Newly Opened Farrell Pizzeria Keeps Community in Mind

FARRELL, Pa. – The kitchen was busy Wednesday as Farrell Pizzeria held its grand opening.

The pizzeria, located at 702 Roemer Blvd., was opened by lifelong resident Martin Taylor Jr. He said the opening of the pizzeria is only the beginning of a great journey.

Growing up in the area, Taylor recalls walking the business-filled streets.

“As I am getting older, there are less and less things here,” he said. “I am at home, and half of the time I have to go all of the way to Hermitage or go somewhere else, and we just had a shop down the street here closed that used to be the only restaurant we had. I was like, ‘We need something else.’”

Wanting to own a restaurant for a long time, Taylor said this gave him the perfect opportunity to add something he felt was very needed in the area.

“I had a job that I was working at the bottom of the hill here, and I didn’t drive, so I used to just walk past here all of the time,” he said.

Taylor said he wondered what they were going to do with the building, until one day he saw a hiring sign. After talking to the owners about what they were going to do with the place, he eventually was able to acquire the building for himself. 

“When the opportunity presented itself, I said, ‘I got to do it,’” he said.

“Sometimes it might take a little longer for orders to go through because we are not a big chain, but you can taste the difference every time,” Taylor said. “It’s all made from scratch. The dough is from scratch, and everything is fresh.”

The shop offers pizzas, calzones, breadsticks, cheese sticks, cinnamon sticks, milk shakes, ice cream and daily specials.

“There is always something different,” Taylor said. 

Taylor is a minister of music at the Greater Pentecostal House Of Prayer Church.

“People around here show me so much support, and I want to give back,” he said. “I am always going to have a suggestion box in the front so that people can put in their suggestions and tell me what they might want to see, and I’ll try to accommodate the best I can.”

“It’s really about the community for me,” he adds. “They show me so much support, and I love everybody around.” 

Ruth Murray, manager at Farrell Pizzeria, is Taylor’s cousin. She said she has been involved with the project since the beginning.

“We have been behind the scenes working on the dough,” she said. “We have been working on the dough for about three weeks in and out, trying to figure out the best recipe for fresh dough.”

Murray said she was able to bring along her extensive background in food service, which she said she has been working in for over half of her life. 

“I really love food, and I really love pizza, so when he called me and said, ‘I am opening a restaurant,’ I said I’ll be there,” she said. 

Although working with family can be trying at times, Murray said there is a unique open communication.

“It is way better than working for anybody else,” she said. “We learned everything together, from the right dough to the right topping combinations to the right sauce and right ingredients.”

Farrell Pizzeria is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays.

Pictured at top: Martin Taylor Jr., owner and operator of Farrell Pizzeria, makes a pizza.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.