Detroit-style pies and more are on the menu at State College’s newest pizza shop
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- Fresh Bite Pizza offers Detroit-style pizzas and more in the former home of 8 Mile Pizza.
- The expanded menu includes halal toppings, signature pies, sandwiches and wings.
- The pizza shop expects to offer late-night hours once it finds its footing.
Detroit-style pies are up for grabs at a new State College pizza shop opening soon in a familiar location.
Fresh Bite Pizza, located at 300 S. Pugh St., is now serving a limited number of pies to hungry customers through a soft opening period. The new pizza shop sits in the former location of 8 Mile Pizza, which abruptly closed in mid-February after roughly 18 months in business.
Fresh Bite Pizza features a far larger menu than 8 Mile Pizza did. Customers who visit the shop can choose between a wide range of traditional pizzas topped with the usual favorites and some more intriguing options, including halal pepperoni and mango slices. Nearly a dozen specialty pizzas are also up for grabs, including a blanco verde pizza (topped with fresh and shredded mozzarella, ricotta and basil) and a “bazooka launcher” pizza (topped with shredded cheese, olives, bell peppers, onions, mangos, chicken and a homemade special sauce).
The new pizza shop’s menu also features 10 sandwiches, including paninis and hoagies, as well as pasta dishes and salads. Customers can also order snacks like French fries, mozzarella sticks and breadsticks, plus chicken wings coated in buffalo, barbecue, mango habañero, honey mustard and hot honey sauces.
The star of the show for those missing 8 Mile Pizza is undoubtedly Fresh Bite Pizza’s selection of Detroit-style pizza. The new shop’s menu features a number of pies resembling the former pizzeria’s fan-favorite selections, including hot honey pepperoni, chicken bacon ranch and vodka sauce-flavored pizzas. Another favorite — a pizza topped with tomato, vodka and pesto sauces — is back under a new name as the “AK47” pizza.
Jesse Stutz, who’s working at Fresh Bite Pizza as an all-around “helping hand,” helped manage 8 Mile for most of its time in business. He says the new shop should cater to fans of Detroit-style pizza and more.
“We have your old-fashioned 8 Mile classics, but we have changed some sauces and some things like that,” Stutz told the Centre Daily Times. “We also offer round pies now. It’s quite a menu. As things grow, it’s a slow grind to success. We’re hopeful we’re here to stay again.”
The ownership group behind Fresh Bite Pizza, which is not directly affiliated with 8 Mile Pizza, once ran College Pizza at 128 Locust Lane in State College. Stutz said the new pizzeria’s landlord put the group in contact with him to help get the new shop off the ground. He wound up showing them several dishes in his repertoire, including Detroit-style pizza.
Stutz said he was thrilled to be back serving up pies in the space, especially following a few health scares and two spinal fusion surgeries. He credited State College’s customers for supporting 8 Mile and its team after it closed over the winter.
“It’s pretty emotional being back here,” Stutz said. “At first, I thought I’d be able to step in here and feel like it’s a clean slate, but this place is so tied to what I did for a long time. It feels great.”
Once Fresh Bite Pizza is officially up and running and out of its soft opening phase, Stutz expects the shop to open at 11 a.m. daily and close at around 9 or 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday. He said the shop could stay open as late as 3 a.m. on Fridays and over the weekend.
Fresh Bite Pizza is hiring both full-time and part-time employees, including students. Customers can place orders online or by calling 814-777-8550.
“Food makes everybody happy, and so does good customer service,” Stutz said. “I hope that they’re going to get everything 8 Mile brought to the table and more at Fresh Bite Pizza.”
Fresh Bite Pizza is the latest pizza shop to open in the Centre County area this summer. Benny Leone’s, which specializes in 28-inch extra-large pies, opened at 109 S. Fraser St., while Bella Vita Pizzeria & Grill opened at 105 W. Main St. in Millheim with the help of a longtime Grange Fair veteran.
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