Manhattan residents have a new hangout spot located at 1026 Pointz Ave., as Ziggy’s Pizza officially opened its doors on Aug. 28 and became an immediate success.
“It was awesome,” Bryce Forrest, co-general manager of Ziggy’s Pizza, said. “We almost went through all of our food that we had.”
Forrest and Cam Fenwick are co-general managers at Ziggy’s Pizza and have been working for the restaurant since 2017.
“We started off as cooks a long time ago, then we went to kitchen managers and then we started working out front, serving,” Forrest said, “And then after that, when we turned 21, we could manage.”
The more time the duo worked for the establishment, the more loyal they became even through their other pursuits. No matter where they went, they always came back to Ziggy’s Pizza.
“He [Forrest] went to the Air Force,” Fenwick said. “I went to school, and we still kind of worked there during the summers, and then when we graduated, we came back to work for the company and started running our own stores, and here we are.”
Ziggy’s Pizza is a locally-owned family business. Owner Jamie Verbeckmoes is Fenwick’s uncle, and, along with being coworkers, Forrest and Fenwick are long-term, close friends. Jamie Verbeckmoes and his brother, Ryan Verbeckmoes, started Ziggy’s Pizza in Wichita, and the establishment eventually developed into four separate locations.
“Ryan and I had kicked around opening a restaurant for a few years,” Verbeckmoes said. “He was working for restaurants in Oklahoma, and I was in real estate, and then we just kind of decided to go for it and open our first one. We didn’t ever anticipate growing more than one, and we just were so busy at that one.”
With the help of Verbeckmoes’ family, Ziggy’s Pizza grew across Wichita.
“My sister and her husband got involved, and we added more; one of my other brothers also got involved,” Jamie Verbeckmoes said. “So, we just kept going and kept adding more, and now here we are 15 years later”
Regardless of its success in Wichita, the family was eager to expand their business to the Little Apple.
“I’ve always wanted to put one of our restaurants here, and it just made sense,” Jamie Verbeckmoes said. “We come to Manhattan several times a year. It’s kind of like my second home. It’s just always been a dream of ours to put one in Manhattan.”
Describing themselves as “hands-on,” the owners plan to focus heavily on the new location and said Manhattan customers can expect to see them at the new restaurant frequently.
Despite its popular menu, Ziggy’s Pizza is known for more than just pizza, wings, sandwiches and salads. The establishment’s positive energy and environment encourage customers to come back.
“We’ve always been known for our own vibe, and we want to bring that up here, and so far, I feel like we’ve kicked that off to a good start,” Fenwick said.
The co-managers are thankful to the community for coming to support the business during its opening.
“It was pretty cool, thinking back that all these people came to support us,” said Fenwick. “Whether their service was great, or maybe we were hustling around, and ticket times were a little bit slower, they could still come in and support us, so we want to say thank you for that.”
