“It feels like a holiday,” owner and Fairfield resident Sammy Palik told The Daily Voice. After months of construction delays since the April 2014 fire, he said he can finally enjoy his new storefront.
Palik celebrated the reopening of the restaurant with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by his loyal customers and First Selectman Michael Tetreau.
Although his restaurant has changed its focus from a takeout business to a fully fledged restaurant since reopening, Palik said his pizzeria is serving up the same food made by the same people. The only significant change, he said, is the addition of a new dining room.
But things weren’t always looking so good for Palik. Early one April morning last year, two runners called the fire department to report a large fire in Palik’s shop. Smoke could be seen rising from the building, The Daily Voice reported at the time.
It took just over an hour for firefighters to completely extinguish the blaze.
Afterward, customers stepped in to help Palik and his family cope with the damage.
The Rev. Laura Whitmore, from the nearby Southport Congregational Church, held an informal benefit during a rainstorm in the parking lot of Chase Bank. The event raised nearly $30,000.
Loyal customer Joyce Hergenhan — and church congregant — said the event’s turnout was far better than expected.
“It was the heaviest rain,” she said. Nonetheless, the community showed a huge outpouring of support. It’s not much of a surprise considering how much the community enjoys his product.
“He really has the best pizza,” Hergenhan said.
During the interview, Palik thanked one of his loyal customers for stopping by. But don’t use that word in front of Palik.
“I don’t call them customers,” Palik said. “I call them friends.”
He said his best customers — or friends — are kids. “They’re honest and loyal,” he said.
Palik, who has a wife and four kids of his own— two girls and two boys — never imagined opening a pizzeria.
But many years ago, he was driving down Black Rock Turnpike and saw a shuttered pizza shop. He contacted the owners and opened his first shop at that location, Pizza Mediterranean.
One of Palik’s four brothers now runs that shop. Palik said he has a habit of turning over restaurants to family members. But that won’t be the case with his store here.
“I love the community in Southport,” he said. “I’m keeping this place myself.”
Sammy’s Southport Pizza is located at 295 Pequot Ave. in Southport.
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