Rick and Audrey Gump are the new owners of Parsons Pizza located at 412 2nd St. in Parsons. Parsons Pizza is open 4 to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and the menu offers a plethora of pizza, calzones, hoagies, salads, bread sticks, cheese bread and wings.
PARSONS – Rick and Audrey Gump have owned Grafton Hometown Pizza for more than 17 years. The couple said they have talked many time over the years about expanding into Parsons, so when Parsons Pizza came on the market, their purchase of the popular pizza parlor was an easy decision.
It seems like everyone loves pizza – chew on these poignant pizza points:
- Pizza is a $30 billion per year industry
- More than 5 billion pizzas are sold worldwide each year
- The average American eats 46 slices of pizza each year
- The average American eats more than 6,000 slices of pizza in a lifetime
- 93 percent of Americans have eaten pizza in the last month.
- Pizza accounts for more than 10 percent of all food service sales
- There are approximately 61,269 pizzerias in the United States
- 36 percent of people order pepperoni on their pizzas, making pepperoni the most popular pizza topping
- Saturday night is the most popular night to eat pizza
- The five top sales days for pizza are Super Bowl Sunday, New Year’s Day, New Year’s Eve, Halloween and the night before Thanksgiving.
- October is US National Pizza Month
(Source – American Business Lists, Pizza Facts and Trivia and www.pizza.com)
“Everyone loves pizza and we know pizza inside and out,” A. Gump said. “We have been doing this for so long it is second nature to us. We would like to be able to employ some of the locals and work with the schools, local organizations, businesses and residents.”
Parsons Pizza offers two daily specials for pick-up or dine-in. They have a 14-inch one topping pie for $7.99 or a 14-inch specialty pizza for $12.99. On Tuesdays, the special is two large one-topping pizzas for $20.
The Gumps said pizza is their most-sold item, but they also offer calzones, hoagies, salads, waffle fries, bread sticks, cheese bread and bone-in and boneless wings. Wing flavors include buffalo, barbeque, hot, buffalo ranch and parmesan.
“The dough has remained the same, but we have redone our sauce and added more specialty pizzas,” R. Gump said. “We offer a taco pizza which has salsa, hamburger, seasoning, lettuce, tomato and chips. It has a three cheese blend and is very tasty.”
The Gumps said they offer customers the opportunity to personalize their pizzas. “We can make anything you want. If you want stuffed crust pizza, we can make it. We make thin crusts and thick crusts.”
R. Gump said their sauce is homemade and is a traditional pizza sauce. “We offer a gluten free pizza, too.”
One of their unique offerings is a bread bowl salad. “It is a dough we form into a bowl and bake in the oven,” A. Gump said. “Then we fill it with whatever kind of salad you want – chicken, house, taco, chef or steak. It comes with garlic butter and it is delicious.”
Parsons Pizza has a separate room which is available for rent for birthdays, special events and celebrations.
“We just want people to know we are here and stop buy and give us a try,” A. Gump said. “We also sell crafts and primitives.”
Parsons Pizza is open from 4 to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. They offer eat-in, pick-up and delivery around Parsons and its perimeter. The parlor is located at 412 2nd St. and orders may be placed by calling 304-478-3663. Parsons Pizza has a Facebook page and they are working to update the website.
