Pizza whiz Luke Davis has been running his craft pie to-go-only spot off the Crosstown for almost three years. With the help of his wife, Brittany, and their “pizza baby,” Luke has seemingly done the impossible — stay in business by only selling 50 pizzas a night, Thurs.-Sun. from 4 to 9 p.m.
This afternoon, the Davises announced on Instagram that, “in a few short weeks May 18th will also signify our last day of business. We’ll be closing the doors, and moving onto the next chapter in our lives.”
We love the weekly specials at Luke’s, the day-old bread dipped in a trio of sauces, the video of the couple’s sweet baby stomping around the 450-square foot Ashley Ave. space on the weekends. In the post they note that no, it is not “slow sales, staffing shortage, or rising operating costs” that are forcing them to close. “This is simply due to family,” they write. “Our schedule just doesn’t allow us enough time together, so we’re making a change.”
In 2016, food critic Suzanne Cohen wrote of the takeout spot, “When the biggest problem with a restaurant is that you can’t decide which dish is your favorite you know you’ve found a gem. When a table full of harsh critics (yes, they were my family in case you were wondering) can’t decide, it’s a revelation. Luke’s has raised the bar of downtown takeout pizza so significantly that it’s going to be very difficult for similar places to keep up.”
For our summer 2019 Dish dining guide, we chatted with Luke and three other pizza makers about how pizza nostalgia shapes the way they sling their pies. Davis explained “the right balance and ratio of sauce/cheese/toppings — less is more — and everything on the pizza complementing each other; no ingredient overshadowing another.”
We hope we see Davis and his less is deliciously more approach in another Charleston concept one day. For now, be sure to grab one of those last weekly specials, and say thanks to the Davis fam.
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