Father-Son Duo Set to Open Toppers Pizza Downtown

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There’s just one day left before downtown Lincoln’s newest restaurant, Toppers Pizza, opens up, and General Manager Jon P. Crowe couldn’t be more excited.

“That whole day is going to be like a big party atmosphere; this place should be rocking all day. Hopefully we’ll have a big line out front.”

Jon, a graduate of the University of Nebraska, and his father, owner Jon S. Crowe, are set to open the pizza place on Saturday, February 11, at 1226 P Street, a spot previously occupied by Sur Tango Bar & Café.

The doors will open at 10:30 am, and Toppers will be doling out free food for a year to some of their first customers.

“The first 50 people who come in and spend $10 with us get a coupon book that gives them one free menu item a week for a year,” Jon says. “That way they can try our entire menu and get exposed to what we have to offer besides just pizza. People that come in after the first 50 are still going to have opportunities to win prizes- free food and things like that- so it’s going to be fun.”

Toppers offers a variety of house pizzas that can be ordered with a hand-tossed crust, a crispy crust, or a thicker style of crust they call a Tallboy. Traditional house favorites include the Mac ’N Cheese, the Taco Topper, the Chicken Bacon Ranch and the Gyro Topper and are available in 12” Medium, 14” Large or 18” Party sizes.

                              Taco Topper

“We make our dough and cut our vegetables fresh every day in the store, and we shred our cheese daily as well, which comes from seven different dairy farms in Wisconsin,” Jon says.

As for his favorite Toppers pizza?

“The Buffalo Topper, which is a buffalo chicken pizza. We use buffalo ranch sauce instead of regular pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and then cut up boneless wings on top. It’s awesome.”

In addition to pizza, Toppers also offers grinders, bone-in and boneless wings, quesadillas and their signature item, Topperstix.

“Topperstix are buttered with garlic butter on both sides, they have a ton of cheese and you can get any topping on them. Our popular ones include Baconstix, Pepperonistix, Tacostix, Cinnamonstix and Berrystix, and you can use several types of sauce to dip those in as well.”

                              Baconstix

Toppers will be open from 10:30 am to 3:00 am every day. Jon says they stay open late because many of the Toppers stores are located next to college campuses and they try to cater to that young demographic. About 50% of Toppers’ business comes after 10:00 pm, and 25% of their business comes after the bars close.

“They’re long hours, but that way you’ll always have that trust in knowing that Toppers is there for you when you’re hungry,” he says.

While Jon is excited to start doing business, he says they’re not looking to compete with the business models of local pizzerias in downtown Lincoln.

“Lazarri’s and Yia Yia’s are definitely traditional Lincoln pizza places, we would not consider ourselves trying to take their business from them because they do pizza by the slice and they have their own unique set of toppings. I love Lazzari’s, my old roommate worked there the whole time we were in college; I love their spicy chicken pizza.”

Customers will be able to order Toppers online and can have their food delivered to them as long as they are within delivery boundaries they’ve set, which are north to Superior Street, east to 48th St, south to A Street and then out west by Highway 77 including the Highlands region.

“If it takes more than 30 minutes to get you your pizza, we’re disappointed,” Jon says.

While many people might be apprehensive about working with family because of the tensions that might develop, Jon says that won’t be a problem for him and his father.

“My dad’s like an 18 to 24-year-old wrapped in a fifty-four-year-old’s body,” Jon says. “He’s fun to work with, really down to earth and really fits this whole brand.”

Assistant Managers Ross Bonesteel and Jeff Pickering, and Manager Jon P. Crowe

Jon says his father, who went to culinary school, had been looking to open a restaurant for quite some time when he stumbled across Toppers’ website and noticed how it had a different feel than the others he looked at.

“So we hopped on a plane and went out to the Toppers headquarters in Whitewater, WI to meet them and check it out. I was just going to be some added eyes and ears to keep him grounded, but they really blew us away out there; we thought Lincoln really needed something like this. Then my dad asked me if I wanted to be a part of it, and I couldn’t say no.”

The opening of the downtown Lincoln Toppers location marks the first one to open in Nebraska. The pizza chain began in Champaign, Illinois in 1991 and has since expanded to 35 stores across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and North Carolina. The company looks to add another 25 stores by the end of the year.

Jon says he and his father are looking to eventually open two to three more locations in Lincoln, and then up to ten locations in the Omaha metro area.

“We have a pretty good team of people who’ve worked with us. They’re not working to get paid, they’re working to be a part of this thing; to be a part of our company.”

But Jon says his main focus right now is getting their first store up and running and making sure everything’s done right, even if it means staying at the store for the first 16 and a half hours that make up opening day. 

“Well, I have in my mind that some of us will come in right away and open the doors and then go home and come back and close the store, but I have a feeling that I’ll probably be here from open till close,” he says with a laugh. “Regardless, it’s going to be a fun environment to work in.”
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On Tuesdays, Toppers will offer specials deals for those who’ve liked their official Facebook page.

Toppers Full Menu
Grand Opening Facebook Event Page
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