After eight months, Italian Gator to open in next two weeks

Midtown’s only pizza joint will be back in business in the next two weeks.

Italian Gator Pizza By the Slice, a window-ordering pizza shop that closed Jan. 15 for renovations, will be open before the second UF football game Sept. 10, said owner Joel Mills.

The restaurant, located at 1728 W. University Ave., will now have a second ordering window and a higher-powered pizza oven. The parlor will also open an extra day — on Sundays, Mills said.

“We were forced to close, but it’s a good thing in the long run,” he said. “Everything will be brand-new and upgraded, and I’ll be able to put out a lot more pizza a lot faster.”

He said the restaurant, which first opened in 2000, will offer more pizza toppings and a specialty pizza every day. To accommodate for the expected sales increase, Mills said he hopes to hire four more employees.

“We’ll still have the staples, though,” Mills said. “We’ll still have garlic rolls.”

At Midtown, the restaurant’s late hours cater to hungry students leaving clubs and bars along West University Avenue.

Allison Petkoff, a UF health science sophomore, said she has missed Pizza by the Slice since it closed.

“I’m moderately passionate about pizza,” the 19-year-old said. “I remember trying to go when it was closed. I walked all the way there and was so upset when I realized it would be gone.”

Petkoff said she goes to Midtown about once a week, and she and her friends always consider Pizza By the Slice for their midnight snacks.

“It’s just so convenient and affordable,” she said. “Everyone knows about Pizza by the Slice. Everyone’s tried it.”

Mills said over the eight months the restaurant has been closed, hundreds of loyal customers messaged the restaurant’s Facebook page to ask when their favorite pizza place would come back.

“We’ve posted a few updates of construction along the way, and we’ve had an absolutely great response,” Mills said.

On its page, customers watched the renovations unfold. In July, the restaurant posted a photo of a mechanical lift and a worker installing wood panelling on the new building. Facebook users expressed their excitement in the comments section.

“The suspense is killing me,” one Facebook user posted.

Mills said he is looking forward to catching the crowds for the Fall football season.

“Our goal is to be open no later than the second Gator game,” Mills said. “We’re gonna jump in right where we left off.”