While it has gone through a variety of changes throughout its 13 years, one downtown restaurant is set to undergo its largest change yet.
Pizza on Dubuque, 5 S. Dubuque St., hopes to move to a new location at 213 Iowa Ave. this summer.
“The partiers would come in and eat our pizza, and the 21-ordinance really killed our business,” Risk said. “That was our bread and butter; that was what prompted our business. A lot of people didn’t realize it affected places other than bars. I didn’t even sell beer, but it happened right after the recession, and that was the final blow.”
Following the move, Pizza on Dubuque will be renamed Pizza Pod.
The current Dubuque St. storefront will be taken over by general manger Josh Silver, and Brian Asklof, the owner of the sandwich shop Nodo, 600 N. Dodge St.
The Nodo shop will open in addition to the Nodo location on the North Side. The new Nodo will be renamed Nodo Downtown, and the two men hope to open in July.
“The opportunity arose, and I’ve always dreamed of owning my own restaurant,” Silver said. “I’ve been doing this type of service since I was 14. My friend from Nodo [Asklof] wanted to have a place downtown, so opportunity knocked, and we pulled it together.”
Nodo will also be affected by the 21-ordinance, as it will serve wine and beer in the downtown location.
Asklof said he is excited to add a new location that may get more traffic due to its location.
“[The] downtown area has more exposure,” he said. “There is a lot of foot traffic that you don’t get on the North Side; you get many people walking by. It’s also a bigger space, so we can serve wine and beer, and that will be nice.”
Silver believes the Nodo Downtown will bring a new perspective to the other restaurants already there.
“It’s already a proven concept; it’s wildly successful [in the North Side],” Silver said. “People who don’t know about Nodo will just ask if it’s another sandwich shop, but I can guarantee you, there’s nothing like it.”
Risk said although the space on Iowa Avenue will be smaller for the pizza place, the space is advantageous to reach out to more people.
“I like the visibility here next to Blue Moose and right across campus,” Risk said. “I think this is a better spot, because the rent is half as much, but also because of the spot. I want to feed the party; that seems to be my mission.”