The Violet Stone blew up after its Philadelphia-style (aka burnt) pizza got an incredible rating from the painstakingly-honest (and self-proclaimed) pizza judge, Dave Portnoy.

Starting next week, St. Pete pizza lovers can enjoy “well done” pizza at a bigger spot in Crescent Heights.

After starting as a food truck in 2022 and moving into its first brick-and-mortar location in Kenwood a year later, the hotspot reopens two miles down the road on July 30 in a bigger space at 2609 Dr. MLK Jr. St. N, according to its Instagram.

After Portnoy had “the best cheesesteak that you can get here (Tampa/St.Pete) by far” last year, the Kenwood shop had lines out the door and up to 45-minute waits for the brick oven pies and cheesesteaks on house-made bread. Customers often ate outside on the hoods of their cars since there wasn’t a lot of seating (not to mention no air-conditioning).

The pizza joint’s highly-anticipated opening adds additional pizza ovens, both indoor and outdoor dining and approximately 110 seats, according to St.Pete Rising.