South Tampa's legendary Deck Pizza makes its return this Friday, Feb. 28, at 2202 W. Platt St., where it closed four years ago. Who do we have to thank for the return of the ‘za? The pizza lovers of SoHo. For that, we thank you. CL checked in with Deck's part-owner Scott “Ryan” Quinn who's also a partner at Bar Hwrd (stylized “HWRD”) next door.
“A lot of people always asked us if we’ll reopen. It had a cult following almost,” says Quinn. He is partners at Bar Hwrd and Deck Pizza along with longtime childhood friends Hank Brown, Al Rogers, and Enrique DeJesus.
To jog everyone’s memory, the first Deck Pizza closed in 2016 after being in business for 12 years. Quinn says he closed the joint for a handful of reasons, but mostly to spend more time with his family.
“I had another business and the late hours got to be too much. Plus, my kids were small at the time too,” he explains.
Although thoughts of the Deck making a comeback were on the back burner, it wasn’t until Quinn and the gang opened Bar Hwrd in SoHo about six months ago that the idea became a reality. Customers frequenting Bar Hwrd and inquiring about Deck Pizza set that revival into motion, and they soon realized it wasn’t a long shot to get back up and running considering Brown still owned the property Deck Pizza sat on.
“After the 10th time someone asked, we all looked at each other and decided to do it,” Quinn says. “The fanfare was still there. We’d be outside doing general work over there when neighbors would stop and ask about it. I was surprised people still remembered it.”
The new Deck Pizza keeps the same original recipes, too. Guests can select from a few varieties of the award-winning thin-crust pizza, pasta, salads, and the Grinder sandwiches, comprised of options like meatball, chicken parmesan, and a few cold cuts. On the healthier side, there are hand-stretched, gluten-free or cauliflower pizza crusts. Everything is made fresh and in-house. Limited beer and wine choices are served too. Foods range between $2.50 for a beer to $15 for a whole pizza.
Making it easy to get your daily carb intake, Deck Pizza offerings will be featured on Bar Hwrd's menu.
By the way, after the concept is back up and running, it is set to introduce in-house pizza delivery, so if you can’t hang for a late-night slice on the town, you can have it delivered to your door.
If you can handle your SoHo liquor and can make it to the storefront, the space offers outdoor seating with couches, and the option to slide over to Bar Hwrd for a drink while your pie is in the oven.
“We’ll have cool turf with games like Jenga and cornhole,” Quinn says.
Quinn says he’d like to franchise Deck Pizza in the future with other locations around Tampa Bay and serve more families.
“I just want Deck Pizza to be successful and around for a long time,” adds Quinn.
This year, you can get your fix of a Deck Pizza slice that your taste buds have been missing the last four years. The forthcoming hours are Wed.-Thu. 5 p.m.-11 p.m., Fri.5 p.m.-3 a.m., Sat. noon-3 a.m. and Sun. noon-11 p.m.
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This article appears in Feb 27 – Mar 5, 2020.