Woody’s Wood-Fire Pizza, a stalwart along Route 66 on the west side of Joplin, Missouri, recently reopened after a fire a year ago prompted the owners to make big improvements to the restaurant.
Wally Kennedy, the business columnist for the Joplin Globe, stated Woody’s once was “the tiniest restaurant in Joplin.” However, the rebuild by owners Pete and Heidi Williams after a fire in December 2019 eliminates that title, and Kennedy calls the new Woody’s “a home run.”
There is so much more space in this restaurant now. Social distancing should be no problem. The main area of the restaurant, though small, has been enlarged with new seating and booths. The patio area is now a full-fledged dining room with new lighting and a big-screen TV. It has a counter door that opens to a new patio. A counter door is like a garage door, but it’s half as large and rests on a counter when it’s closed. The new patio has a Route 66 mural designed by John Hipple, with Sign Designs.
Now get this: The patio opens to Woody’s Backyard. This space is enclosed by a wooden fence. If you want, you can dine under the stars.
The restaurant now has two brick-clad, wood-fired ovens. One of the biggest improvements, a game-changer in terms of increased volume, is a walk-in freezer. The bar has a floating station for draft beer, which is something I have not seen before. The restroom has been redone, and there’s a gift shop.
Woody’s has operated on the Seventh Street alignment of Route 66 since 1999. Kennedy said the history of a business at the location goes back further:
The history of this property goes back to the late 1950s. It started as Pat’s Dari-Delite. It was designed to serve drive-up traffic like an old-style McDonald’s. In those days, that traffic was significant because it was located on the original stretch of Route 66. In about 1982, it became Charley Flowers Package Liquor. After that, it was home to Sultan of Smoke. The bottle sign outside of Woody’s has been painted to look that way. It was once a liquor bottle.
Pete Williams said the original idea behind his business was a happy-hour bar. But people liked the pizza so much, sales of that far outstripped its alcohol sales.
Woody’s pizza is so good, it drew the praise from the late, great Anthony Bourdain when he was in the area shooting one of his “No Reservations” television shows.
Woody’s Wood-Fire Pizza has been listed on the Restaurants page of Route 66 News since shortly after the site launched in 2005.
(Image of Woody’s Wood Fire Pizza in Joplin, Missouri, via Facebook)
One thought on “Woody’s Wood-Fire Pizza in Joplin reopens as a much bigger location after fire”