We got one bite of Dave Uecke (formerly of Chick’s Fry House) and business partners Nick and Ben D’Allesandro’s (owners of D’Allesandro’s Pizza) granny-style pie at Smith Street Pizza, and it looks like that’ll be all we ever eat from the restaurant. Following Eater’s report that the business was for sale, we can confirm that Smith Street Pizza has shuttered.
Three months after opening in the space operated as Norm’s for the past 37 years, Uecke came in guns blazing, ready to update and revamp the menu of the Charleston landmark while keeping its neighborhood appeal.
The base formula, Uecke told us, was pizzas, hoagies, wings, salads all around the $10 mark and housed within, what Uecke called, a 2000-era vintage Norm’s feel. “We put the classic pizzeria booths back in, gave it a coat of paint. We put the pool table back in and in that back area there used to be a cutout window we built that out for a bar. It will sit 10 at the bar,” he said.
Apparently Charlestonians weren’t feeling it.
“They didn’t last long did they?” says Norman Hanf, Smith Street Pizza’s landlord and the Norman behind Norm’s.
Hanf blames the team’s menu adjustments for the closure. “They changed the menu 100 percent,” he says. Now Hanf says they’re on the hook to sublet the space.
A listing on Restaurants for Sale (Charleston) is advertising the business for $149,900 which includes “all furniture, fixtures, and equipment.” Rent is $6,500 a month.
Neither of the D’Allesandros nor Uecke have returned calls for comment. Love Best of Charleston? Help the Charleston City Paper keep Best of Charleston going every year with a donation. Or sign up to become a member of the Charleston City Paper club.