Serving up much more than pizza pies at 'Two Guys'

LANCASTER- A long life friendship has led to a new adventure for John Evoy and Paul Samul. Partnering up as the owners of “Two Guys Pizza,” located at 3987 Walden Ave., in Lancaster, the pizzeria opened its doors Aug. 1.

“It’s been great,” remarked Evoy. “We felt when we looked at this location that our closest competitor is a mile and a half away and this end of Lancaster really needed something else. It was a diner a couple of times before, with multiple owners, but we thought a pizzeria made sense here, for us it made sense.”

In the pizza business for 22 years, Samul decided it was time to start a pizzeria of his own and to help him get started he asked Evoy, whose background is in business and finance, for help with the business plan site selection. Little did Evoy know that this was going to be a new career for him as well.

“I was kind of looking to get out of finance and do something different,” said Evoy. I thought it was a nice fit. I talked to my wife and with her support I decided to make a change. When I retired from banking, I always planned to open up a small restaurant. I always loved cooking; it just came a little earlier than I originally anticipated.”

It has been an eye opening experience for Evoy because he now has one month of experience in the restaurant business, so it has been all new challenges.

Samul said one of the best things about owning a restaurant is that he can finally make the decisions, especially when it comes to adding new menu items.

“It is a new adventure,” commented Samul. “We’ve started something from the ground up.”

The restaurant of course offers the standard cheese and pepperoni pizza, but also offers specialty pizzas as well, including the “Two Guys Pie,” which consists of garlic sauce, chopped steak, mushrooms, onions, hot peppers, covered in mozzarella and sliced stuffed hot peppers. Yummy!

Customers can also enjoy subs, wings, chicken wings, tacos, salads, and calzones. Also, there is always a “sub of the month” and for September the sub is BBQ Pulled Pork topped with coleslaw and cheese for $5.25 plus tax.

Evoy said the stuffed hot peppers are the pizzeria’s signature item.

“We incorporate those into Two Guys pizza and subs,” added Evoy. “Our specialty subs are a great item. They are unique to the area. Our subs are going to be larger than anybody around.”

The recipes are both Evoy’s and Samul’s. They spent two months prior to opening the restaurant taste testing trying to find the perfect dishes.

And for those who had the chance to dine at the restaurant before Evoy and Samul took it over, take a look around as the inside of the restaurant has changed significantly.

“We obviously put a lot of money into it and made a lot of changes,” said Evoy. “We wanted to change the look of the place so we added TV’s. We put in a half wall and added a stock room to kind of break it up. It was very cafeteria like. It was just a big wide opened space.”

Samul added that the pizzeria is probably one of the biggest eat ins around Lancaster with seating about 60 people.

“We wanted to cater to the businesses in the area, explained Evoy. “There are a lot of blue collar workers here that get 30 to 45 minutes for lunch. They can come in, grab two slices of pizza and a pop for $6, sit down and relax for a little while, watch TV, and then go back. I think we captured that.”

Evoy and Samul are already looking toward the future and have set their sights high on growing the business, possibly to multiple locations.

Samul said with a name like “Two Guys Pizza” it would make an excellent franchise name.

“I think we are going to do great here. Lancaster has embraced us,” remarked Samul.

Lastly, Evoy commented community involvement is very important to him. Some many know him as the treasurer of the Lancaster Chamber Area of Commerce, or as a member of the Lancaster Community Development Corporation Board or as one of the board of directors for the Lancaster High School of Finance.

“I’ve always believed it is important to be involved in the community that you’re working in,” Evoy said. “I live here, I work here, and my family is here. It’s important for me to be involved and give back.”

To contact “Two Guys Pizza” call Two-Guys (896-4897) or visit www.twoguyspizzas.com. The pizzeria is opened from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Tuesday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Delivery is also offered to those approximately within a five mile radius.