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Avalon Downtown reopens
By Kalea Hall
YOUNGSTOWN
When Avalon Downtown pizzeria closed in early February, Terry Spencer and Mike Wakefield were devastated.
“You can’t find good pizza,” Spencer said. “You try to find a pizza that tastes like it, and you won’t.”
Spencer, of Lowellville, and Wakefield, of Vienna, were some of the first customers at the now-reopened Avalon at 17 W. Federal St.
The pizzeria opened at 11 a.m. Friday with the phone constantly ringing. The scents of its famous product wafted outside as customers came in for a bite to eat.
Wakefield called Spencer early Friday to meet at Avalon for lunch. The two ordered multiple pizzas – some to eat there and some to eat later.
“We have been trying different pizza shops, and it’s been disappointment after disappointment,” Wakefield said.
Avalon’s thick pizza with hard crust, a soft center and sauce is what made both of them choose Avalon Downtownover other pizza places.
“We are No. 1 fans,” Wakefield said.
The two, like many others, have enjoyed Avalon since it was opened in 2012 by Angelina Snyder and Anne Massullo Sabella.
The restaurant suddenly closed Feb. 3. A sign inside the external door of the shop read simply: “Closed thank you.”
Why the business closed was never disclosed.
On Friday, Massullo Sabella said the reason is irrelevant.
“The most-important thing is we are back open,” she said.
Many were sad to see Avalon Downtown close, so when the business posted to Facebook it would reopen Friday, word spread quickly.
“It was very endearing to us that people were so upset,” she said. “We love being downtown. We have a lot of community support.”
Allison English, a Youngstown State University student from Youngstown, and Jason White, a YSU graduate from McDonald, were two other early-bird customers ready for pizza Friday.
English got her favorite: the white pizza.
White got his: the Brier Hill.
Both enjoyed coming to Avalon before the closure.
“We would come after YSU football games,” English said. “Everyone would come here.”
Avalon Downtown has posted a new menu to its website: avalondowntown.com.