the staff. “It’s worked out great; it’s a great partnership. I love getting to know the students who work for us. Once you have worked at Capone’s, you can work anywhere.”

But why leave if it’s a good environment? Three of Capone’s employees have been with the restaurant since day one—Nancy Hanes, Nicole Taweel and Lorenzo DeLeon.

“That probably says something about what Capone’s does for students and the people of Boone,” said Shurba, who has a staff of roughly 15 employees and admits that he usually hires one out of every 50 people he interviews. “We are about people. Without people, we don’t have anything. But it’s got to be the right person.”

One of those people is immortalized on the Capone’s menu. Mike Hendrick—a longtime Capone’s employee—made up his own pizza and now it appears on the menu under the name Machine Gun Mike’s. The pizza has a teriyaki base with pineapple, teriyaki chicken and bacon.

“We develop new pizzas all the time. We give our guys free range to make whatever they want,” added Shurba, bragging about his Godfather pizza, Capone’s interpretation of a stuffed Chicago variety, and the Tandoori pizza, a pie made with spices imported from Britain.

Capone’s clientele is “totally mixed,” said Shurba, “from young to old to in between.” Ever since Capone’s opened, summer residents from Florida have filled the booths. According to Shurba, more and more Florida residents show up each year.

Capone’s also is an ASU booster, providing free pizza to many events on campus and sponsoring WASU sports programming.

“We believe ASU does a lot for us and the town,” said Shurba. “We believe the more you give, the more you get back.”

A lot has happened in three years and a lot more is to come. Shurba has no plans to leave Boone anytime soon.

“Our feet are firmly planted here; our roots are in Boone,” said Shurba.

Capone’s Pizza is located at 454-B King Street in downtown Boone. The restaurant is open from 11:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and from noon to 10:30 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 828-265-1886 or click to www.caponesboone.com.