A new owner has taken over Woody’s Wood Fire Pizza Bar & Oven on the west side of Joplin, Missouri, and he’s a fellow who owns two other restaurants in Joplin.
Joplin Globe columnist Wally Kennedy reports Pete and Heidi Williams, who owned Woody’s for more than 20 years, sold it to Damien Tiregol, owner of Crabby’s and Blackstone Gastropub, both in Joplin. Tiregol took over Woody’s this week.
Tiregol might have viewed Woody’s as an investment, but he’s also a fan.
“It’s been my favorite pizza by far for years,” Tiregol said. “I have known Pete and Heidi for 20 years. When they approached me, I said, ‘Absolutely!’ I am excited to continue a Joplin staple.”
Pete Williams will continue his 30-year employment with Old Dominion. Heidi Williams told me she plans to retire after 23 years with Woody’s and nearly 40 years in the food industry. […]
“We are going to miss seeing our regulars and our employees,” Heidi Williams said. “We are going to miss them terribly, but you still will be able to see our employees because all of them are being retained by Damien.” […]
“He will take Woody’s to the next level. He’s younger, innovative and a proven leader in the restaurant business,” she said. “We are leaving Woody’s in good hands.”
Woody’s originally was a Pat’s Dari-Delite during the late 1950s on an original stretch of Route 66.
About 1982, it became Charley Flowers Package Liquor. After that, it was a Sultan of Smoke, then it became Woody’s in 1999. The large Coke bottle outside Woody’s originally was painted as a liquor bottle, hearkening to its Charley Flowers days.
A fire in 2019 prompted the Williamses to make big improvements to the restaurant about a year later, including a greatly enlarged dining space and patio.
(Image of Woody’s Wood Fire Pizza in Joplin, Missouri, via Facebook)